Grand Canyon News

‘Morning friends, what’s up?  Well, today’s one of those days where one is tempted to wonder “are we bypassing fall and going straight to winter?”  The day dawned cool, cloudy and windy – in fact, a wind advisory is in effect from 9 AM to 7 PM for pretty much all of Northern Arizona, so – keep a scrunchy handy (if you have long hair) and hold on to your hat! 

I have to thank Mr. Klassenreus from Denmark for pointing out to moi (in response to my piece on working vacations) that some Americans and Canadians do use the phrase “going on holiday.”  I had attributed that phrase pretty much exclusively to our friends in the UK, so… I stand corrected, but happy that somebody’s reading this blog.  

 Moving on to today’s topic, which is – back by popular demand – MORE fun stuff going on in Northern Arizona, particularly around the Lake Powell area. 

Y’know, if you were to read the job description for mayor of a small town, you might expect to see stuff like “required to balance city budget, grow the local economy, manage various departments like police, fire, etc.”  Well, if you’re the mayor or Page, Arizona, a small town on the shores of Lake Powell (northeast of the Grand Canyon), what isn’t written into your job description is that you “must be willing to kiss a pig and/or get pies thrown at you!”  Page Mayor Dan Brown has to be willing to do all that and probably more this weekend (some would assert it couldn’t happen to a nicer fellow!) as Page and other area communities gear up for another weekend full of fun activities. 

This Friday 9/22 evening, Z 93.3FM, Page’s adult contemporary radio station (that Mayor Brown and his wife happen to own), will hold their Annual Kiss-A-Pig Community Barbecue and Fundraiser.  This event started about 4 years ago when one of the DJ’s decided to start a fundraising drive for local charities.  Nothing unusual there, right?  Well, this idea was a bit different in that instead of asking people to donate their dollars, this fundraiser challenged folks to collect as many pennies as they possibly could. 

The first drive went great and managed to gather about $4,000 for a local food voucher program for families in need.  The 2nd time around, several local “luminaries” got involved, like the mayor, the National Park Service Superintendent, the Chief of Police, the School Superintendent and others, and challenged each other to see who could collect the most pennies. 

Then, another brilliant idea came forth: whoever collected the least amount of pennies would be required to kiss a pig in front of the whole town!  The radio station would hold a big community barbecue where the pennies would be counted (by the good folks at National Bank of Arizona), the tally revealed and the loser had to pucker up.  The first year’s winner was, ironically, the Chief of Police.  

Did I mention that you’re all invited?  So if you’re in the Page/Lake Powell area this Friday, come and eat some barbecue, and see who gets to kiss a pig!  Unfortunately, I won’t get to see who the lucky guy/gal is ‘cause I’ll be at the North Rim looking at the the fall leaves.  

If you’re around Lake Powell this Saturday (9/23), come by the city park and join in the fun of the Helping Hands Agency’s Annual Fall Festival.  Food, games, entertainment, the usual carnival activities.  I heard that Mayor Dan WAS supposed to volunteer to get a pie in the face, but he instead “volunteered” one of the DJ’s.  I’m sure he’ll have his share of takers, too. 

Later that afternoon, if you’re heading up toward Kanab, Zion or Bryce, stop by the Paria Outpost for a concert by local folk band, Across the Waters. 

Sound like fun?  Come on up – if you can find a room!  For hotel reservations in Page, Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona or Kanab, Utah, call (800) 916–8530. 

Happy travels everyone!  L8R – Alley Kaye

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UPDATE 9/25: This year’s Kiss A Pig Fundraiser was the most successful ever!  Thanks to everyone for pitching in and attending the big community barbecue in Page.  Your generosity helped to raise over $5,000 to help needy families in this rural community.   Huge thanks to the participants, Safeway, Bashas, the Soroptimists, Around the World Entertainment, Lake Powell Marine, and the Page United Methodist Church.

UPDATE Tuesday September 18th 8.40 AM

Highway 93 from Las Vegas to Kingman has officially reopened.  Local authorities appreciate the patience of motorists as they attempt to pick up the pieces and regroup following the collapse of two crane towers at the Hoover Dam Black Canyon Bridge construction site.  The accident took place during a windstorm last Friday, but fortunately no one was hurt.  Debris did fall dangerously close to the highway, which necessitated the road closure. 

Now, if you’re coming out here in the future, this will be important to you, too.  Originally, the plan was to open the Black Canyon Bridge, which will bypass the Hoover Dam, in June of 2008.   This incident will invariably push that back a bit.  How far back, we still don’t know as clean-up efforts have just begun (for more info on that, read this article in signonsandiego.com, the online version of the Union-Tribune).  Construction delays will happen for those of you doing a Las Vegas Grand Canyon tour, particularly during the mid-day hours. Get an early start on your trip if you want to avoid all that. 

