Grand Canyon Postcards

Sedona, Arizona

January 31, 2021

Yesterday I made a day trip to the Grand Canyon. Sedona to Flagstaff to Williams then up Arizona 64 for roughly 60 miles to the South Rim. Among the highlights:

- the drive from Sedona to Flagstaff along Arizona 89A has be one of the prettiest 23 mile drives I have made on this trip. All the prettier because of all the snow -- but not on the road. Spectacular.

- I am now the proud owner of an $80 Senior Lifetime National Parks Pass. You need to be younger than 62 years old to qualify. Now instead of spending $80 per year on a National Parks pass, I should be good forever or until I lose it.

- the Park itself was busy but certainly not crowded. I can't imagine what summer must be like. Approximately 5 million people visit the park each year.

- when I first got to the Visitors' Center I made the two suggested hikes. The I got back in my truck and made the 22 mile drive on Desert View Road. Actually 44 miles round trip as the east entrance to the park remains closed. It was a treat to visit the Desert View Tower; when I was at the North Rim someone had pointed it out to me and said I could get a great view of the Canyon from there. She was right! It was also "fun" to see the green Colorado and to know why it is green (the water is clear due to the dams above the Canyon, the algae on the bottom give it its color.).

- I considered staying around for sunset but with a 2 3/4 hour drive ahead of me I headed back to Sedona. The photo above is of a Dairy Queen just north of Sedona on Arizona 89A. It seems so out of place there. But they make hot fudge sundaes, and it sure was tasty. I start my diet today, tomorrow, sometime.

The photos here are in reverse chronological order. Sorry. No slideshow this time. I whittled my 500 photos down to 265 and then randomly picked these. I use the word "postcards" in the title of the post because it is hard to take a photo that a hundred (thousand?) people haven't already taken. I'd like to think mine are slightly better than the average but I am under no illusion that they are.