I’ve put this off long enough!
This isn’t the half of it!
I’m tired of stepping through the portal to hell whenever I want to retrieve something from the back of the PTV. It’s a tangled mess back there. Sand and dust all over everything, all signs of organization gone.
Once we come down off this bluff near Flagstaff, the crew and I are driving into summer.
If the wind isn’t too bad, we leave in the morning for Lee’s Ferry on the Colorado River. Just like in a regular house, the winter clothes need to be put away and the summer clothes brought out. I choose what clothes and shoes I want inside the BLT and the rest go into a box in the PTV where I can access them, like a closet. The winter stuff is positioned in the deep recesses of the PTV’s cargo area.
I need to dig out the inflatable canoe.
It’s a two-seat canoe and weighs about fifty pounds. It’s been buried under storage boxes directly behind the bench seat. I pull the canoe up over the seat and find it fits nicely between the bench seat and the iron grate behind the driver’s seat. This is great! It will be easy to get the canoe whenever the crew and I come upon an opportunity to go out on some water. I also bungee the canoe seats and life jackets to the grate and hang a tote bag there. It holds various things for boating, like water shoes, rope, etc. Life is easier if things are packed according to category. All the canoe stuff is behind the driver’s seat, even the Coleman air pump that inflates the canoe.
As time goes by, I find better ways to pack my gear.
Now I have plenty of room right inside the back doors for one large, plastic storage box devoted to garbage and trash. I can seal up the stink and not have to smell it for weeks at a time like I did recently!
Somehow in the middle of cleaning out and repacking the PTV, I decide to clean the bathroom! I wonder if all this energy is coming from the diet. It’s Day Four and energy is supposed to rise. Tomorrow will be the last day of the first phase (eating high protein, low fat, exclusively).
The crew and I go into Flagstaff to prepare for our drive up to Lee’s Ferry.
First I stop at Petco to get Bridget a personal flotation device. They don’t have any. In the same shopping area is a Home Depot. I run in and ask where the leftover lumber is. I find a nice piece of 2×10. I ask the Home Depot guy to cut off the split part which leaves me a four foot board. Unfortunately the only other decent pieces are not as wide, but they’ll do. I pick up three of those, each slightly shorter than the 2×10 piece.
Why the rush to buy lumber?
Camper reviews of the Lee’s Ferry campground mention the sites are not very level. All I have are some little, plastic, pretend, leveling blocks. They don’t help much. These planks should do the trick.
After topping off the gas tank, we stop at Safeway.
Since I’ll be going into the second stage of my diet this weekend, I stock up on frozen veggies, plus a few fresh items. I have a good supply of no-salt canned vegetables back at the BLT. The second phase is alternating lean protein days with vegetables and lean protein days. I’ve learned to enjoy a breakfast every morning of fat-free milk with oat bran stirred in. I switched from Chobani Greek yogurt to Fage (pronounced Fah- yeh) Greek yogurt. It still has 23 grams of protein per cup but a lot less sodium (85 grams) than Chobani. I like the taste better, too.
Okay, enough diet talk!
Bridget, Spike and I enjoyed this camp high up in the Coconino National Forest northeast of Flagstaff. In the short time we’ve been here, everything has become drier and dustier. Forest fires are breaking out in Arizona. I’m looking forward to a camp near water. I know Spike will like that, too. And Bridget, well, she’s happy when we’re happy, bless her heart.
Wow! If all goes according to plan . . . tomorrow I’ll see the Colorado River for the first time!
rvsue
Sue , you will love the Colorado river and packing a canoe : great for you !!! I would love to see a photo of your inflatable canoe un pumped and pumped up. Just curious how big it is un pumped. What kind is it? and have you used it yet??
Should be very warm down there at Lee’s ferry. I was there briefly last June to board a raft going down the Colorado. 9 day trip . It was fantastic !! Cant wait to see what you think of the campground.
My canoe is a Sevelor. I’ve only been out in it once with the crew, not very far. It was a lake in Georgia. Most Georgia lakes are manmade so they have trees and branches under the surface. I pulled out of there rather than have a branch poke a hole it in. So really, we haven’t used it.
When I get it out, I’ll take before and after photos for you!
Our site at Lee’s Ferry was perfectly level! We had one site between us and the bathrooms, on the river side of the campground! I would think long and hard before putting the canoe in at Lee’s Ferry. VERY fast water !!! Lake Powell would be a great place tho! Travel safe!!!
Oh,, don’t worry. My canoe is for gentle streams, ponds and lakes. I wasn’t planning on putting it in the Colorado at Lee’s Ferry.
Looks like spring cleaning!!!!!!!!!! Makes me wonder if I can get everything in my 22 ft. class C…..LOL Guess I will find out in 2 weeks. I have been thru Lee’s Ferry and it is bueatiful. You will enjoy it, a big change from where you are now. Have a safe and fun trip.
Thanks, Pat. It will be fun, for sure. You’ll have fun packing and repacking your rig. It’s work, sure . . . but it’s rewarding to have your stuff where you can find it. Two weeks to go… hang in there!
A woman’s job is never done………..
This particular job, this woman is loving it!
Oh boy, you are going to get to meet a group of Casita owners gathering at Lee’s Ferry this weekend. Arizona Eileen is suppose to be there Thurs nite as well as others. You might get to see the eclipse of the sun on the 20th. Have fun.
