Monday Sedona to Cedar City

Today was mostly a driving day as we started to head north. We left Sedona under yet another bright blue sky (this was the eleventh day of our trip and we have yet to see a single cloud!)  Our trip today took us through a wide variety of environments. We started out going up the Oak Creek Canyon road to Flagstaff. Once through Flagstaff you're at an elevation of about 7000 feet on the plateau featuring grassy plains and ponderosa pines. We stopped briefly at the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. A very pretty spot which would deserve a return visit.

Heading north on route 89 we spent many miles going through the bleakness of the Hopi Indian reservation until we reached a Colorado River crossing called Lee's Ferry. We had lunch at the Navajo Bridge which includes a pedestrian crossing to the other side to visit the Indian craft booths. The red rock formations here are incredible! From here we followed route 89A along the bottom of the beautiful Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, then up over a pass and into Kanab Utah.

We continued North to route 14 and up over a 9800 foot pass down into Cedar City. (We drove this road last March in a blizzard!) We were hoping to see spectacular flashes of Quaking Aspens in their fall colors but the sun in our face heading west made views almost impossible to see.  We arrived at Cedar City about 6, actually 7 since we came back into the Mountain time zone. Quick supper at Culvers across the street.

Tomorrow on to Salt Lake with a stop at Ikea, of course!

(note: I have discovered that I can dictate into the blog on my phone! Makes it much faster. Then open it on my laptop just for editing).