Fall Lake Powell | FindPenguins

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Trip start
October 10, 2025
Fall Lake Powell
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Loaded Up, Ready to Go
October 9 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
Boat is all loaded up, and we are ready to go. We'll head out early tomorrow morning. We would have left today, however our Investment managers provided an outing to Fireside Theatre and the musical Oklahoma. Excellent performance and always a good meal. Almost 1600 miles to the launch ramp we are using at Lake Powell, so a little over 3 days of driving ahead of us.Read more
Traveler I love this picture of you guys!
10/10/25Reply
Traveler Be safe and have fun!
10/10/25Reply
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Lincoln, Ne
October 10 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
483 miles done today. Hit Omaha during evening rush hour but no slow downs till we got to West Omaha. Did see what must have been a bad accident on EB I-80 a few miles east of the turn off for 880. Several EMS and LE vehicles and an eastbound backup over a mile long. 😟. Stopped at the Lincoln, Ne., Cracker Barrel this evening.Read more
TravelerSafe travels! Have a great trip.
10/10/25Reply
5 likes
Fall Lake Powell
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Denver
October 11 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
Up early and on the road at 7:30am for a 505+ mile day. So initially my plans were to stop at the Loves truck stop in Hudson, CO. However, looking at the mileage of only around 450 miles, and gaining another hour with the time change as we head west, I decided to stop at a Walmart in Evergreen in the foothills of the Rockies. My Allstays App for this property from a review in 2023 made it sound like we could park overnight. Well that didn't quite pan out. I decided just to be safe I would ask customer service this time, since it looked like we might be the only ones in the lot over night and there were numerous signs posted no overnight parking. The C/S agent said as long as we were out by 5am. Well, if you know me, you know that wasn't happening. So we picked up some supper items, and hit the road. Not really sure where we would stop, but it was stopping time! I turned off on Central City Parkway, just before Idaho Springs, and about a mile up the canyon found a turnoff with plenty of room. I haven't stopped like this since my trucking days back in the early 80's. Hoping we don't get any knocks on the hull tonight telling us to move on. I think these interstates have gotten worse over the years for washboard bumps when riding in a pickup with stiff suspension, and 8100 lbs of boat behind us, 600 of those pounds on the trailer hitch! Also found out that in May, Colorado started doing watercraft invasive species inspections, as came across one at a truck weigh station between Brush and Hudson. A few areas of construction, but no slow downs. We did see one semi accident in western Nebraska along I80. Appeared to be a semi sitting out in the trees, off the EB side, but facing west. Several law enforcement vehicles and a large wrecker were on scene.Read more
Traveler I miss traveling in the west.
10/14/25Reply
4 likes
Fall Lake Powell
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Kayenta
October 12 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 59 °F
No knocks on the hull last night, lol, but we did have some gusts of wind rock us a few times. Also had an RV pull in behind us, so we weren’t the only ones parked there for the night. Got another early start this morning, which was good. There was a fatal semi crash just west of the Eisenhower Tunnel, so I 70 was shut down in that section, and westbound traffic was rerouted on Hwy 6, up over Loveland Pass. I expected some rain today, but we ended up with snow at the higher elevations, both across Loveland Pass and then also across Vail Pass. The fall colors in the Rockies are beautiful right now. And the geology along our route today was spectacular as always. The driving gods were with me today. South of Banning, there was a pickup truck sitting in the middle of the road. As I went by it I recognized it as a sheriff pickup. He turned on his lights and I thought will crap, but as soon as I got by him he turned them off. Rosanne says you know the speed limit here is still 50? No, so I’m doing 65. Guess I was slowing down to slow, as he turned around and started down the highway after me. No lights though. And I’m not sure he turned them back on, but I pulled over anyway when I found a safe place a mile or so later. I sat there, and he pulled into a lot on the other side of the road. No lights. Turned around and headed back… Maybe he didn’t want to hassle somebody from Wisconsin, or maybe just felt like giving me a break since I did eventually get slowed down, and did stop in a safe place… I decided to go through Monument Valley this trip. (I have several main routes I take out this direction, and each one has several smaller arteries I change up….) I have stayed on Hwy 191 the last couple of times through Mexican Water, but the last 5 miles of that road get really rough. So I took 191 to 163 through Mexican Hat, and then straight into Kayenta. And it’s interesting to see the geology of Monument Valley ! No pictures tho as the sun would have faded them out. I had planned to stop at Navajo National Monument campground, but since it was a little later from our routing through Loveland Pass, decided to just stop at Kayenta. Rosanne found a nice restaurant here inside one of the hotels, and there was a large lot for truck parking nearby behind the Burger King. So that’s where we are at for the night. We’ll get to Lake Powell and Stateline Auxiliary ramp near the Wahweap Marina late morning tomorrow, as we are only a couple hours away. Once on the lake, our cell coverage is pretty sporadic. (Only have coverage near the marina, and then when in sight of Navajo Mountain where a tower is.) So probably won’t be posting every night.Read more
Traveler Great testiment.