It is going to be interesting and fun. Other than the small gathering at Quartzsite, I haven’t been to a Casita gathering. You’ll hear all about it here!
I started the diet tonight and consumed so much less in proportion than I am use to and here it is 4 hours later and not hungry or even little cravings. I am going to look for the brand of Greek yogurt you mentioned. Sat. I can include the veggies and go with 2 pure protein days and 5 protein/veggie days a week. Here we go Sue – diet buddies.
I bought a container of Chobani and a container of Fage when I started this diet so I could figure out what I like best. The important thing is checking the label to make sure it has 23 g. protein per cup. Some Chobani doesn’t. Good luck! I’m excited for you!
You will like the drive from Flagstaff to Lees Ferry. After you go past the Grand Canyon turnoff, the scenery is breath taking. The badlands painted desert have lots of purple and gray color.
I’ll bet you take pictures WHILE you drive.
The Echo cliffs to the east of highway 89 as your near the Page/Lees Ferry junction are awesome.
That drive is one of the most scenic great drives in Arizona in my opinion.
Your comment is the first one I read this morning. The crew hasn’t gotten up yet. Your description and enthusiasm has me motivated to roll up the patio mat, hitch up, and motor on up the road! I’ll charge up the camera.. Thanks for building my anticipation!
Mark is right….. the best darned road in AZ. And it’s just the preamble to what you will see in Lee’s Ferry! Now 89N has passing lanes pretty close together which makes it great for travelling, the folks who wanna pass you just have to wait a few miles for the next passing lane! Sounds like you are gonna have an unexpected good time with all those Casita’s visiting Lee’s Ferry! We are excited for you! Geri
http://www.phunnyfarm.blogspot.com for more Zion photos!
Besides the fact that I NEED to diet, your energy burst – if indeed a result of this diet – is enuf to make me sit up and take notice. I NEED energy!!!!!! So, I might have missed something but where did you hear about this particular diet? So far, it sounds like you’re eating things I would like. (Right now, I’m working on a budget) as soon as I get the budget under control, I’m going to look into this DIET of yours!
Ken told me about the Dukan diet. Ken learned about it from his two sisters who are on it and are slim. He was over here one day and somehow the subject came up. He’s a very trim guy. When he told me he had lost 60 lbs. and has kept it off, I took interest. He wears a belt and suspenders so his old pants won’t fall off! I was impressed by his energy and his comment that you are never hungry.
Lee’s Ferry is a great place. Going to warm but there’s the river to cool off in. Just watch out for current. You might be able to get a powered boat to tow you up river a was towards the dam then float/paddle back down. Just don’t miss the take out or you’ll be on a several weeks long river trip without a permit. Plus there’s the Paria river. And take the PRV back out to Navajo Bridge and look for condors.
Picture Bridget and me in the canoe with Spike at the bow shooting the rapids of the Colorado! What a blog entry with photos that would make!
LOL! Now that would be the MOTHER of all blog entry photos! But please, just keep it in the daydreaming phase! We wanna keep you around!
I am with you – I love getting organized. We are just doing weekends right now (still the dreaded workplace for me during the week for me), and getting GROVER ready for each outing is not like work at all. Have a great time and can’t wait for info and your pics from your new location.
Thanks, Maribeth. Hang in there . . .another weekend is on its way!
Hooray for dieting energy! Yay for camping near water! Safe travel to you and the crew – you inspire us all.
You’re great,, Marcia. Your cheerleading gives me a smile!
Sounds like you are moving into beautiful country. Can’t wait to see the pictures of it and all the casitas gathered together. What fun! Water AND friends, Spike must be as excited as you are.
Sherry
http://www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com
Spike has been too busy patrolling our campsite and barking at the wildlife poop left on “our property” overnight. Bridget watches every move as I do the final break of the camp.
She knows we’re leaving and wants to make sure she isn’t left behind. We’ll be on the road in a few minutes. Talk to you later!
Really looking forward to your next camp too!! The diet news from you and the others sounds so very encouraging!!
Made it to Lee’s Ferry! Besides stopping to take photos on the way, I stopped and grabbed some yogurt from the fridge . . . Love having my house with me on the road!
LOL I am so glad you enjoyed the trip to Lee’s Ferry from Flagstaff! It is an awesome country we are lucky enough to live in! America is BEAUTIFUL!
Hi Pauline,
We made it to Lee’s Ferry, no problem, except I kept pulling off the road to take photos and gawked the whole way. Incredible! We dropped way down to river level in this canyon so the internet signal is not stable. If you don’t hear from me for a while, remember that . . . we’re fine.
I can see the Colorado out the window, roaring past! It’s indescribably beautiful here. Hot, yes… We’re inside soaking up the breeze from the fan. We’ll take the path down to the riverbank later. Wish you were here … Love you!
Sue, I took a trip up the Colorado years ago from Lee’s Ferry to Glen Canyon Dam in a small motor boat and the current is swift. Thing I remember most we picnicked about 1/2 half to the dam in July when temperature was running around 105, I bailed off the side with a rope to beach the boat on a sand bar in waist deep water, what a shock, the water temp was in the low 40’s. We tried swimming in it but it “sucked” the breath out of you. The sand was to hot for bare feet and water to cold. We went back to Lake Powell that eve where water was apx 85, that’s nice!!
Now that i’m at Lee’s Ferry, I’ve been told the water will take your breath away, very cold.