Flagstaff, Arizona to Monument Valley, Utah - September 27th

After spending the night in a cabin with a wood-fired stove (actually gas-fired really), we woke to find a layer of frost on the cars outside. What a contrast from the temperatures of previous days! The altitude of 7000 feet makes all the difference. The group converged on our hotel, and we set off for the Grand Canyon. After an hour or so, the heat of the sun caused all the jackets and sweaters to disappear. We spend several hours at the Grand Canyon on the South Rim. The scale is overwhelming.

We had a good lunch at the lodge, before continuing to several overlooks of the canyon. It was on one of these excursions that the "leader" of the group (name removed to spare blushes) had the major embarassment of running out of gas! Fortunately Darrell, our saviour on more than one occasion, had a can containing some gas, but not enough to get us to the gas station, so we had to siphon some out of one of the other cars...

From the Grand Canyon, we set off on another 100+ mile drive to Monument Valley, on the Utah border with Arizona. Cisco continues to keep running, though I think that all the miles and high temperatures are taking their toll. There are more and more odd "clunks" coming from the car and I am becoming paranoid about any unusual symptoms. We have now covered more than 1000 miles on the trip, and we aren't half way yet! A couple of us are staying at "The View" hotel in the Monument Valley Park itself. We managed to arrive before sunset to witness the changing colors of the rocks as the sun goes down. I am looking forward to seeing the sunrise from my room tomorrow morning if I wake up in time. I miss having our dog Maggie to wake me up for breakfast!

Sunset in Monument Valley

Tomorrow, we move on to Colorado...