After resting all morning in my Albuquerque hotel, I sadly said "ciao" to my friends and left Albuquerque around 12:30, heading for the closest place to stay to my next destination, the Four Corners Monument. As I drove northwest, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I did not expect was such spectacular scenery.
It was quite breath taking. The closest hotel to Four Corners is roughly 90 minutes away in Farmington. After a night's sleep, I was up at dawn and ready to head out. I left Farmington around 7:30 am. Somewhere along the ride, I actually drove through the Navajo Nation on my way to...
Four Corners Monument: Located in an incredibly remote location, Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to this area's being called the Four Corners region. The monument consists of a granite disk embedded with a smaller bronze disk around the point, surrounded by smaller, appropriately located state seals and flags representing both the states and tribal nations of the area. Circling the point, starting from north, the disk reads with two words in each state "Here meet in freedom under God four states". Around the monument, local Navajo and Ute artisans sell souvenirs and food. While some people might consider this cheating (myself included), I am adding Utah and Colorado to my list of states that I have visited. Yeah, okay, it was merely a few yards around the Four Corners, but I'm counting it. This means that I have visited 32 of the 50 states. Cooooooooool.
After leaving Four Corners, I made my way to...
The Grand Canyon: The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona and is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world. "The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet). Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration" (Wikipedia). I arrived at the Park around 11:30 am and proceeded over the next couple of hours to make several stops along the route to stop and see the Canyon. It's impossible to describe the beauty and wonder of this site. It's definitely something that has to be experienced. After checking into my on-site hotel, I took a bit of a rest and then took a sunset bus tour of the Canyon. The tour guide had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Canyon and showed us some of the most beautiful vistas. We even saw a herd of elk! The sunset was amazing and worth the light blindness.
Today, I woke early and hit the road, heading back to Philadelphia. I ended up driving for 689 miles which is approximately 10 hours. I drove through 3 different time zones (Mountain (MST), Mountain (DST), and Central) and 3 states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas). I love traveling west because you gain extra time every time you cross a time zone. Conversely, traveling east sucks because you lose time. What can you do?
Today's bit of annoyance: As I was heading into Amarillo and my hotel, I was stopped on the interstate by a police officer who pulled me over for speeding. Apparently I was doing 80 in a 75 -- even though my speedometer said 75, which means either his machine was off or my speedometer is. Either way, he let me off with a warning, but seriously, who pulls over someone for doing 5 miles over the speed limit?????
Check out all my photos from Four Corners and the Grand Canyon on my GART photo site. I've decided that I'm going to make one more stop before I go home. As I will be traveling very near Springfield, IL, I will make a stop there to see Lincoln's Tomb and Home, especially as I doubt I'll get back to the Midwest anytime soon.
Albuquerque odometer mileage: 98,330
Odometer mileage in Grand Canyon: 98,796
Miles driven to Grand Canyon (with a stop at 4 Corners): 466
Total miles driven to date: 5,787
States driven through: New Mexico and Arizona (and Utah and Colorado)
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