10/14/25Reply
I continue to enjoy your trip from my home. [Sussn A]
10/14/25Reply
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Navajo Canyon
October 13 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
Woke up to some rain this morning, and it stayed with us about half way to Page. Made a quick stop at the Page Walmart to pick up a few groceries. While Rosanne shopped, I started prepping the boat a little bit to launch. The Glen Canyon Bridge had some construction going on, down to one lane, so we waited a few minutes until our turn to cross. Met Alain with DeJa La, another C-Dory 25, at the Stateline Auxiliary ramp parking lot, and finished prepping our boats to launch. Along with Rosanne, we helped each other get launched. So much easier with two people, especially on a somewhat shallow ramp. Although I don’t think I had to back as far in this time as I did in April. Water is about 14 feet lower, but the ramp must have a bit more slope at this level. Right after I launched C-Traveler, and pulled the truck up out of the way, it was at this point my day started to not go so well. Come to find one of the main bolts that hold the two outer trailer main frames to the pole tongue, had lost its nut and the bolt had backed out far enough for the left side of the trailer frame to sag down. With Alain helping, I was able to get the frame back where it belonged and pushed the bolt back through. I always do a trailer walk around each evening and morning, and any time I stop. I think I would have noticed this, this morning before leaving our night parking lot, but I did not check again at Walmart. Remember how rough I’ve said the interstate roads are! I will be doing a thorough check of all the trailer hardware when I get back home. (I did do a quick look at all the main trailer bolts!) Issue two. Then after Alain and I parked our truck and trailers up in the parking lot, he was telling me about a blowout he had, and I decided to check my pickup tires a little closer. Now I do occasionally check the tread, especially when I rotate the tires, every other oil change. Well, while I did change oil before leaving home, I did not rotate the tires, and I guess I should have been paying closer attention to the tires before this long trip. (Normally I would have.) Unfortunately, the left rare tire was pretty close to bald all around the center of the tire, and in one spot, was bald. The other rear tire had a little more tread, but still well below the wear bars. The front tires were just barely above the wear bars. I don’t feel safe driving the next 1800 miles home, so I have an appointment at the local Ford dealer in Page to get new tires before we leave. Final issue, and I took care of it already. DAMN BRAKES! Yeah, still battling the trailer brakes. While my fabrication of replacing the rubber slider pin boots with bronze seems to be holding up quite well, I’ve now had two brake pads come off the backing plate. The first one was on our trip to the Erie Canal. I do have two spare calipers with me, but I just added some new pads to my spare parts, so was able to just replace the one pad. In regards to the trailer frame bolt, I’m still missing a nut, and plan to buy a new one when we leave. In the mean time I have a heavy duty ratchet strap, (yeah, I carry those too…lol) holding the frame tightly together, and I’ll zip tie the bolt in there for the 5 miles into Page from Wahweap. We found a nice small beach area here in Navajo Canyon to stop for the night. Before leaving Wahweap, Rosanne and I enjoyed nice showers at the marina. Got a late start on the water with all my maintenance stuff, but did go in and out of Antelope Canyon, before turning into Navajo Canyon.Read more
2 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Padre Bay
October 14 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 72 °F
Very peaceful night last night, and only down to mid 60’s. A little confusing getting up this morning. The issue being with time zones. Arizona does not follow day light’s saving time, but the Navajo Nation does. Utah of course also does. The problem pops up on our cell phones when they switch between an Arizona tower, or a Utah tower. Or a Navajo Nation tower. So anyway we agreed with Alain we would use Arizona time. Unfortunately, my cellphone switched over to a Utah tower before losing service, so we woke up an hour earlier than we had to! I fixed that today, and manually set my phone to follow Arizona time! It was a bit breezy today, so the main channel was a bit choppy. Before leaving our beach this morning, I hiked up the hill in front of us. I noticed a lot of critter tracks in the sand. Perhaps somebody can tell me what critter made