Gold Canyon - New Digs

We pulled into Gold Canyon on Oct 29 with the 5h wheel and by Nov 11 we had taken possession of a park model trailer.  Our new winter home.  Was that part of the plan?  Most definitely not, however every year that we traveled south for the winter, this being our 5th year, we have talked about swapping the RV lifestyle for something more permanent.  And each year we rejected the idea however the rejection process took a little longer and was a little less firm.  For whatever reason when we loaded up the trailer and started our trek this year neither of us were as enamoured with the nomadic lifestyle as previous years.  We had a few issues this year on the trip down as we do every year however by comparison to previous years they were relatively minor.  It just seemed as if it was time for a change.  The right decision?  Well every year we have spent some time in Gold Canyon and while we have enjoyed seeing new places it seemed like when we turned into GC we expelled a deep sigh, relaxed and felt like we were home.  Time will tell but for now it seems like it is the right decision.

After getting the 5er set up and a trip down the road to visit Mark & Jan and see their new house we decided to stop in at the sales office and get the skinny on park model ownership.  What the rules were, and there are lots of rules, kind of like living in our Condo back home, and what the all in costs were compared to RVing.  Turns out RVing is probably slightly less expensive, at least on an annual operating cost basis however the capital cost is less, at least for an older park model like we bought, and we will sell the 5th wheel and truck when we get home which should more than cover the cost of our park model and help with some of the planned renovation costs.  At the end of the day its about the lifestyle we want and we have saved all through our working life to enjoy retirement so dam the torpedoes and all ahead full throttle.

Here are some pictures.

Our front entrance.  The truck just fits but Lori's car will leave lots of extra space.
The patio with table and chairs was a large shrub when we moved in.
We found we had nowhere to sit and enjoy the sun or meet the people
walking up and down the street so we put in the patio.
Thanks to some severe weather events in the past 18 months the
exterior siding, roof and awning are all new.
Still leaves lots on the honey-do list on the inside. 

The patio is a fully enclosed screen room which is on our
to do list to convert to an Arizona room.
Also want to expand the back patio to the left.
I think most of the renos' are DIY projects.  At least thats the plan. 

This is our view out the back.  The wash is dry most of the time although
I'm sure its flowing during monsoon season in the summer.
Lots of birds in the wash, cactus and up on the fence.
Plenty of cottontails as well.
Even spotted a Bobcat up on the fence hunting for dinner.
One day he was successful and had a Morning Dove in its mouth.
Apparently snakes, scorpions and spiders are here in the warmer
months so one does have to be aware. 

Bedroom has plenty of closet and drawer space.
Its at the front of the house facing the street.
Its very quiet at night but is on the south side so gets pretty warm. 

Bathroom.  Has a tub and shower and at some point would like to
replace with a walk-in shower and probably replace the sink and
counter top and paint the cupboards. 

Our dining/living room. Faces the wash and Superstition Mountains.
Great view.

Dining room and some of the kitchen cupboards.
The last 2 kitchens we have had at home had no lower cupboard doors.
Only large pot drawers.
Hard to find things in the back of these cupboards but new kitchen is not in the budget. 

Kitchen.  Where the magic happens.
Got new appliances and changed the hinges and handles on the cupboards.
They were previously bright gold handles with very tarnished hinges.
Thought it would be easy but for every hinge I had to fill then re-drill 5 holes.
98 hinges x 5 = 490 holes.  Looks much better though. 

The screened in patio.  Needs some work.
Want to remove the screens and build in some large windows.
Then replace the carpet with vinyl plank floating floor.
Some comfy furniture and a larger TV should make it useable for more
of the season and also provide extra accommodations for guests.
Next years project.  

Whatever I do I don't want to spoil the view.
The view and the quails in the wash were the major reasons we bought this unit. 

So thats our little bit of news.   Our lifestyle while here has changed a bit since the move from the 5er to the park model but we are every bit as busy if not more so.  We have been out on lots of hikes with our Canine hiking group.  Charli hasn't been able to join us this year as she is just getting too old and her legs are giving her trouble.  Don't think we have a lot of time left with her.  Maybe another year.  

Have been out on a number of outings with our photo club plus I join the Photo group at Boyce Thomson Arboretum for their meeting each month so lots of pictures to process and share with you.  

Later

Page, Az

From Bryce Canyon we headed down the road a bit to northern Az.  We had visited Page in April, 2015 on our way home from our first Snowbird trip and were quite taken with Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend as well as Glen Canyon Dam.  

