A wind advisory was in affect today from 11am until 8pm across most of Arizona. Winds were expected to be between 25 and 35mph with gusts over 45mph. We ate breakfast and were departing the cabin by 8am. Temps were moderate at 48F and expected to rise to the mid 70s.
Our plan was to ride out the eastern exit of the park and ride down into the painted desert and then on to Sedona for lunch. The painted desert didn’t disappoint with varied colors of orange, pink and green.
On the way south along Arizona 89, we turned off at the Wupatki National Monument. We didn’t really know what to expect. We saw several really interesting ruins from the ancient agricultural Native Americans that inhabited this volcanic plateau. They built their dwelling around existing rock outcroppings.
We continued on and came across the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. This volcano released ash and lava nearly 1,000 years ago, surprising the local tribes that lived there at the time.
We stopped to have a look at the lava flow and gnarled old pine trees.
The entire area surrounding this volcano is covered in a black rocky soil. The trees look like they are growing out of asphalt.
Our next stop was Sedona and their fabled red rocks. The drive into the town is gorgeous with twisty roads and the soaring rocks on both sides.
We ate lunch at Javelina Cantina. The restaurant has a great view of the red rocks and excellent food. We ate there 10 years ago on our last trip and were happy to see it still there.
After lunch we headed back to our cabin at Bright Angel in the GCNP. The winds had picked up and were gusting hard all the way back. Michele’s complaints went on deaf ears considering Rob and Tom rode 300 miles through Texas and New Mexico in those conditions! We arrived back at the park around 5pm and soon after headed off for dinner and then treated ourselves to a dessert of chocolate chip peanut butter delight pie….Yummm.
Tomorrow we head north to Zion where we’ll stay for 4 nights.
No comments:
Post a Comment