The road from Zion National Park had us going in and out of Utah and Arizona more times than we could care to count. There is no direct route but sometimes thats just the beauty of being out on the road, free as a bird to go wherever the mood (or the road) takes you. Feet up on the dash, enjoying the sun shining through the windows and singing along to the Ipod we made good time and covered some real distance.

Through the Vermillion Cliffs, the Grand staircase Escalante National monument and over the Glen Canyon dam which was again impressive…but also quite beatuiful(minus the wire fence)! The water hundreds of feet below us in a gouged out red rock canyon stood with nowhere to go while at the other side the sprawling still water lakes sparkled in the sun light amid the arid desert…quite surreal really. The long road finally led us to Monument Valley in the middle of ‘Indian Country’. The Navajo nation is the largest Native American reservation in the US and extends as far and wide as New Mexico from Utah.

We arrived as the sun set and stopped in the street to let a band of horses cross in front of us being chased by dogs as people wandered down the street like it was an every day occurance. We heard sirens coming and thought ‘here come the police to round them up’ but it was an ambulance which didnt even seem to notice the horses and dogs in the road and drove straight by. We pulled up at a campsite as the sky turned orange and met the stray dogs running around the site as we hooked up the van.
After a good nights rest we drove towards the red sandstone pinnacles and buttes sticking out of the endlessly flat red sand desert. The archetypical wild west scene (as featured in Stagecoach with John Wayne!). The land hasn’t been taken over by a national park and is still in the stronghold of Navajo culture which made it more special but certainly less geared up for tourism. A 17 mile dust, crater filled loop road winds around the monoliths and We oohed and aahed in amazement at the sheer size of the huge rocks.

The Mittens were wonderful to see, just like a pair, one with a thumb on the right, one with a thumb on the left…no string holding them together though.The drive was bumpy and rough but Peggy took it all in her stride as usual.The three sisters loomed over us and we pondered why the elephant butte was named so. More animals chased by dogs ran across the dust track in front of Peggy, this time a herd of goats being rounded up by a lone dog but equally funny.

Once we had taken in as much as we could we got back on the road in the beaming sun to the Grand Canyon about 250 miles away.

This time the road was as flat as a pancake with tumbleweed blowing about and broken glass glittering along the sides of the road. Again we arrived as the sun had started to drop at the South Rim and entered the park with excitement and headed straight for our first view of the Grand Canyon. We parked up and jumped out of the van and on the walk to the rim realised it was cooler than we had imagined…when you’re driving all day with the sun shining on you through the glass and it looks like summer, you just presume it is warm outside! I had my shorts and vest on and had just pulled a jumper over my head. Alex had his shorts and jacket on and both of us wore flip flops. We had gotten half way to the view point when we saw the piles of snow scattered around where it had been cleared from the paths…then we saw that everyone else was wearing hyper extreme cold clothes and were giving us the strangest looks ever! My fashion faux pas at the Grand Canyon is a memory I will keep for a while! One particularly miserable woman looked me up and down like I was dirt so I stuck my tongue out at her…what difference did it make to her that I had shorts on, people realy make me laugh.

Anyway we finally made it to the view point with our blue knees and it was as amazing as you imagine. The scale is indescribable, the view unbelievable and to think it is all created by the Colorado river and the wind it is just too much to take in!
We drove the desert view drive which is 26 miles long and has amazing views over the canyon at every turn. We watched the colours change in the canyon as the sun set and just got to the campsite as it got dark.

No hook ups were available and we were the coldest we have been while we have been away. It was FREEZING cold and the frost on the roads and Peggy’s spluttering start the next morning were proof that we needed to get South!
We spent the morning walking around the canyon edge and enjoying the views just long enough to get a film of frost on our faces and an icicle or two on our noses. We had hoped to walk down into the canyon but the weather really put us off and we don’t have the clothes to wear to hike in such cold so we got back on the road and this time we were Mexico bound!
The Grand Canyon was spectacular and certainly one of the Earths most pwerful, inspiring landscapes. It completely overwhelms you and you can’t even begin to grasp the history the place holds. The information posts tell you of arrow heads, figurines, mines and decorated pots found inside the canyon, it leaves you wondering for how many thousands of years this place has been called home. My favourite quote from the information handed out is “today is just the latest page in a history still being written” it goes onto say “The Grand Canyon National Park is a gift presented to us. Our resposibility is to pass on this gift, pristine and preserved, to future generations”.
I really hope that my nephews and future family are lucky enough to see all of the amazing things we are, and that these monumental places are kept and looked after. It is scary to think of the things we have lost over the years as we damage our planet on a daily basis and can only hope that as we learn about the damage done, we can learn how to stop and how to preserve these things for our future generations.

See what happens next on our Wedding adventure!