Slippery Red Rocks

On exiting Bryce Canyon on Monday, our next destination was Page, Arizona. We had anticipated driving there if we could, spending the night and then swimming and enjoying some time in Lake Powell-a lovely reservoir with warm and clear water. We were making good time, so we bypassed Kanab and headed to Page, arriving there around 7. Pulling into the first hotel on the right, we found out they were booked solid. This continued to be the same refrain at each stop. Come to find out, there were no rooms in the town due to a local festival called Powell Palooza upcoming that weekend. I still wasn't clear on why all the rooms were taken on MONDAY though! Anyway, we stopped at a local Bar-B-Q restaurant to evaluate for dinner and I spoke with a couple young guys who highly recommended the food and gave us a lead on some lesser known family owned hotels. However, to no avail as they were booked too. So, we came back to eat and discussed our options. Flagstaff was well over two hours away and Kanab was an hour back the way we had come.
It didn't make sense to go backwards as it would delay our arrival at Grandma's, but driving the lonely, twisty road to Flagstaff wasn't appealing either. However, it only made sense to drive that way. We also had to give up thoughts of swimming in the warm waters of Lake Powell too.
We had dinner, enjoyable and tasty although a bit pricey, and gassed up before leaving behind the lights of Page. Bob did the driving, the girls did the sleeping, and I did the dozing with the occasional, "How you doing? Do you want me to drive?" to the driver. While I sat there in my half awake state, I remembered reading about a place in Arizona, perhaps near Sedona, that had slippery red rocks for sliding and swimming. I remember thinking it so cool and wanting to go there if ever in the area. I couldn't quite remember the name, but thought I could find it on the internet or perhaps ask once closer to the location. That seemed like a nice alternative to the refreshing waters of Lake Powell. As we sped towards Flagstaff, passing Tuba City, home of the Navajo Reservation, my thoughts turned towards dear friends who used to live there. We had visited them years ago on our last circuit through the Southwest. I had fond memories of calzones on our arrival, a wonderful day trip to the Grand Canyon, and tie dying t-shirts red, white, and blue. I also remembered late night talks on the couch with giggly girls in the rooms above us who were SUPPOSED to be asleep. I really wished they still lived there. Partly for a nice place to stay, but mostly for the missed opportunity to make new memories together!  We found a room whose details escape me now-there were so many :). I checked for the place and found it was only 45 minutes south of us, outside Sedona, and on our way to Grandma's. It was called Slide Rock State Park. We headed there, but didn't tell the girls our destination wanting to surprise them with this treat. We arrived and they walked down to check it out. It was still early .....only about 830 and there was a bit of a chill still in the air. We wanted to see if it was worth it to pay the $10 state park fee.

Our arrival at the river.

Downriver.

I walked from the car to the river to find out their decision and then went to get towels and suits. They, however, did not wait on my return before testing the waters!

Debating.

Decision made.

Walking on water after her plunge.

Bob's plunge came next.

Note the gasp on his face. The water was freezing! I know you can't normally "see" a gasp, but that it is more of an audible sound. However, I think you can see this one. However, part of it is the fact that he is blind without his glasses and he always come out of the water looking scared.When I finally went in and plunged into the pool, it literally took my breathe away too. I had never had that happen before and Bob had to reach in and rescue me up out of the water. It gave me a realization of what hypothermia could do to a person!

"Modeling" before going in.

The "slides" were really fun, made more fun by being slippery, and then plunging one into a pool of water. Once you grew accustomed to the water's temperature, it was quite pleasant. I can imagine on a really hot day, it would be amazingly refreshing and a great way to cool down.

See that smile? She is having a great time.

She looks very professional here.

Laughter

My first time in the slide chute. 

It was so much fun. I kept doing it over and over, saying just one more time and then we need to leave. 

The three of us on our last run through the chute. 

It was so much fun and I would want to go there again if at all possible. Anyone who is in the area, should check it out.

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One last look at the spot with the dressing room and bathroom in view.

It had gotten increasingly more crowded with the arrival of others and even a busload at one point. We read that in the summer it is so crowded and the parking lot so full that they will have to close it until the crowd subsides.

Further downstream as we left.

A perfect morning ended at our favorite place to eat! We had been looking for a Chick-Fil-A every time a meal rolled around......However, on Sunday, although we passed several, they were all closed. We were so excited to be eating chicken, waffle fries and sweet tea. It is Num Yummy.

After lunch in Phoenix, we headed towards Tucson and our final destination of El Paso. We had told them we would be there Tuesday evening, but it was almost beginning to look like we wouldn't make it. It was nearly dinner time when we hit Tucson (although we skipped dinner since we had had a late lunch and were still full) and we still had over 5 hours left. I felt bad when my MIL called to inquire about our dinner preferences? In or out? I hated to be the bearer of bad news that we wouldn't be there until bedtime, never mind dinner! Our fun morning faded into memories as we sped towards Texas. Bob driving, me navigating, and the girls sleeping. Same story, different day :) 

Love Ellie~