St. George Utah to Slow Low, Arizona

St. George to Show Low, May 16th-18th
Cleaned up and shaved, always leave AC on in high hot climate, overnight building continue to carry heat.
Heading for Best Friends in Kanab, Utah. Taking Interstate 15 out of St. George north, to Utah SR 9 E, then Ari. SR 389 to Fredonia, the SR 89 N to Kanab drive short ways north to Best Friends, a sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals, it begin in the late 70’s. There mission is No More Homeless Pets, they afford stray/neuter and adoption programs, you can volunteer for a hour, day or week. I when on a 1 ½ hour tour of Dogtown and Catworld, they also, take care of bunnies, birds, livestock, horses, mules, sheep. This is a wonderful mission of kindness.
Kanab was used to make Hollywood Westerns, cut them off at the past!
Lots of eateries, Escobar’s for Mexican, 3 Bears Creamery, Rewind Diner and the Shady Cove. Lots of Motel sporting, they are the ’motel of the stars.’
Funny local story, after a film shoot, an elderly lady that had been an extra, took home a fake boulder, during a wind storm, it blow onto the road, a man driving sees the boulder slows down, not to hit it. She runs out to pick-up this boulder and puts it back in her yard; the man seeing this runs into a pole, he was ok.
South out of Kanab on SR 89 S to SR 89A, the North Rim is open, take SR 67, much more wooded then the South Rim, less people too. Relaxing drive in, forest and meadows to the N. Rim, more people than I thought, smells of fresh paint, everything, there are cabins and a lodge, Teddy Roosevelt used to frequent this area, the bar’s named after him.
Great outlook by taking the Bright Angel Point, short walk from Lodge, you are 5,780 feet above the Colorado River, which I could not see, spectacular views. Take are hikes out of Point Imperial, 8803 ft. down around the rim. Parks have become accessible to anyone, no more survival of the fittest to see nature. Should all places of beauty be paved to? Thoughts of camping at Jacob’s Lake, so I can push around to S. Arizona, leaving thunderstorms around, I push on. The ranger told me about a place in Vermilion Cliffs, with 100 beers, actually 82. Lee’s Ferry Lodge is Heaven, located down from the N. Rim on SR 89a E, right before Lee’s Ferry, been there since the 1920’s, I walk in, there the beer, there are stone building, each with 4 rooms, chairs outside, friendly dogs on the pouch, the help gets room and board and some change, they are looking for a cook. I have the burger and a beer, should have had the ribs, I hear they are great. Sitting up at the counter, trucks past, cars stop, outside you can tell when a meal is being cooked. Your views of the cliffs and the sky. May have to come back for a short or long stay.
It’s like the movie “Baghdad Cafe”, were you find friendship, reason’s for being and possible love or just the quiet bliss of the desert.
May 16th
66.0 mpg/ 280 miles traveled
May 17th
I leave with thoughts of, is this home. Down to Lees Ferry, it’s a very high bridge over the river, lot’s of river rafter’s start here.
Quote about the river “ Water is to thick to drink and to thin to plow”, the old river before the dam was put in. Now it’s a managed river, never to be like it was. I decide to go to Page to the Mayor Powell Museum, to learn more about the area. It’s a depressing
town of regular America, it’s here because of the dam. I drive down to see the dam, security is important here, I drive on. I am on vacation.
Nice hike out of town of Horseshoe Bend, scary on the top of the ridge looking over.
South of here is Cameron, home of the “Navajo Taco” flatbread, with all the fixings.
I turn Left on SR 160 E to Tuba City, a poor reservation town, high prices, Social Security for everyone, feeling of no hope. I talk to a Hopi woman that moved there in 1957 no electricity then. Now Burger King, KFC, and McDonalds, last time though 10 years ago, it was not this developed, America has learned to engage and exploit all of us with the same products. An easy fast life, were you are hungry an hour later, eating factory food.
I turn Left to get here, I turn Left to go the wrong way, I go 60 miles with the Hopi Villages, sign say four corners, shit, turn around, turn left to go the right way.
Four Lefts to Go Right! Day of wrong turns.
Back to SR 264 up the mountain where the Hopi live, the Hopi and Navajo used to fight, but the Navajo are nomadic peoples and the Hopi grow corn, they have found the need to coexist, for the overall good of all.
Turn right on SR 87 to Homlovi Ruins, too open here to camp, I push on, on Interstate 40, I see Rt. 66, turn of, it’s a shell of the road, the towns are starving now, the road of my parent’s generation, the joy of driving it, are gone!
Holbrook, dusty town, truck and cars fly by, cheap motels, turn south on SR 77, pass Snowflake, pass Taylor to Show Low, to Fool Hollow Lake Sate Park, sun’s setting, too long of a day. It’s a quiet man made lake, only two natural lakes in Arizona.
Went to Aunt Maddy’s for Breakfast in Slow Low, good home cooked, nothing fancy, nor the prices either.
Show Low got its name from a poker game played by two local ranchers in 1876. As local legend has it, Corydon Cooley and his partner, Marion Clack, played a game of seven-up to decide which of them would get the town’s original ranch. The game went all night before a weary Cooley finally told Clark; “ Show low you win”. Clark reputedly pulled a deuce of clubs and said: “ Show low it is”. Lots of the Western stories in the SW.
May 17th 65.8 mpg/ 407.2 miles traveled