them. (I added some photos of them.) I’m guessing perhaps a large crow? Then after departing, we turned to continue up Navajo Canyon. We were beached about 7 miles in from the main channel of Lake Powell, and went in another 3.5 miles before turning around as I don’t think we could have gotten much farther. Came out of Navajo and was planning to stop at Padre Point, at a beach I stopped at in April. When we got there, we found that the 15’ drop in water since then, had pretty much made that area unusable, except for maybe one boat. We continued on and found a nice large beach area along the main channel, just before reaching Padre Bay. Eventually we went hiking up into the bluffs around us. Rosanne just went part way, and then Alain and I climbed much higher. It’s interesting to see some of the beach plants with blooming buds on them. They’ve had a lot of rain in the area over the past week or so. We’ve only had sporadic cell service and even then barely enough to get a text. Alain has generously allowed me to log into his Starlink when he has it running, so I’ll get this uploaded shortly.Read more
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
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Forbidding Canyon
October 15 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 64 °F
I’m going to start this blog with a bit of sad news. One of Rosanne’s sisters, Madonna, husband passed away a few days ago. The funeral is on Friday, October 24th, so we made the decision to cut our trip short so we could attend his funeral. We’ll miss seeing my dad this time as we had planned to leave here on the 23rd to go spend a short week with him down in Goodyear. We’ll plan to get back down to Goodyear sometime early next year. My appointment for the truck tires is first thing Monday morning, after which we’ll start our 1700 mile trip back home, getting in on the 23rd. This still gives us a week on Lake Powell.
I’ve seen a lot more boating activity on the lake than what was here in April. Numerous wake boats and some fisherman and houseboats. I guess I didn’t expect to see it still this busy in October. The water temps are still right around 70.
The winds were really howling mid day, and again tonight. We are at the Rainbow Bridge dock, and the boat is just a rockin’ in the wind. I’d estimate a steady 20 mph with gusts to 35+! Right down the canyon with our bow into the wind. After departing this morning, we came around Padre Butte and had planned to go explore Face Canyon. However, entering the canyon there are a lot of rocks and shoals and my track from April would have taken us right into several rocks now above water. Not trusting my prior track, and not wanting to pick my way through the entrance, I decided we would skip this canyon. Rounded Gregory Butte and Camel Rock and entered into West Canyon. A number of rocks entering here as well, but a little easier to pick my way through with the chart plotter. Entered slowly at around 3mph and after about a mile we were in deeper water. Went back in about 7 miles until we found the end of the water. I had stayed near the end of this canyon last April, and the spot I was beached at, with the lower water, no longer had beach at the shoreline. And the end was now just a few hundred feet past that spot. It was only noon anyway, so we weren’t ready to stop for the day. Along the way we passed an old sunken boat. I did not see this boat when here in April, but with the water levels 14’ lower now, it was likely under water! Came back out of the canyon and around 2pm, started looking for a spot to stop for the day. Nothing seemed to have a sandy beach. Everything was pretty much sandstone. We pulled into Dangling Rope Canyon where a marina use to be. Eerie to see pretty much everything gone. But still some old tires, cables and buoys. There is still the old tramway down from the employee housing, which is also still up there behind the bluffs. Would love to hike up there and check it out. However, there were only a few spots that we might have possibly beached the boats, but they were small and with a cross wind blowing, not easy to pull in to. So we pressed on. Finally getting to Forbidding Canyon, just decided to go up it and stay at the Rainbow Bridge dock for the night. We won’t hike up to the Rainbow Bridge this trip, as you have to wade through some water to get to the hiking path. With the lower water levels, the park service had to pull the docks back some into deeper water, and they no longer provide access to the path.Read more
TravelerOur condolences to your family, James
10/16/25Reply
Looks like a Trash Tracker barge. [Jan Hertzen]
11/6/25Reply
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Hole in the Rock
