I think we woke up a little groggy yesterday. We only had two margaritas each the night before, celebrating our 8th anniversary, but mixed drinks, especially tequila, don’t sit well with me.

We went about our usual chores to break camp, but we had a twist. Donna had to return the rental car and I would follow to meet her at the Hertz agency. We were pressing a bit since we needed to have the car back before 10am or face additional charges. Donna rolled out at 9:30am and I followed shortly after.

The first SNAFU came when the Hertz agency couldn’t generate an invoice. They had a computer glitch of some sort. I was double parked in the road with my four-way flashers on, waiting for Donna to come out. There wasn’t much traffic, so it wasn’t a big deal. We finally got out of there with the agent promising to e-mail the invoice.

From there, we rolled up US89 to the Conoco station I’d checked out before. It had easy access and trucker lanes with long pull-throughs. As we pulled in, Donna noticed that the trucker lanes were priced higher than the regular car lanes. This is due to the difference in highway taxes for trucks versus passenger cars.

The gas station had a lot of real estate, so I could turn around and line up at a passenger car lane that had diesel fuel. I was feeling pretty good about this as I extended the generator slide on the front cap to allow access to our fuel fillers.

I stepped out and ran my credit card through the reader and began to pump fuel. I looked up and felt a shock I can’t describe. I saw our living room slide cocked away from the body of our coach. The top of the slide out was four or five inches away from the wall it should be seated against while the bottom of the slide looked to be seated against the side of the coach.

Oh no! How could this be?

I went back into the coach and told Donna we had a problem. I apparently missed a big issue on my walk-around before leaving the park. I didn’t look up. I had been driving down the road with the living room slide unsecured.

After pumping $256 worth of diesel fuel into our tank, I pulled away from the pump and circled the station. Luckily, this station has a lot of pavement to accommodate big trucks. We pulled off to the side. I opened the trailer and retrieved our ladders.

After examining the outside of the slide and using our short ladder to look inside the coach, I found that the slide seal had rolled and was jamming the slide. I pulled, poked and prodded for the next 30 minutes. When I thought I had the seal in a position that would allow the slide to move in, I shot it with 3M dry silicon spray to ease its movement. This sounds simple, but the entire operation entailed an hour of effort.

I held my breath and pushed the slide retract button. It came in and seated. Whew! We have a problem to solve though. This isn’t a good thing and it won’t just heal itself.

From there, we rolled up US89. The road climbed past  Sunset Crater, then we descended most of the way to Cameron and onwards north. Just past Cameron, there was a sign that said “Rough Road Next 24 Miles.” It didn’t seem too bad at first. The speed limit was 65 mph, I had the cruise control set at 62 mph, which seemed comfortable. There were passing lanes every few miles, socars that wanted to cruise faster could overtake me. Suddenly, without warning, the road became a series of whoop-de-doos, something made for a motorcycle supercross track. We were literally launched into the air, I felt the front suspension top out twice before I could slow down and regain control. It was ridiculous. What was the Arizona Department of Transportation thinking? They had a rough road sign 10 miles before this section and no warning when the going really got rough.

We were both thinking of a lunch and potty break as we approached Gap, AZ. US89 suffered a landslide on February 20, 2013 and the road is still closed 26 miles north of Gap. If you want to go to Page, you need to make a right turn at Gap onto BIA 20. This is poorly marked, but lucky for us, Donna caught the sign. But, we were unable to find a suitable stopping point at Gap. It’s just a cross roads with a gas station and trading post.

BIA 20 is a Navajo Nation roadway that takes you 40+ miles through Lechee to Page. The road has no shoulder or turn outs, it’s just a slog all the way to Page. When we finally found Page we stopped at WalMart. Donna was famished and my bladder was at its limit.

We walked a quarter of a mile down the highway in search of food. Donna had noticed a pizzeria sign on our way in. When we got there, it was either closed or out of business. But we saw another restaurant offering a Mandarin buffet. This could work. Both of us were hungry. We walked across the lot and were surprised to see the place busy at 2pm.

The food was decent, I’d give it a 3.5 on a scale of 5. We went for seconds. Our hunger satisfied, we walked back to our coach.

It was a short drive through Page to the Glen Canyon Bridge. We crossed the bridge and looked for the visitor center. We found the Carl Hayden Visitor Center. You must stop here if you are in the area. The parking lot can accommodate a big rig. The views are great and the center is nothing short of a museum.

 

 

 

 

Lake Powell is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States (only Lake Mead is larger). It generates power for the grid encompassing Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.

 

We drove up the highway and pulled off at the Lone Rock Road. This is an entrance to the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area. Our National Parks pass got us in without paying the $15 per vehicle entrance fee. We paid $20 for an overnight camping pass for two nights ($10 per night).

The road is paved for a couple of miles in and there are two paved parking areas. One is in view from the entrance, the other is just before the pavement ends. The last parking area has a wide turnaround.

We stopped at the last paved parking area to walk and look the area over. A guy who obviously knew the area directed us to the best dirt road in. We trusted his advice and could see rigs in the area he directed us toward.

Here’s our latest spot on the planet.

 

 

We’re currently set up with only the bedrooms slides out. The living room slide started to bind again and it needs attention. I don’t want to break anything, or have the slide stuck in an open position. Fortunately, our floorplan is livable even with the slide in. We have a little less space and Donna can’t access her spice cabinet, but other than that, it’s fine.

We strolled down along the beach. The sand is very fine, like powdered sugar. When we returned, we set our camp chairs in the shade of the coach and enjoyed the view with tortilla chips and homemade guacamole. Donna made unstuffed cabbage rolls for dinner on the induction cooktop.

We have a weak Verizon signal – most of time it’s only 1X. The Jetpack picks up 3G at times, allowing us to access the Internet.

No big plans for today. Tomorrow we’ll head back down to Page, then cross the Navajo reservation and follow US191 to Bluff, Utah.