Las Vegas Grand Canyon vacationers may wish to bookmark a couple of websites to keep up on this:  The Hoover Dam Bypass Project, www.hooverdambypass.org; the Arizona Department of Transportation, www.az511.com , and here’s a cool one I just found: www.traffic.com – gives real-time traffic reports for most major metropolitan areas in the US, which means if you’re travelling from Phoenix, you can get the info you need too!  I think Yahoo! offers something similar too. 

Anyway – rule of thumb, always – WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK IT OUT. 

Hey thanks for reading, folks – L8R

Alley Kaye

P.S.  Oh hey – another piece of good news: the Black Canyon Adventure Float Trip from Hoover Dam to Willow Beach has resumed.  What’s that you say?  Call me! 

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Good morning everyone – just a quick note to inform all Las vegas Grand Canyon vacationers that Highway 93 from Las Vegas to Kingman will remain closed today, but is scheduled to reopen at 8:00 AM Tuesday morning according to this report on KVBC News. 

Those driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon are instructed to continue using the alternate route of Highway 93 to Laughlin, Nevada, to Arizona State Highway 68 to Interstate 40.  This will add another 30 miles onto your drive time; delays are inevitable, so your patience is appreciated. 

High winds caused the collapse of two tower cranes at the construction site of the Hoover Dam Bypass Friday afternoon, which deposited debris dangerously close to the road.  

Events of this nature underscore the importance of verifying all of your planned travel routes before you head out (we point this out repeatedly in our Grand Canyon Travel Guide [have you read it yet? ]).  High winds, flash floods, and rockslides are a natural and normal part of life in the Southwest – indeed, it was these very forces that shaped this landscape, and these processes are still going on whether we like it or not.    

For up-to-the-minute information on road conditions and closures in Arizona, visit the website of the Arizona Department of Transportation at www.az511.com  For more information on the status of Highway 93 and the Hoover Dam Bypass project, visit www.hooverdambypass.org

In the meantime, here’s a map of the alternate route:

Happy travels everyone! 

L8R – Alley Kaye

Hello everyone.  Well, this is a little too weird.  Did I have a premonition by way of this blog?  Maybe… try this on for size: Just the other day, I happened upon a pop-up ad that intrigued me enought to actually look at it.  What did I see?  A pitch for the town of Laughlin, Nevada, which happens to be just an hour outside of Las Vegas, where many of you are beginning your Grand Canyon vacations from. 

At around 3.30 PM that same afternoon, high winds resulted in the collapse of two crane towers near the Hoover Dam, where a complex construction project has been going on for the last few months.  As a result, Highway 93 from Las Vegas to Kingman has been closed until further notice. 

Luckily, there is an alternative route, which – what a coincidence! - would take you through Laughlin: take Highway 95 from Las into Laughlin, where you would then hook up with Arizona State Route 68, which will get you back onto Interstate 40, where you would then continue your journey to the Grand Canyon via the usual route (on into Williams, AZ, then North to the Grand Canyon via Highway 64). 

This route will add another 25 miles or so onto your trip, plus factor in additional traffic delays due to re-routing and other issues.  “You’re going to need to be patient,” said Jodi Sorrell, a spokeswoman with the Arizona Department of Transportation. “That’s the only detour and the only way around it.” 

How long will this go on?  Through the weekend at least, maybe longer.  Here is the link to the article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal where you can also get a map of the alternate route (I’ll try to post it up here later too):

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-16-Sat-2006/news/9688573.html

If anything, situations like these underscore the need to check your travel routes before heading out.  For information on Arizona road conditions, closures, etc., you can also visit www.az511.com. 

Happy Travels Everyone! 

Alley Kaye

Good morning everyone, what’s up?  Well, the last couple of days have brought more  moisture than Arizona has seen in awhile.  We’re not complaining, we need it.  As for those of you travelling here… hope it didn’t, pardon the pun, put TOO big a damper on your plans! 

Anyhoo, this morning’s entry was interestingly inspired by one of modern life’s most annoying things: a pop-up ad.  To explain that requires that I flash back a bit to one of my career’s more interesting “detours.” 

Now, I have primarily been involved in the travel and tourism industry throughout my entire career, either in hotels, tours, airlines, interpretive, what have you.  But in 2000, I made a bit of a change (and fulfilled a fantasy to boot, how cool is that?): I became a radio announcer! 