October 16 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Winds finally died down sometime late last night. But still a little breezy today. Didn’t see anyone else come into Forbidding Canyon, which is not surprising since the dock is no longer connected to the Rainbow Bridge path. You have to swim or wade to get to the path. Went into two canyons today that I don’t think I’ve ever been in to. At least I don’t have any prior tracks on my chartplotter. First one was Hidden Passage Canyon. The Second one was Reflection Canyon. Both these canyons (like the others,) have some shallow areas to transverse. We went as far as we could in both canyons. I didn’t take a lot of photos in them, as I had one hand on the steering wheel and one on the throttle. And trying to watch both my depth sounder and the scenery! While much of the canyons still have deep water, it’s not uncommon for a rock or shoal to pop up if not paying attention. And one minute you can be in 200 feet of water, while in the next minute you only have 20 feet beneath you. I have a couple of photos that really show the low water levels of Lake Powell. On the chart plotter you can see a cut that at normal water levels you could cross with plenty of depth. The next photo is looking out the window at a 20 foot high canyon wall. This is the exact same location that the chart plotter shows as navigable. In Reflection Canyon, if you are familiar with Lake Powell, we made it all the way to where it splits into two channels. We decided to follow the right one a little farther. It was a short distance as within a few hundred feet we were down to 3’ of water. I was also surprised (and I’m sure the other guy was too), to see a runabout come out with a guy and his two dogs, shortly after we entered Reflection. I did take two videos cruising through the canyons. The one in Reflection is short enough to upload to this post. The Hidden Passage video was too long, but you can find that on my Youtube channel at: https://youtu.be/MO_hVJL1lcg. I think this is about my fifth or sixth time here at Lake Powell, and I continue to be in awe at the scenery of the canyons. To wonder what it was like before the dams flooded the canyons. To think about the settlers that drove their cattle and wagons down Hole in the Rock, where we are beached nearby for the night. I don’t know if Lake Powell will ever return to its full capacity. Between increased water usage and global warming that has decreased the inflow, it continues to lower. Yet, in the main channel, and even some of the feeder canyons, there are still depths of over 300 feet, while looking up at the canyon walls that must be at least that height above us. My photos don’t do it justice.
I am a lot less stressed tonight. Our new tires are at the Ford dealer now, and I found a hardware store in Page that will be open Sunday until 6pm, that has an assortment of bolts/nuts that should fit the boat trailer. We have settled in on our travel plans heading home, other than exactly which route I’ll take, but I can make that up as we go along! Lol. Life is good. God is good.Read more
Nice write up. Mike Moser [MM]
10/17/25Reply
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Cathedral in the Desert and Davis Gulch
October 17 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F
Much calmer today with just a little breeze. Left our beach here near Hole in the Rock, and headed up towards Escalante River Arm. Soon after departing we came to Ribbon Canyon. There is a boat up in a canyon crevice that sunk a long time ago and is a ways above the water line now. I could barely see it in April, but no joy today. Onward to the Escalante. As you enter the Escalante, you go past a group of caves high up in the canyon wall. (And there are a lot of caves at water level now also.) We turned into Clear Creek to go check out Cathedral in the Desert. When I was here in April, I think there was about 10’ of water inside the Cathedral. And several years before that, I think twice that much. Today it is dry inside, except for a tiny stream that comes from a waterfall. This is only my third time in it. My cruising buddy that I was with in April, showed it to me a couple years prior. My photos don’t do it any justice. Very neat canyon that twists and narrows near the top. And the acoustics echo. We were able to beach just outside the Cathedral, which made for an easy walk in. After spending a bit of time there, we headed back out of Clear to go into Davis Gulch. Between the two, is a small unnamed canyon that is fun to check out. There are some different layers of hanging gardens at the end of that canyon, and I pulled up a photo from April, to