New Mexico to Utah

July 25
Spent all day driving to Flagstaff Arizona. The scenery was beautiful but everytime we tried to get good viewpoints for pictures it didn't work out. Eventually we decided to just gun through to Flagstaff and get there early so that we could have an evening off instead of spending every waking minute driving. We stayed at the International Hostel in Flagstaff where I had stayed 10 years ago – and I can report that the only thing that has changed about the place is the sofa in reception J. We went out for drinks last night with a Dutch guy from the hostel – nothing wild, Flagstaff is not a kicking Sunday night destination J.
July 26
After a leisurely breakfast in the hostel this morning, we started out for the Grand Canyon (after a small spot of shopping). Before we got there, we took a small detour on a scenic drive via Sunset Crater, Wupatki ruins and the Painted Desert, all stunningly beautiful in very different ways.

The Grand Canyon was the same mayhem that I remember from 10 years ago, with so many people around. There's also some construction going on now, so we went to not-the-usual-viewpoint and were able to climb down and out onto a rock promontory to get some pictures. We weren't there long before a park ranger arrived and ordered everyone off of the point and back up to safety – but we had managed to get our pics so we were happy enough.

Back on the road, we started heading northeast to get to the Four Corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah & Colorado – but when we stopped at a roadside motel to check for vacancies, the receptionist told us that it is closed atm for construction – so we decided to head straight for Monument Valley. Monument Valley is in all the Western movies – its gorgeous and I'm really excited about getting to see it tomorrow. The only downside is that there is not much accommodation available out here on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation – so we are camping J. We got the tent up without any hassle, but the ground is too hard & rocky for us to peg the tent down. Here's hoping that we don't get blown away during the night with a sharp gust of wind J. Stay tuned!