Tag Archives: Elks Lodge 2498

Arizona

Prelude to the Alpine Rally (Elks Lodge 2498 – Page, AZ)

I started off our Sunday here at the Elks Lodge in Page, AZ with an early morning walk with our little dog “Coach” around the neighborhood.

Then I gave Stilla a ride over to the nearby Catholic church where she attended morning services while I spent the rest of the morning washing the Urban Escape Vehicle and the Silverado.  Which means it will probably rain later, right?

At lunchtime, Mary Ann made some awesome chili, complete with garlic bread to share with us.  Yumm!  Thanks Mary Ann 🙂

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Alpine owners and neighbors here at the Page Elks Lodge (Orville McGee & Mary Ann Ratliff)

After our awesome lunch, we took off in the Silverado to check out the town and stock up on groceries at the local WalMart.  But first, we wanted to drive over to the Lake Powell Resort & Marina (about 10 miles) to check out the campground we’ll be moving to tomorrow for the Alpine Coach Rally.  I knew from correspondence, that the hosts for the Rally, David & Nicole Guhse, were supposed to be arriving today.

Before driving into the campground, we pulled off at a scenic viewpoint and looked down on Lake Powell from above.

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From the scenic viewpoint we could see our future campground in the distance at the edge of the lake (below).

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We drove through the North Entrance to get to the campground.  We passed by another entrance road earlier, (I assume it’s called the south entrance) just after going over the bridge by the dam.  Both entrances have manned check-points to pay your fees.  I was able to show my Disabled Veterans Access Pass for free entry.

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We drove around the campground and checked out several of the loops.  This place is huge, with 139 Full Hook Up sites and another 112 tent or self-contained RV spots.  Click HERE and HERE for links.

Wahweap Campground

Since we didn’t see our Alpine Coach Rally “hosts” anywhere in the campground, I gave Dave Guhse a call to see where they were at… it turned out David & Nicole were just a few miles away on their way in to the campground.  So we waited at the registration office / general store and greeted them as they pulled in.

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David & Nicole Guhse pulling in to the registration area at Lake Powell Resorts & Marina – Wahweap CG.

It started raining just as they pulled into the parking lot… I think David & Nicole brought the rain with them 🙂

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After hugs and handshakes, and a quick stop inside the registration office, we went over to Loop C to help David & Nicole claim a spot.

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David & Nicole Guhse’s Alpine Coach.

David & Nicole unhooked their nice, new Ford pickup and parked their Alpine in site 26.  Since Stilla and I are co-hosting this rally with David & Nicole; we discussed the layout for the upcoming Rally and decided to use site 25 for our get-togethers.  Stilla and I will take site 24 when we come back with our Coach tomorrow.  This way, we’ll have the empty spot between our two rigs so it will be more convenient to move breakfast items over in the mornings, cater meals, set up the EZ-up tents, tables, chairs, etc.,

With that done… we followed David & Nicole back into Page to the WalMart so we could stock up.  We exited Lake Powell Resorts & Marina on the entrance road that I passed up earlier and came out near the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge.

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David & Nicole Guhse in front of us in their Ford pickup going across the Glen Canyon Dam bridge.

We parted ways with David & Nicole at WalMart.  Stilla and I returned to the Elks Lodge with our groceries.  We brought back some Granny Apples for Mary Ann Ratliff (per her earlier request) and she made an apple pie.  She delivered half the pie to our Coach just in time for dessert.  It was awesome 🙂  I can’t remember a better apple pie… Thanks Mary Ann!

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Today (Monday) we pack up to make the short trip over to the Wahweap Campground to get ready for the Alpine Coach Rally which officially starts on the 7th, but I’m sure we’ll have some other early arrivals.  Stay tuned for Alpine fun…

PS  It’s rained off and on last night… nothing too hard, just infrequent showers and now it’s raining lightly again this morning as I go to publication with this posting.  We’re supposed to have nice weather again beginning Wednesday according to my iPhone weather app… just in time for the Rally 🙂

Arizona, New Mexico

Travel Day to Lake Powell & New Alpine Friends (Elks Lodge 2498 – Page, AZ)

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We left the Farmington, NM Elks Lodge by 11 AM to make our way to Page, AZ for the upcoming Lake Powell Alpine Coach Rally.  We made it as far as Shiprock, NM and ended up spending the next two (2) hours in traffic 🙁  Our top speed through Shiprock was 3 mph.

