Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument: Toadstools
Spent the first night in Page, AZ. Still quite the dump. Here's a shot of Glen Canyon Dam just outside of town:
The next day, we hit up Grand Canyon first (haven't been there for about 20 years):
Drove a bit farther down the road and took the loop that takes in Wupatki & Sunset Crater National Monuments:
Even though it was only going to be about 22F that night, we had planned on camping at Sunset Crater. Well, the campground wasn't open yet, so we drove into Flagstaff and found a cheap motel instead. While checking in, they asked what make & model of vehicle I had. I told them the Pathfinder & the manager piped in with "oh, is that the new one?" I just about shit myself on the spot, but found out he was talking about the R51-just an out of touch Nissan fan. After clarifying that, I told him "no real man would be asking about the new upcoming Pathfinder."
Next morning, we headed down whichever highway it is that goes to Sedona (not the freeway). The drive goes through the largest stand of Ponderosa Pine in the world. Lots of snow still, so I was really kicking myself for not bringing along my backcountry skis. Stopped at Slide Rock State Park for a while, which must be swarming with people in the summer.
We spent a few hours in Sedona, both walking around & taking a few paved drives to see a bit of the area. No offense to those who like the area, but I found it rather bland & just a huge tourist trap. I stopped by the info center & the guy just about bit my head off when I told him I had a Pathfinder & wanted to see if there were any short 4x4 trails we could hit. He said Nissan isn't a Jeep & that an Xterra rolled just yesterday, and on & on & on. A bit strange, but whatever. I figure he probably tries to steer people to all the pink Jeep tours, of which there are a gazillion to choose from there.
Very artsy place. I drove by the high school and it is simply amazing, and that is putting it mildly. Here are two of the better sculptures I liked:
The new parental abode is 2 miles from the entrance to Saguaro National Park East in Tucson, so we naturally had a visit there.
Then a few hours at the Pima Air & Space Museum with my Dad. The place is absolutely gigantic.
We also hit up the Arizona-Sedona Desert Museum on the other side of town. Pretty interesting & worth a visit:
The backyard of their new place is 90% cactus. Probably about 14 different types. They also have a bobcat that likes to sleep back there in the morning, drink from the little pool of water from the drip system, then wanders back through in the evening. Neat looking guy, although I never had my camera in hand.
Pathfinder taking a nap on their driveway:
After a couple of days there, we headed back along the eastern part of AZ (anything to avoid Phoenix & the lame ass drive between Phoenix & Tucson). We ended up driving almost exclusively on Indian reservation roads, all of which have a 55mph speed limit. That alone was like a time warp back to the early 80's, but not in a good way. Ended up at the campground at Canyon de Chelly for the night. I noticed a few hundred semis, film trucks & lots of movie making equipment clustered across from the campground. I knew it had to be on the scale of a Hollywood production, but didn't find out until I got back that it was for the upcoming Lone Ranger movie. Canyon de Chelly was very pretty at sunset.
We left the following morning and made it to Monument Valley fairly early in the day. Still one of my favorite places to visit because the scenery is so spectacular.
The highway that we took just north of Monument Valley, which ends up pretty much in the lap of Natural Bridges National Monument, is my favorite drive in Utah. Especially if you drive it with someone who has never been on it. It goes right up to the base of a tall cliff, then turns into a dirt road that winds back and forth straight up the cliff face. Coming from the Utah side, as I first did way back when I was about 17, is quite a shock. Nice fairly straight highway & all of a sudden, BAM!, a bunch of warning signs & a huge cliff. I should have stopped at some point to get a photo, but didn't see any good places to really capture the whole thing.
Before the cliff walk, there is another little Utah gem known as Goosenecks State Park. Not much to it aside from free camping, a toilet & a fantastic view. If you've seen pictures of the ever so common Horseshoe Bend (scenic vista above the Colorado River), Goosenecks kicks ass & takes names over it. Not one bend, but 3 in a row along the San Juan River:
The best part is that nobody's ever heard of it, which is fine by me. That cliff road might have something to do with it as well, seeing as vehicles larger than a car are forbidden.
We originally wanted to spend another night somewhere, but decided to just gun it for Salt Lake instead. Next time I go down, I think I'll hook over into the very western part of New Mexico since there are a number of cool places on that route.
Beautiful!
