We’ve completed three months of SOWER projects (Feb, Mar, Apr -2022) and have decided to take a break and see what adventures we can experience traveling through some of the National parks in Arizona and Utah. We were able to revisit some of the sights and relive some of the memories from years gone by while vacationing with our young kiddos . We love having the flexibility, opportunity, time, and resources to pause, explore, and stand amazed at the glories of God that are all around us!
After living/working for three weeks in the high desert…we found this beautiful State Park campground (Cattail Cove) just outside of the city of Lake Havasu, AZ. Lake Havasu was formed by the construction of Parker Dam in the 1930’s and has over 450 miles of beautiful shoreline. It was a great place to just unwind and rest a bit. Lorree dipped her toes in the water – pretty chilly – not ready for swimming yet!
One of the fun things to do in Lake Havasu is to visit the London Bridge! It was originally built in the 1830s and formerly spanned the River Thames in London, England. In 1968, an American tycoon bought London Bridge—all 10,000 tons of it—and moved it brick-by-brick to the desert town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. (They have since built a new London Bridge in England). Around the bridge, they have created a small England style city square complete with the old fashion telephone booths. (Since times have changed and there was no actual telephone, Dennis had to use his cell phone!) Lorree added a pin to the visitor location map to represent Guffey, Co.
For one of our adventures, we took the ferry across the lake to a resturant for lunch. (We were constantly crossing between Arizona and California!) It was refreshing to get on the water and feel the spray, and we learned about lighthouses! Currently, there are 28 replica lighthouses on Lake Havasu from the East and West Coast of the USA and the Great Lakes and is the only place in the world that can boast of having this replica lighthouse program. (They’re continuing to add more every year!)
Not too far away, our next adventure was to camp at and explore the GRAND CANYON!
We are so glad we made camping arrangements almost six months ago! We were able to stay in the National Park at Trailer Village with full hookups. We walked and rode the shuttles to all the various stops and took so many photos. But we mostly just looked out over the grandeur in complete AWE! It truly is breathtaking – no way to describe the wonder – you have to be there and “try” to absorb it all. (This was one of those “relive the moments” from years ago with our kiddos).
Our first evening we HAD to go see… our first view…
“Oh Lord My God! When I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy and hath made…”
You have to go see it – “seeing” this captivates all of our senses! From years ago, I remember hearing my blind uncle Gil describing the Grand Canyon as he rode the mules down into the canyon and back up. He got it all right – and he’s blind! Be aware – this is one of those “I’ll never forget” experiences!
…and then there was this doe elk near to where we were viewing. Lorree just wanted to make friends but she wasn’t interested! It was another memorable moment of the day!
We traveled to the Desert View lookout. Perched on the edge of the south rim, what appears to be an ancient Native American ruin is actually the Desert View Watchtower, which was designed in 1932 by Mary Colter to overlook the eastern end of Grand Canyon National Park. The tower was closed but what a great experience to witness this amazing view and the sunset!
More views of this GRAND Canyon! For us it confirms the results of the receeding world-wide flood back in Noah’s time – breathtaking! [Very similar to the formation of the canyons formed at Mt. St. Helen’s… “the volcanic eruption event at Mt. St. Helen’s was just a small reminder of how the Earth’s present surface was formed – by a rapid and catastrophic event. On May 18, 1980 – Mount St Helen’s eruption created a small version of the Grand Canyon in just a few hours!”] It’s inconceivable to think that this was formed over millions of years by a seasonal snow melt fed river that’s only several feet wide and the wildly imagined erosion and weathering to result in the formation of the Grand Canyon. It’s is a mile deep, 277 miles long and 18 miles wide!
At the western end of the Rim trail we visited Hermits Rest. The main structure currently standing at Hermits Rest was again designed by architect Mary Colter. . Hermits Rest is the westernmost point on the canyon’s south rim that is accessible by paved road. It was built as a rest area for tourists on coaches on the way to the now-vanishedHermit Camp. The building was designed to appear to be a natural stone formation, closely tied to the land. There were several signs with scripture praising the Lord!
Along the Rim Trail, we hiked from Pipe Creek Vista to Mather Point (about 3 1/2 miles) with beautiful views along the way!
We hate to leave this amazing place – but there are more adventures ahead! Still thanking God for his beautiful creation and His glory that we see everywhere we go!
Now we’re headed to Page, Arizona – Lake Powell! We have some very fond and fun memories of our time with the family (renting a houseboat for a week) and with our CB-ROM Mission team from Crowley, CO. (Mission trip to Navajo Indian Baptist Camp). Lets’ see what it looks like now!