Day 9 - Detour day!

It's been a long day travelling today - we covered nearly 400 miles!

The view from our balcony in Sedona this morning

The non-sunrise at 5.15am

We started the day waking up at 5.15 for the sunrise in Sedona.  I could barely open my eyes but managed to pad my way out onto the balcony.  Cameras in hand ready to go, Oli and I waited patiently.  It wasn't exactly the romantic picture I had in mind, just for the fact that it got lighter and lighter and we couldn't see the sun - our beautiful picturesque view of the mountains totally blocked it!  Ah well, we can see the sunrise somewhere else on route, but we'll never see that beautiful view again.

We managed to put our heads down for another couple of hours before getting ready to wander around beautiful Sedona.  It's a lovely place and the landscape is jaw-dropping as far as the eye can see.  The town itself is in keeping with the scenery - you won't find a McDonald's here!

A viewpoint in Red Rock canyon

All the small hotels, cafes and shops have a traditional hippy cowboy feel to them - I was hard pushed to find a tacky magnet to buy!  The people are really friendly and can't seem to do enough for you.  The atmosphere is really relaxed and calming.

Leaving Sedona behind

We drove the beast around the state park of Red Rock and took some fab pictures but time was ticking and we still had a long way to drive so it was time to leave pretty Sedona in peace and head 100 miles or so north.  We were planning on driving straight to Monument Valley but a local couple we got chatting to suggested we detour towards the sunset volcano crater as it's a sight to be seen - so we did!   

Sunset crater lava flow

Again this had picturesque views which went on for miles and miles, hardened lava covered a huge part of the surrounding area, quite a contrast to the natual untouched beauty not too far away.  Within the perimeters of the national park was a spot called the Painted Desert, this again was miles of beautiful landscape, so hard to get your mind around how vast it all is. 

Forest fire

A few more snaps later and we were back in the beast now heading another couple of hundred miles towards Monument Valley, while videoing out of the window I noticed smoke covering the montains behind us (some even have snow on but on the ground it's baking hot), Oli saw what seemed a small forest fire a few miles back and now it seemed it had spread hugely, time to put out foot down and drive outta there!

 

We had about an hour to go to get to Monument Valley when Oli saw a sign for the Grand Canyon 30 miles off our route, so close we had to divert towards it.  

I was just saying in my blog yesterday that we didn't do the helicopter trip from Vegas to see it but this was too close not to.  It was well worth the 1:15 hour round trip to see it, amazing sight standing right on the edge of it....I'll eat my words it's sooooo much more than "just a big hole"!!

A panoramic view of the famous "big hole"!

A little later than scheduled we arrived in Monument Valley, again we hadn't pre booked a room but found a lovely place just off the highway, a quick dinner in Monument Valley surrounded by the sights as it grew dark and the sky became awash with stars.  Oh yeah we didn't realise that MV is in Utah (just borders Arizona) and is an hour in front, so strange that we could practically have one leg in Utah and one in Arizona and be in two different times zones!

Plan for tomorrow is to look around Monument Valley and then head to Albuquerque the largest city in New Mexico.

Magnets bought today 3, moonpies 2, petrol - 22 gallons!

J&O