Our visit this year was a little disappointing.  Horseshoe Bend used to have a small parking lot with no admission fee and a peaceful walk down to the canyons edge.  Now its a national park with admission fees, large parking lot and tons of tourists.  Some of them felt that the scenery wasn't enough and insisted on playing their boombox (a 70's term, I know) much too loud and I told them so.  They turned it down for a few minutes but pretty soon we were once again assaulted  with their favourite music.  

Antelope Canyon is still a cattle call with far too many tourists to truly enjoy the experience and we discovered that it is much better viewed in April than in October.  In fact the closer to the summer equinox the better as the colours are much more vibrant when the sun's path is higher in the sky.  This year the colours showed up at the top of the canyon however down at the bottom we were primarily in semi darkness.   I was still able to achieve some good photographs with some creative post processing, shooting at slow shutter speeds, high ISO and bracketing my exposures and then blending in my Aurora HDR software.  The miracles of digital photography.   In fact when I finally sat down to process my pictures I was pleasantly surprised at how steady a hand held shot I was able to achieve due to the benefits of in-camera image stabilization and the great dynamic range of the Sony A7iii.  The shots below are much more colourful than what our eyes beheld and would more closely match what one would see in the summer time. 

All in all a short but enjoyable visit and a must see destination if in the area.  

Glen Canyon Dam holding back the Colorado river.

Colorado River just below the Dam

Accomodations available at our RV Park for those that are a bit nostalgic.  

The ticket office and waiting are for the Antelope Canyon tours.
Not as busy as in April but they still herd you through.
No bags, purses, tripods or time stand around.
Lori's in the red jacket.  

Our chariots await.
Soft suspensions and under inflated tires makes the trip down
the sandy wash akin to riding in a small boat in heavy waves.  

This is probably a little closer to what we actually saw.
Light and colours and the top and at the bottom pretty dark.
You can barely make out the heads of the tourists at the
bottom of the photo as they walk through the canyon.

After blending 3 hand held exposures and a little magic the true beauty appears. 

The sky was a beautiful blue however it was too blown out to fully recover in post. 

Its pretty narrow, sometimes you have to turn sideways to get through.
A good reason for not allowing bags of any kind. 

I actually turned this into black and white but then added back the
reds and yellows and added a glow effect.

Thousands of years of rushing water makes for the odd shapes
and the striations on the walls.
The rock walls are sandstone.
The floor, all soft sand, changes elevation with each flood
as sand is deposited or washed away. 

A tree root caught in one of the crevices.  

When the rains come this place fills up with fast flowing water.
Death is almost certain if caught here during a flash flood

Some of the tourists at Horseshoe bend.  Not sure the reason for the attire.
English was definitely a minority.  Lots of Aisian and Europeans.  

Horseshoe Bend.  Very majestic and the colours are amazing.  

Thats it for Page.  We left here on October 29 (see how far behind I am) and headed to Gold Canyon and will stay put the rest of the winter.  

Later. 

Bryce Canyon Sunset Point

The last and perhaps the most dramatic of the lookouts at Bryce Canyon.  Sunset Point is a bit of a misnomer as, while dramatic at sunset, it is perhaps the best lookout to catch the sunrise.  
You be the judge.  

Late afternoon the sun over my right shoulder
illuminates the canyon with countless hoodoos. 

Late afternoon but taken looking towards
the sun provides a nice backlit effect.

It looks like the spires are aglow. 

Just before sunrise provides softer colours. 

As the sun breaks the horizon the shadows deepen and
 the colours become more vibrant with a backlit effect.

Thors hammer in the centre of the picture

Thors hammer from a lower perspective with what looks
like 3 baby Thors hammers behind and to the right. 

Thats it for Bryce Canyon.  If you have the chance to visit Utah make it a point to take in one of the 5 National Parks.  The only one we haven't visited is Capitol Reef and we are told it is as beautiful and dramatic as the other 4 we have visited.  

After leaving Bryce we headed to Page, Az.  This would be our second visit to Page and were looking forward to revisiting Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.  Our second visit proved to be a bit of a disappointment but I will get into that in my next post.  

The weather in Gold Canyon the past 2 weeks has been perfect.  Cool nights but sunny warm days around 70F.  It hit the 80's yesterday and is approaching that again today however the next few days we won't see 50F with frost warnings at night so I should have the opportunity to catch up a bit on my blog.  

Later.