Scenic drives

After our full day at the Grand Canyon, “the cookies were all eaten” and we were due in the next hotel. As it was in Page, AZ the pressure was on to get there in time.

Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of fun things to do on the road between Tusayan and Page. We started our day off with the last part of the Grand Canyon which we didn’t do before: the Desert View Drive. This road takes you from the center of the park vis the west rim to the Painted Desert (hence the name) and out of the park. Along the road, there are a lot of stalls with native Navajo Indians trying to sell the tourists hand crafted jewellery, pottery and paintings. I’d say it’s not the best way to make a living…

Somewhere near Tuba City, on our way to the ever so grand Monument Valley, we ran across some dinosaur tracks. These were set in hard stone lying under softer limestone which washed away a few million years ago. The tracks were said to be 165 million years old (at least by our guide, Roger, a true Navajo tribesmen) and are being cared for by his chapter of the tribe. After those, we arrived at the windy Monument Valley.
The scenery over there is radical, yet it can only be accessed through a bumpy, strenuous, badly maintained dirt road. The local Indians offered tours, but these unfortunately did not fit in our schedule. So we took our Dodge to the road and drove the first mile ourselves, leaving the other 16 as they were. Too bad! I would’ve loved to see more of it! I’d highly recommend going there; the 110 mile d-tour is definately worth it!

After this, we quickly proceeded driving towards Page and quickly visited a famous curve in the Colorado river known as Horseshoe Bend. Am I a happy boy; having a 12 mm lens! Also, the Glen Canyon Dam was on our itinerary; this is the dam that holds back the water in Lake Powell.

Our hotel was great! Back to the old standards after our poor experience at the Grand Canyon. On Monday: more good stuff! Antelope Canyon, Bryce Canyon and everything in between!