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229 mile travel day from Farmington NM to Page AZ.

It seems that today was the big parade for the Northern Navajo Nation Fair which is an annual event.  According to their website; “The Shiprock Northern Navajo Nation Fair is the the Oldest and Most Traditional of the Navajo Fairs.  It is held each fall (1-4 October) in the Navajo Land where the Navajo people of the Four Corners come to celebrate the year’s harvest with a community celebration.”

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Now, all this wouldn’t be so bad, except the nice bartender at the Farmington Elks Lodge even warned us about this event when we shared our travel plans the day before, but I figured; “How bad could it be?” And we didn’t try an alternate route.  One of these days I’ll learn to listen to people 😐 Oh well, I just kept reminding myself that I was retired and that seemed to make it better 🙂

The traffic moved so slowly, that Stilla was even able to walk the dog while we rolled down the street.

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Some of the local kids sold drinks to the grid-locked motorists.

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Mural on the wall claiming Shiprock to be the Capital of the World.

We finally made it to the other side of town around 2 PM and were able to clear the traffic and head northwest out of town.

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View of Shiprock.  (Wikipedia link HERE and more Google Images HERE).

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The route we took was simply awesome, with stunning views and rock formations galore.  Follow along:

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Here’s the view as we got closer to Page, AZ:

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Lake Powell in the background (below):

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When we finally pulled into Elks Lodge 2498 in Page, AZ we saw another Alpine Coach in the parking lot!  Meet Orville McGee & Mary Ann Ratliff 🙂

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They’ll be attending the Alpine Coach Rally as well 🙂  I took a picture of them in front of our Coaches after Stilla parked.  Yup, that’s what I said – Stilla backed the Urban Escape Vehicle (UEV) into the open spot next to their Coach while I ground-guided.  She did a great job! We strategically parked nose to nose so we could maximize the available space with the tight RV sites here.

Orville snapped a (rare) picture of the two of us in front of the UEV.

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We got set up in our spot, you know – the usual stuff; jacks down, slides out, satellite dish up, rolled out the throw rugs, unfolded the coffee table, put out a couple lawn chairs, etc.,

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Then we went into the lodge with Orville and Mary Ann.  The Grand Exalted Ruler (GER) “Bill” greeted us at the door and introduced us to all the lodge members.  He also presented us with a lodge pin.  Pretty cool.

The lodge was having an auction and raffle.  Lots of activity going on!  We had a couple adult beverages.  When we went back to the bar for our second drink, we found out this lodge doesn’t offer a free second drink to visiting members as is customary in most other lodges we’ve visited.

Also, The Elks website says the sites are $15 per night, but when we went to pay, we were told it’s $20 per night.  And, oh by-the-way; we’re on 30 Amp, not 50 as the website touted.  Oh well, at least it’s good 30 Amp power unlike our last spot at the Farmington Lodge where we had low voltage and couldn’t run one of the air conditioners.

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Auction time at the Page AZ Elks Lodge. The picture the auctioneer is holding up is of Antelope Canyon (a local attraction).

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Orville & Mary Ann at the Page, AZ Elks Lodge.

Here’s an early morning view of the Elks Lodge I took while walking little “Coach”:

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This view (below) shows the RV parking spots next to the lodge:

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And here’s our morning view from the (currently) empty spots next to us:

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We’ll spend a couple nights here at the Elks Lodge and then move over (Monday) to the Lake Powell Alpine Coach Rally to the Wahweap RV Park & Campground.  The Rally officially starts on Wednesday (7 Oct), but we reserved a couple days early so we can help (hosts) David & Nicole Guhse get everything set up.

Stay tuned…

PS  The dash air conditioner is still working great.  Thanks again Mike!  And also, no more squeaks and rattles… it seems I got them all worked out (for now).  I blogged about fixing the squeaks and rattles in previous posts; (HERE) and (HERE).