Turns out one of the owners Z 93.3 FM, the independent radio station in Page, Arizona, had heard my greeting on the phone system at the local airport, liked what they heard, and suggested I read ads.  I took to that easily, which prompted them to give me a stab at writing them and producing them too.  Lo and behold, I was actually decent at that, too, so I became a full-time copywriter and producer. 

Then if that wasn’t enough, eventually my role expanded to that of disc jockey – what a hoot!  I had two airshifts a day, one on the FM station, Z 93.3 FM, and another on the AM Station, Lake Powell Country 1340 AM (formerly “Classic Oldies 1340 AM – sorry guys, I miss the oldies!). 

Now, if you’re saying, “Al, what does this have to do with Laughlin, Nevada?”  Hey – it’s my blog and I’ll ramble if I want to! 

*ahem* During the four years I was at the station, I studied principles of advertising, read a lot of trade publications, even had the pleasure attending Dan O’Day and Dick Orkin’s Radio Creative and Production Summit in 2001 (in Hollywood no less!).  So, I learned to appreciate a good advertisement in all kinds of mediums. 

Now, a good advertisement is one that elicits emotion, sucks you in and makes you want to learn more about a product.  Most pop-up ads on the internet don’t even try to go there from what I’ve seen.  Usually I just try to get rid of ‘em.  So this morning, I was kinda knocked off guard when, reading the on-line version of the Arizona Republic, my eye was drawn to a photo of two young ladies in a convertible, driving across the desert, wind in the hair, not a care in the world, obviously having the time of their lives. 

The caption below it – even more intriguing: “Once again, the best of the ’80’s mix tape fuels another trip from Phoenix.” It brought back memories of when me and three chums from Occidental College made a semi-impromptu spring break road trip to Tucson from Los Angeles.  It just happened to be 1985 and we made our way across that lonesome highway blasting the likes of Duran Duran, Culture Club, Bananarama, Wang Chung, Madonna and just having a ball.  What a feeling of freedom! 

Anyway, this advertisement took me back to that long-ago, happy and carefree time of my life and in an instant, helped me relive it all over again.  In other words, it did what a good advertisement does.  And the interesting and unusual thing?  It didn’t say what the ad was about!!!  When I rolled my mouse over the picture, it said “click to find out more.” 

Hey, I was so enrapt in my reverie that couldn’t resist: I HAD to “click to find out more.”  And voila – it takes you a website about how to plan a vacation to Laughlin, Nevada.  It’s just 4 hours from the Grand Canyon, and about the same amount of time from Phoenix. 

Why should you care about this?  Well, if you’re thinking of flying into Las Vegas to begin your Grand Canyon vacation, and if your feeling about Las Vegas is “been there, done that,” maybe the short drive to Laughlin, Nevada would be worth a try – think about it!  Oh, and take a look at the website – here’s the link: http://www.visitlaughlin.com/ltourism/index.jsp

You can also book hotel rooms in Laughlin here or by calling (800) 916-8530. 

And to whoever the ad agency was that put that awesome piece of work together – thank you and kudos from a kinda-sorta-former colleague.  

L8R  

Alley Kaye 

‘Mornin’ everyone!  How’s it going?  We’re just gearing up for another busy and fun weekend around the Grand Canyon.  There’s the Grand Canyon Chamber Music Festival, which wraps up at the South Rim this weekend; for bluegrass buffs, Pickin’ in the Pines at the brand new Pine Mountain Amphitheatre in Flagstaff; up in Page/Lake Powell, they’re getting ready for John Wesley Powell Days.  And I know that’s just to name a few!!!  Next weekend, I hear you can actually throw a pie at the mayor of Page for a good cause.  But, more on that later.

Right now, I just wanted to say “thanks” to a local resident and descerning reader who caught an error on our Grand Canyon Fall Travel Guide (have you read it yet?).  It concerns Travel Tip #13, which discusses where visitors can check their e-mail on their Grand Canyon vacation.  The South Rim Employee Recreation Center inside the park was given as a possible location, but it turns out that’s just for area residents.

So…. sorry sorry sorry!  I hope the folks working there aren’t getting too many  inquiries, since there are actually quite a few places at the Grand Canyon where you can check e-mail, plug in your laptop, etc.  

Inside the park, some of the Grand Canyon hotel lobbies have kiosks that visitors can use for a nominal fee (check with the front desk for particulars); outside the park in Tusayan, most of those hotels have either in-room internet access, or a public connection in the lobby.  The deluxe rooms in our preferred hotel, the Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn have inr-room access.  There’s also an internet cafe just up the street from the Grand Hotel. 

Thanks everybody and Happy Travels,

Alley Kaye