Spectacular Natural Wonders

The miles are rolling away fast and the touring is great. Since our last visit we have traveled to The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and Arches National Park. The views have been breathtaking (everyone breathe deeply). Many oooh-ahhh moments have happened.

After leaving Tucson, we parked the motor-home in Williams Arizona. It is about 60 miles away from the canyon. We hit the road to the canyon early to try and get good pictures. We did very well, walking the rim trail for about 2.5 miles, looking out over the havoc that nature does wroth. We learned a lot of history about the explorers of the canyon and the mining that brought people to the area. Most miners were disappointed with the finds, but some realized this could be an attractive tourist site. So they improved their claims and built hotels and shops. It is quite a history.

View from the rim...............Bright Angel Lodge

More views.........................Plus proof we were really there!

The second day in Williams is another misnomer; we spent the day going to Winslow (as in the Eagles song “Take It Easy”). Then we took a look at some cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon on the way back to Williams.

Standing on the Corner...........Cliff Dwellers in Arizona

Dinner that evening was at the Route 66 Cafe. We enjoyed the malt - a real treat. Williams was the last town on Route 66 that was bypassed by I40. They have the traffic light in the local visitor center. Someday we'll do the whole route.

Note James Dean in the background!

We started heading for Moab Utah, with a stop planned for Monument Valley. There are rock formations that have been revered by the Navajo for centuries. There have been a few western films shot there (at least the exterior shots) including the first Stagecoach.

Monument Valley - can you imagine John Wayne riding through this scenery

Moab Utah is the home of Arches National Park. It is famous for the sandstone rock formations, weathered by rain and wind to create holes in the rock. Once again we started an early day to get decent pictures.

There really is too much to see in just a couple of days. We hope to make it back sometime and spend more time exploring.

The Arches

After leaving the red rock country, we traveled up through Salt Lake City and across towards Nevada. It was so windy crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats that we went through a dust/salt storm. We made an unscheduled stop at Wendover, NV, because it was too windy to drive comfortably.

Bonneville - Salt Storm?

Our tour through Nevada included a couple of nights in a little town close to Reno. We drove up to Reno and over the Sierra Nevada to see Lake Tahoe. It was gorgeous. We didn't realie that the lake was so clear!

Lake Tahoe

The next day we crossed into California and started north - but that story will have to wait for our next post.

Happy Trails!