compare with a photo today, in regards to the lower water levels. We entered Davis Gulch and got very close to the waters end in it. (I stopped when I was down to just 3 feet of water under me, and where there was a lot of vegetation blocking the corner, beyond which became a mud flat.) Turned around and headed back to the beach we stayed at last night. (I uploaded a couple of short videos in Davis Gulch. For a longer video, see my youtube channel: https://youtu.be/PxyrW7R-3x8 . Decided I’d do some Striper (Striped Bass) trolling. Fired up the kicker, which has been working good the past couple of times I started it up and ran it for a bit. It worked for a short while, and then quit. I got it running again, but for only a short time. Gave up, started the Main back up, put the fishing gear away, and on to the day’s destination. Ok, this is just going to be my weird happening crap trip. After getting back to the beach, I pulled the cover off the kicker to find that the oil fill cap had come off. Of course some oil had blown out… The one thing I didn’t have with me this trip. Alain had some he gave me, so I topped the oil off, put a new cap on, (long story, but I do have a few spare oil caps!) and started back up. I think that was the problem. Beyond my knowledge why missing the oil cap would cause the fuel to keep losing suction. (Each time the kicker stopped, I had to pump the fuel bulb again to get it going.) I’ll run on it again at full throttle for a while tomorrow and see how it does. We are heading back to Wahweap now and will just stay in the main channel and continue to run slow at 6 or 7 mph to conserve fuel.Read more
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Beach 20 (Padre Butte area)
October 18 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F
An easy 37 miles today, and we are back at the same beach we stopped at our second night here. Close to river mile 20, or just west of Padre Point. We don’t have the entire beach this time, as there are two more cruisers beached at the other end. Just stayed in the main channel of Lake Powell, enjoying the scenery along the way. So, I tried the Kicker again today. It ran fine for a while, but then died again. Seems to be getting fuel ok this time. But the engine seemed pretty hot, and later on after it cooled off and I started it again, I noticed the pee stream was hotter than I thought it should be. Guess I’ll be digging deeper into it at home. Actually, I did run it again at the beach here. Started right up. I put it in gear and ran it for about 10 minutes at around 50% throttle. Worked fine, however the pee water was too hot to hold my hand in. I won’t do anymore with it until I get home. I’ll see if it has a thermostat and run a compression check… Took a few photos today along the way, but mostly left the camera down and just enjoyed the scenery. It’s a very sunny 74 out right now (3 in the afternoon), but feels much warmer. Light breeze when we were out on the water in some areas, but we’re not feeling it here, probably with the land west of us providing protection. Rosanne and I walked long the beach a bit, and then Alain and I went back out for a walk. Maybe some trackers are reading this that can tell me what kind of animals are making the tracks along the beach. We have 20 miles left to go tomorrow, so should get back to Wahweap by lunch time.Read more
2 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Page, Az
October 19 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
Off the water and in the local Walmart parking lot tonight. We were treated last night by the family at the other end of the beach, to a few fireworks. That is, we could see them from where we were. They only shot off three, and they did it soon after night fall. Nice day today, with a lot of houseboats and cruisers on the water. Seemed like everyone was headed back in to either Antelope Point Marina, or Wahweap marina. We were passed by one huge triple decker houseboat towing two smaller boats, one of which was fairly sleek. It got pretty choppy in the narrows just before Antelope Point Marina, and then again past the marina. But this area is known for this because of how narrow it is, and especially when it’s transversed by a lot of boats. Alain cruised with us until we stopped at the Wahweap marina for showers. He will stay on déjà la a few more days in Wahweap Bay before he pulls out and heads back home to Tucson. After showers and lunch, we headed over to the Stateline Auxiliary ramp where we launched. It too was rather busy, but we were able to load out without a wait. Got the boat tidied up, passed the invasive species inspection, and then headed up to the hardware store to get the