Cliffs to Craters

After a mediocre attempt at the New York Times Spelling Bee (only reached Amazing) and a cup of Tom’s artisan coffee, we hit the road at 8:15ish.

Zion National Park is a must-see. The rock formations, colors and textures are absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately we were there so early in the day that the light did not do it justice in the photographs.

We left the park from the east entrance and paralleled the Grand Staircase Escalante for several miles. Distance helps to explain the idea of the staircase. When we visited the Staircase before it wasn’t apparent what the concept was. We reached Vermillion Cliffs and took a rest break.

The landscape transitioned to high desert again as we entered Kanab. Cathy wondered how her Johnny Popper was doing (ride from several years ago). We stopped for gas and espresso and then hit the road again.

We entered Arizona and stopped at Marble Canyon which is just upstream of the Grand Canyon. This picture taken from the Navajo Nation Bridge. The Colorado River was merely a trickle of what it was the last time we were here.

After that, it was a very windy grind to Flagstaff, Arizona (Don’t forget Winona).

We headed east from Flagstaff and went to Meteor Crater. This is the largest preserved meteor crater in the world and is a mile wide. As we entered, epic music was playing at the ticket booth. That should have been our sign because the cost of entry left an epic crater in Tom’s credit card! $54! For that, we got to visit the gift shop, watch a ten minute movie and snap a few photos.

In the end, it was a great big hole that left a great big hole in our pocketbook.

We headed for Winslow. The speed limit was 75 mph so made good time. We gassed up and jumped on Route 66 to La Posada, an historic hotel designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, a pioneering American architect. Here’s a link to some history about this beautiful place:

https://laposada.org/the-history-of-la-posada/

We had a fantastic dinner at the inn and a great bottle of wine in the garden.

Tomorrow we head south to Tucson! We’re looking forward to seeing our dear friend Mary! In the morning we will walk down Route 66 and find a corner to stand on.

Not many barns today, but here’s one.