It's About the (RV) Journey....: Best Friends............

Lake Powell is located in northern Arizona/southern Utah and there is a time difference, depending where you are. Arizona does not have Daylight Savings Time, so, while it is 8am in Arizona, it is 9am in Utah, which is 5 minutes away. Gets confusing!

On our wish list of places to see was Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, in Kanab, Utah. We have met so many people in our travels that have told us we MUST stop in when we get a chance. So...being about an hour away, we decided to check it out. For more information, click here. You can even spend the day as a volunteer. There is housing available as well, and a couple of RV sites. I think you can even keep a dog or cat in your cabin, to help with the socialization process.

We had the local radio on before we left, and the disc jockey commented on what a beautiful drive it was from Kanab to Page, as he had just done that route coming home from Vegas. He was not kidding. It is a beautiful ride. Just another comment about the local radio station....when the weather is nice, they tell you to "get out and enjoy this beautiful area where we live". Even the locals appreciate the stunning beauty of this area!

southeast Utah

cool rock formations

interesting house!

We stopped in the Bureau of Land Management Visitor Center in Big Water, which is the next town over from Page, to get some hiking information. There are plenty of hikes for all levels...but the trailheads are really hard to get to if you just have a car. Most people around here have jeeps or trucks, with high clearance. There are many dirt roads...impassable when wet. And the cell service is spotty at best, so you are basically on your own if you get stuck. They recommend you take water, food and a spare tire when you travel these dirt roads. Yikes! We've made the executive decision that it is not worth it for us unless we rent a jeep.

Big Water Visitor Center

Lots of dinosaur bones here

The beauty from the highway is staggering. The pictures look fake, but they aren't. No matter where you look, the landscape is gorgeous. Notice there are not many houses or people. Out here, you are pretty much on your own.

beautiful

everywhere you look is stunning

a kindred camper up ahead

just look at those colors

After driving through the big metropolis of Kanab (hahah), we found the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, which is located right on Highway 89 in Angel's Canyon. The organization has about 3700 acres of pristine canyonland, and they are building their sanctuary with the environment in mind. Much of the land is untouched, and is in itself beautiful. The drive in to the Welcome Center is about a mile long....and there is another entrance about 3 miles down Highway 89 to access a different area of the campus using paved roads. Otherwise, its a dirt road!

the road to the Welcome Center

there's the Welcome Center now, right after the horse paddocks

there are all kinds of animals here-cats, dogs, horses, pigs,birds, wildlife

After checking in at the Visitor Center and signing up for a tour of the facilities, we went to the "cafeteria" on the other side of the facility (a 10 minute drive). They offer a vegetarian buffet for $5 which we heard was really good, so we decided to check that out for ourselves too. It was delicious! We had an early lunch (remember, the time difference?) since the cafeteria is only open 11:30-1. The view from the patio was priceless! Check it out. We spotted some leftover snow patches on the side of the canyon, evidence that this area is at about 5000 feet elevation and gets snow:) You can see some of the road from the patio where we ate our delicious lunch. The road is public, and you can just come and hike or meditate at Angel's Rest. You cannot go into the buildings on your own though.

driving to the cafeteria-going into the other entrance to avoid the dirt road!

check out the view here!

there's the dirt road that goes through the sanctuary

vegan....and delicious!

well hello there

where's the meat?

one last view of Angel's Canyon

Back at the Visitor Center to begin our 1:00PM tour, we all loaded into a large van to drive throughout the campus, partly on that dirt road. The place is huge and can't be explored on a walking tour in an afternoon. The Welcome Center really is very welcoming, with a small shop and tables to enjoy complimentary coffee, tea and Internet! The peaceful pool outside was also very nice.

pool outside the Welcome Center

koi pond

deck off the Welcome Center...good place to relax

The tour we went on was the basic tour, which drove through the sanctuary and pointed out various areas. We had two stops...one at a cathouse, and one at a dog area. There are so many areas in the sanctuary. They have had 1700 animals at one time, so you can imagine just how large the place is. This is the largest no-kill facility in the country, and they take animals from everywhere. Many get adopted out, but some end up spending their lives here. We passed the pet cemetery...Angel's Rest....where the pets go when they go to Rainbow Bridge. Very touching....had to stop myself from crying a river. The windchimes are in honor of pets that have passed but are not buried there.

A Disney movie was filmed here...with Jodie Foster

Angel's Rest

not sure what the stones mean

oh how sad...the collar...hard not to shed a few tears here

well taken care of

Most of the facility is very basic, no fancy or expensive facades on the buildings. The gates, however, were a work of art. I think this is the meditation garden as well. The views around the area were stunning as well.

i think this is the "meditation garden" too

more views from the sanctuary

the gates are a work of art

There were many buildings for cats...some had feline leukemia, some were shy, some were kittens. They were all separated as to the living conditions that best suited them. The cats all looked pretty healthy to me, even the ones with feline leukemia. The animals and the facilities all looked in great shape, and there were lots of employees. There are over 400 on the payroll, plus many many volunteers. People come up here on vacation, and spend a day volunteering here.

our stop at the cat house

these cats all had feline leukemia

they all looked so healthy to me

all were adoptable, but not if you had a healthy cat...only others with feline leukemia

these cats really had an enjoyable environment

some were shy though...ahhahah

the "cat whisperer"

they all loved the attention they were getting

aawww....looks like Spike!

are you a little princess?

There is plenty of wildlife in the area, as you can imagine from the location. As we drove along, we spotted a male turkey...all puffed up and strutting around. There were a few females nearby, who weren't paying any attention at all. It was pretty funny.

woah! didn't expect to see that in the parking lot

flower power! Right on!!

DogTown is located here, and there was a show filmed here for Nat Geo. There are many buildings in the dog area as well. We stopped in one of them, but the animal handler was not there at the moment, so we couldn't pet any of the dogs. They are all well behaved. A lot of time is spent training the dogs so they are more adoptable. As with the cats, the dogs are separated by their needs. Some dogs get along with others and are place together, whereas some are not social and are in separate runs. The buildings have soundproofing panels. I guess the barking can get pretty loud at times.

Dog Town...lots of buildings here too

most of the puppies are adopted out already...they are still getting trained though before leaving

one of the residents

the dogs collars are color-coded Green means friendly to all

the building we went to on the tour....stop #2

sound proof panels.....helps with noise control

just look at this guy!

I would love to adopt you!

On the way back, we took a scenic wrong turn, and the views were just outstanding once again. When I commented to Tom how different things looked when you go the other way, he realized that we were on the wrong road. Good thing he was driving 'cause I would have kept going. Haha.

gorgeous pink rocks

lots of open space here

hmmm...I don't remember driving through this forest

its all about the light

almost back in Kanab-otherwise we would be at the Grand Canyon!

Back on track, the ride back was gorgeous as well. Had to take a few more pictures-this is just a gorgeous area! Its all about the light too....at times the rocks just glow.

heading back

late afternoon sun

its pretty remote out here

picturesque

almost back at Lake Powell

the variation of colors is interesting-even on the "brown" rocks

Approaching Lake Powell, you can see how magnificent it is to actually see blue water in amongst the red rocks. Beautiful! Especially nice when its not 100 degrees!