trailer hardware I needed. They didn’t have a stainless steel bolt long enough, but the did have a nylon lock nut. I checked my original bolt out and it didn’t have any damage from coming loose. Redds Ace Hardware kindly loaned me the wrench and socket I would need to reinstall the bolt and nut, as I didn’t have any 15/16” tools with me. I used some red locktite when I installed the nut. From there we headed over to Walmart to do some shopping and stop for the night. We decided to go get Mexican food for supper at El Tapatio (it was very good!), and then returned to Walmart for the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll get over to Lake Powell Ford early to get our new truck tires, and then start the 1600 mile drive home. I did manage to get a video of my view from the helm when loading the boat on the trailer. I had to come in at an angle due to another boat on the dock. Warning, no crash at the end of the video. Right as I got to the bow stop, the vibration knocked my iPhone off the chartplotter that I had balanced it on to record the video! Lol!Read more
4 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Mcinnis Canyons (Ut/Co State Line)
October 20 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
Up early this morning, and made our breakfast in the Walmart parking lot. Over to Lake Powell Ford at 7:30am, for our 8:30 tire appointment. The mechanic came out and got the truck at 8am, and they were finished around 9:30a. We were on the road by 10. 370 miles later, and we are camped out at McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. Pretty drive today through Monument Valley. Been pulling gas leftover on the boat, to fill the truck. I think I still have about 10 gals in the boat tank, but we’re at a bit of an angle this evening, so not able to finish drawing it out. I store the boat over the winter without gas. I have a little electric pump that I can connect at the main fuel filter to draw the fuel out. I brought three, five-gallon gas cans along with me for that purpose, not knowing how much gas I would have left after Lake Powell. I ended up with about 45 gallons. (Saving on truck gas costs, as I paid $2.49/gal for the gas in the boat before we left home, and costs along the way today have ranged between a low at one station south of page for $3.04, and other stations between $3.23 and $3.59/gal.)Read more
Nice [Mike Moser]
10/23/25Reply
4 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Ogallala, Ne
October 21 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 32 °F
Uneventful day. Up early, and just shy of 500 miles. Enjoyed the scenery of the Rockies along I-70. At the Walmart in Ogallala, Ne. There is a dirt parking lot right next door for RV and Truck parking. We're camped out amongst the truckers tonight. Supper was Walmart Chicken, a bag salad mix, and one of our own potatoes Rosanne nuked in the microwave. Living the high life. lol.Read more
4 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Newton, IA
October 22 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 52 °F
Up early this morning again, and on the road by 6:30a local or 7:30a home time. Got to my planned destination, 450 miles later, at the Cracker Barrel in Des Moines at 4p, making good time today. A little early to call it quits for the night, so had supper, and then drove another 40 miles to a Loves truck stop in Newton, Ia. It's definitely fall around here. Last night with a low of 29. Our Webasto heater is working well! A little over 250 miles to go to home, so we'll be there a little after lunch.Read more
3 likes
Fall Lake Powell
Home
October 23 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 48 °F
On the road at 7:15a this morning. 263 miles later, and we pulled in our driveway at noon. Unloaded the boat and pickup, ate lunch and then changed the outboards oils and lower unit lube. Winterized the potable water system. I'll continue cleaning C-Traveler and doing other maintenance on it in the coming week, and then tuck it away for winter. C-Traveler traveled on her trailer 15,731 miles this year. I believe most the trips were blogged here on Find Penguins. Travel involved boating in Florida, the Pacific Northwest, two trips to Lake Powell, the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, the Erie Canal, Door County here in Wisconsin, and several local lake days. Also wanted to add this late note. When I was at Lake Powell in April, the water level was at 3,558. This trip it was at 3,546, so actually 12' lower. That 12' was quite noticeable when comparing the same areas from both trips.Read more
TravelerWow, definitely getting some use out that Dory
10/23/25Reply
4 likes

Trip end
October 23, 2025