We're back from our two week vacation in Northern Arizona. The trip was great except for our unfortunate car strike with a deer at 6AM on a dark, deserted road to the north rim of the Grand Canyon which caused us to have to turn around and return our rental car to Flagstaff, thus making our hoped for visit to the beautiful north rim a "to do some other time" event. Believe me I've said numerous "thank-you's to God" since the incident, and we were very lucky the car remained drivable enough to get us back to Flagstaff, albeit with no head lights, turn signals or air conditioning. USAA insurance to the rescue.
While I would have liked to have seen the Grand Canyon, my wife was there before so she was not that disappointed. Frankly, neither was I afterwards, because the other sights we saw made my jaw drop. Red Rocks in Sodona, Sunset Crater lava flows, Indian ruins at Watpatki and Walnut Canyon, Canyon deChelly (actually better in some ways than the Grand Canyon), and Monument Valley. Driving through 40-50 mph wind sand storms in the Navajo Reservation was an experience, as was the constant bombardment of "views" almost everywhere we drove. My camera shutter could not stop clicking.
But, as is typical for us older folks, getting back home was the best part of the whole deal. Having been in the extreme dryness of Arizona for two weeks, and mostly being well above 7000 feet in elevation all the time, made us really like living here in SW Virginia with all the humidity.
Pictures to follow when I get the time to sort them all out.
