Arizona in a day

We left Kayenta, Arizona at around 7:00AM Arizona time, before the sun had even started to peek out of the horizon. The plan was to visit Monument Valley early in the morning, then to go to the Grand Canyon before heading toward California. We wanted to get an early start so that we could make up some of the time we lost in the ice and snow the previous day.

From Kayenta, in the heart of the Navajo Nation, it was only a short drive to the Utah state line and to Monument Valley. Before dawn, we could barely see the ominous rock formations standing on either side of us, but as the sun began to rise, we saw their silhouettes against the glorious rich colors of a desert sunrise. We stopped and waited, snapping pictures from time to time, as often as our cold fingers would allow us; it was only around 15†F.

Lots of people can say they've been to Monument Valley, but we can count ourselves among the relative few who can say they've been there at daybreak.

When the sun had finished its ascent into the sky, we left Monument Valley (and Utah) and headed for Tuba City on our way to the Grand Canyon.

(An aside: Every time I see, hear, or think about the name, Tuba City, the worst song ever composed gets stuck in my head. "The tuba, the tuba, aruba, aruba..." Thanks, Dad.)

Between Tuba City and the Grand Canyon, there are a few scenic overlooks which double as tourist traps; to reach the overlook, you have to pass through two rows of stalls where dealers peddle Navajo jewelry to unsuspecting tourists. We, of course, bought a few things. My favorite purchase is a silver turtle with its shell inlaid with azurite and malachite; they resemble the earth as they blend together.

The road to the Grand Canyon is uphill most of the way, and pretty soon, we found ice and snow along the road again. For the most part, the roads were well-cleared, and it didn't take us long to get up to the canyon itself. Traffic was nearly non-existant in the direction we were travelling.

We stopped at a few vistas to look out over the canyon. They say that the Grand Canyon looks different in every season. In the winter, the north rim, currently closed for the winter, is pale and pastel in the distance, while nearer by, the red rock along the south rim is peppered with snowfall on every flat surface. It was stunning, of course, and overwhelming.

There is a tradeoff, of course, to visiting a place like this during the winter. On the positive side, the park wasn't nearly as crowded as it would have been during the summer. Each vista had plenty of room for those who braved the cold winter day to see the beauty of the canyon, and the forest was beautiful beneath the powdered snow. However, as cold as it was, we weren't able to explore the park the way we might have liked to. We could only tolerate 15 or 20 minutes outside of the car at a time. It would have been nice to spend more time there.

As we drove our way slowly down the winding paths toward the exit, we noticed some cars pulled over on the side of the road. To our surprise, a wolf was standing nearby, within range for a beautiful picture. We snapped a couple of shots and left, but we were dismayed to see people getting out of their cars to get a closer shot. Back in the forest, there were a few more wolves scrambling through the snow, but we drove on and away from the canyon.

Once we left the Grand Canyon, we took an almost straight shot to California, heading through Williams, AZ to get onto I-40 and head west. We stopped in Kingman to eat and buy drinks for the road. While we were there, C picked up the soundtrack to the movie version of Chicago. By the time we hit the outskirts of L.A., we knew most of the songs on the CD, and we sang along loudly as we flew downhill with the L.A. traffic. C gripped the seat tightly the whole time, but we had a straight shot down toward San Diego, our intended destination, so we took it. We stopped for the night at a motel in Escondido and went to bed, so that we could be up early in the morning to visit San Diego.

That was our day trip through Arizona. We'll pass through there again tomorrow on our way back to Texas.