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  Our Subaru Outback was the perfect vehicle for this trip. Seen here in the Painted Desert.
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  There were few rest stops along our route, but this was one of the best.
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  Route 66 history was everywhere along I-44 and I-40, which parallel the route of the original highway.
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  Every state had a decent welcome center for picking up maps and tourist info.
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  Our vacation really seemed to start when we got to New Mexico and its unfamiliar terrain.

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  We ate a picnic lunch here, but it was hard to stay out of the blazing sun.
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  Sandia Peak outside Albuquerque is a 10,000 ft peak with a cable car to the top.
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  Of course we had to ride it!
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  This stretch is comprised of a full mile of suspended cables!
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  A nice view of Albuquerque, and then we ate at a Mexican restaurant back down at the bottom.

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  Some very busy tracks paralled I-40, and we saw trains every few miles along them.
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  A view from the car window. It sure is different terrain from what we're used to in Michigan!
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  Finally to our first destination state on our 4th day on the road.
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  This is what passes for a picnic area. At least it offers some shade.
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  This was one of the original hotels built by Fred Harvey shortly after the railroad was built. Very primitive by modern standards.

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  Set here as part of the geologic survey.
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  A view out over the Painted Desert.
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  Another artifact commemorating Route 66, which passed right through the current park grounds.
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  People used to actually live out here several hundred years ago.

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  Looks like wood, but is totally petrified.
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  Some pieces have crystalline quartz inside.
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  We made it!

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  Our first sight of the canyon. We took a lot of pictures of it, but they really can't do it justice, so I'm only including a few.
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  We booked a guided tour by bicycle and had a very interesting ranger as a guide.
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  We made quite a few stops along the way. It was a fun ride -- and almost all downhill.
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  Many interesting shadows late in the day.
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  Our hotel for three nights in Grand Canyon Village, right on the rim.

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  This was the earliest lodge to be built here -- again in the Fred Harvey era -- and has hosted a number of Presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton.
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  Not the greatest view, but that is the canyon out there.
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  Another old village building that still serves as a souvenir shop for Native American arts and crafts.
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  Starting down into the canyon on one of the major trails.
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  Very steep going, and a lot tougher coming back up!

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  There were quite a few other people, many of them going all the way to the bottom for an overnight stay.
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  These grow on the sides of the canyon. This is also what tequila is made from.
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  This was as far as we planned on going.
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  A popular stopping point on the South Kaibab.
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  We made it! Now for a long climb back up.

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  That's Indian Springs down there, and you can see a group of mules taking a break.
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  Overnight trips by mules are popular.
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  This train connects with Amtrak in Williams, AZ, and brings people up for day trips or to stay in the village.
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  We had another great ranger who conducted us on the "Gealogy Walk" where we learned a lot about the formation and geology of the canyon.
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  Still feeling pretty good at the end of a long day.

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  At the end of our first full day, ready for dinner and evening activities.
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  They have a lot of warnings about the dangers of hiking unprepared.
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  This is the closest trail to the village and the most popular for canyon descents.
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  Life clings to the rocks wherever it can.
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  The trail goes ever down and down...

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  We didn't go down as far this day as the previous one.
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  A long way back up!
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  Pack mules are the only way to get supplies down to Phantom Ranch and bring waste back up.
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  This is a landmark at the east end of the national park. It looks medieval, but was built specifically for the park.
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  The river is more visible here a the upstream end of the canyon.
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  Couldn't resist another long canyon shot.
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  It looked like this out the windshield for a lo-o-ong way across Arizona.

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  Our next stop on the way to Las Vegas.
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  An impressive piece of civil engineering and construction.
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  This is a generator room that can be seen on one of the available tours.
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  Art Deco sculptures, typical of public works built in the 1920s.

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  The lake behind the dam supplies five different downstream areas with water, ranging from California agriculture to Mexico.
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  This is a National Recreation Area just outside of Las Vegas.
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  Again, interesting rocks everywhere.
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  This is what passes for an "easy" trail around here.

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  The camera's not tilted; the rocks are.
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  Inside the Bellagio on our casino tour.
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  My cousin lives here and took us on a great tour of some of the casinos. Another new landscape to see!
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  These go off every half hour and are timed to varying pieces of music.
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  Rick, Deb, Doug and Anthony. Notbing like being shown around by true "insiders."
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  The beauty of Zion Canyon hit us right away after the many miles of treeless desert getting there.
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  This is where we spent our first night after arriving at the park.
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  Most of the rooms are in these wings next to the main lodge.

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  The lodge had a very nice restaurant and the usual souvenir shops and park information.
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  Our first trail in Zion started out across this bridge.
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  Small lizards were everywhere, scampering across the rocks.
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  This was the trail to the Middle Pools.

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  The pools are along the ledge, up just a bit more.
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  One of the pools lying near the ledge, overlooking a side canyon.
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  Zion is noted for these narrow canyons in the rocks.
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  Unlike the Grand Canyon, Zion's trails start out up instead of down, which makes it a bit easier on the return trip.
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  The trail started out next to a stream that comes down from the heights.

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  The Watchman is one of the landmark peaks surrounding the canyon, and is located very near the park's southern entrance.
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  It's hard to describe all the color variances in the layers of sandstone and limestone that make up the walls of the canyon.
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  This is the top end of the trail. You can see the visitor center down below in the background; that's where the Watchman Trail starts.
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  In another part of the park, this "waterfall" comes from water that seeps out of the rocks in the place known as "Weeping Rock." There are many similar places around Zion.

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  A particularly scenic canyon view. There were a number of professional-lookiing photographers taking pictures in this spot.
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  Various types of vegetation grows wherever water seeps out of the sandstone rocks.
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  After crossing the Virgin River here, you can continue upriver to a narrow slot canyon where the river comes into the main canyon. We didn't have the shoes for it, so took a pass.
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  This is from the patio in back of the room that we stayed in on our second night. It's alongside the river and you can easily walk into the park from here.
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  The east entrance of Zion uses a 1920s tunnel that is narrow enough that it only allows one-way traffic if a bus or other large vehicle needs to get through. We waited here a few minutes for a tour bus to clear.

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  It was a nice break while we waited.
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  This was our lodging in Moab, Utah for a couple of days.
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  This park, just outside Moab, has some amazing rock structures formed by erosion.
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  A famous landmark in the park.

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  This might give you a better idea of the scale of this formation. It's huge!
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  Another good illustration of scale.
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  This was a rare cool, cloudy day, which actually made it comfortable to be sightseeing outdoors.
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  Wonder how it got its name?
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  On a hot day this would not have been a very pleasant place.
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  This park is mainly known for being open to off-road vehicles such as jeeps, ATVs, and mountain bikes. There is only a limited road route for cars.
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  "Island in the Sky" is the name of the high butte that the road loop is on, giving spectacular views of the desolate eroded canyons below.
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  You can see the ruggedness of the lower levels from this overlook. That's also where the off-road trails are located!

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  The Union Pacific Railroad has a visitor center and 8-story observation tower at its yard near Kearney, Nebraska. We stopped on our way back along I-80.
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  This is the largest operating rail yard in the world.
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  OK, allow us one pure tourist trap to relieve the Interstate boredom!
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  Judy and Anne.

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  On our last night on the road, we drove here from our hotel in Portage, Indiana.
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  We walked over the dunes to the lake.
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  After two weeks in the dry desert, we were glad to get back home and to the largest freshwater reservoir on the planet!
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  I think our car looks like it's done every one of those 5000 miles that we drove.