Road Trip - day 7 - Friday

Even though the weather was calliing for cloudy skies, we awoke to a
bright and sunny warm day. I'd been awoken by a series of revving
engines around 6:45, but by 7, that had mostly ended and both of us
slept well, and until a little after 8!
We headed north on 15 for 4 miles to get onto the road that would take
us to Zion National Park and ultimately, the Grand Canyon. We were
dissappointed to find that there were lots of nice little hotels along
the way, in fact the little village just before Zion had several nice
places, but there had been no signage on the highway to indicate that.
Zion is pretty incredible and we were lucky to be able to take the
scenic route in our car. Next week that route is only accessable by
shuttle and would have taken more time than we had. The main road
through Zion though is just as scenic, if not more so. We drove in
narrow canyons between towering cliffs. The main road then winds back
and forth up a hill and through a long dark tunnel carved right out of
the stone. On the other side of the tunnel you come out into almost
another world, with very different stone formations.
Out of Zion Park my internet access kicked in for a few minutes and I
received a reply from brother Mark saying that he'd gladly have met us
in St. George or half way, for breakfast. We both felt really bad, but I
have to take full blame for not calling. I guess I just assumed too
much...
The ride to the Grand Canyon was very long and poor Deb almost flipped
when she saw the Grand Canyon access closed sign, but I explained that
we had to go to the South Rim of the canyon as North was closed
seasonally. The drive was very scenic down through mountains, over
chasms, and the Colorado and Little Colorado. Then into the Painted
Desert and finally we started uphill with a view of the early parts of
the canyon. The sky started to cloud over which is dissappointing to a
3D photographer. Sunlight enhances the 3D. But we didn't get any rain,
so that's something to be thankful for.
Finally we got to the toll both and judging from the signs, we figured
we had a ways to go before we'd get a good view. We pulled into the
first area just inside the park to look at the map and figure out which
way we were going. I looked up and saw the stone watchtower and I knew
we were there already, but I thought it would be fun to see Deb's
reaction, so I didn't tell her. I can't speak for her but I'm pretty
sure she was very impressed!
We had to move quickly as it was 4:30 when we arrived at the park. We
hit all the major lookout points and even chatted a little with a guy
that had just gotten back from the 2 day hike down the cliffs. Dusk was
falling as we hit the Grand Canyon Village. We talked about staying the
night in hopes that it would be a little sunnier next day, but we
decided to move on so we could get to the Petrified Forest / Painted
Desert park earlier next day.
The drive to Flagstaff was about 85 miles and took us over some really
desolate roads. As we drove we noticed more and more snow. We also
started noticing regularly placed elevaton makers as we climbed to 8,045
feet. We dropped down to about 8,000 as we entered Flagstaff. We found
the hotel district and chose a Quality Inn where we thankfully got an
inner circle room, away from the highway. The hotel was crowded and
walls were thin, but somehow we managed to sleep pretty well, I guess
we're just getting used to the noise.

Bruce and Deb
http://rosey462.blogspot.com/
notsosilentbruce on AOL IM