June 7, 2026—Wild, Wild West Expedition:  Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon 

We spent the last couple of days in Page, Arizona, which is part of the Navajo Nation and is just right over the border from Utah.  The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States, covering a total of 27,000 square miles and stretches across northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah.  I looked it up and it’s roughly the size of West Virginia.  

Yesterday we rented a pontoon boat and took a ride on Lake Powell.  Lake Powell was created by the 1972 construction of Glen Canyon Dam, which backed up the Colorado River into Glen Canyon. The building of the dam and creation of Lake Powell led to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a popular summer destination of public land managed by the National Park Service.  The lake is huge, weaves in and out of both Utah and Arizona, is about 256 square miles, and is quite spectacular.  It was so hot!  

Today we went on a guided tour to Upper Antelope Canyon, albeit with mixed results.  We had been there in 2019, and the walk was fairly flat on the way in and then you went back out the same way.  It’s a little narrow in some sections, but okay if you aren’t claustrophobic.  Well, much to my chagrin, they changed the exit in 2021 without notifying us. First you had to scramble up some small sandy hills and big rocks to reach a giant metal covered walkway across the top of the canyon, and then scramble back down about a million stairs to the parking lot.  It was hot as Hades and sand was blowing from all directions. People with a bad knee can’t manage that stuff.  I made it up to the walkway, but it wasn’t pretty.  So Carson, our understanding guide, took us back down to the canyon and we walked through it against the grain to get back out.  Don’t worry, I apologized to our group and informed them that it is “hell getting old.” Everyone, including the sweet family of four from Tennessee, were quite sympathetic. But not the two German guys.  Oh, well.

And just in case you need to know that Vanna is still in the picture, here’s a picture. The grass is astroturf, so not real.

Tonight we are in Zion National Park at the lodge.  My knee is sore, but uninjured.  And incidentally, my physical therapist told me to stop calling it my bad knee, but I can’t think of a better way to refer to it without swearing. Any ideas?