Bryce Canyon to Albuquerque

Colorado River near the dam

At the last minute we had a change in plans.  The weather forecast was calling for a winter storm (i.e. heavy snow) all day Wednesday in most parts of Arizona, including Flagstaff.  It was supposed to begin late Tuesday, with heaviest of the snow falling early Wednesday.  We would either be stuck in Flagstaff or end up driving through potentially bad conditions.  Instead of risking either, we decided to skip Flagstaff and head straight for Albuquerque, which didn't have any winter weather advisory.  It made for a very long day of driving, parts in middle of nowhere Arizona - miles from anything.  The scenery was nice but I definitely wouldn't want to be driving on these roads in bad weather.  The drive on 264 to I-40 was especially tiring.  Although, we saw one cyclist at a BLM visitor information center.  I hope he doesn't get stuck anywhere bad in the storm.

Despite the long drive, we did have couple of nice scenic stops.  The Lake Powell area was especially nice.  There are several view points around the town of page that are worth stopping.  We got a view of the Glen Canyon Dam, but somehow missed the stop for the Horseshoe bend.  That was where we were going to walk Millie, but since we missed it, she didn't get much of a walk rest of the day :(

Bryce Canyon

Today was one of the shortest drive days at 3.5 hours.  We were in Bryce Canyon around noon, and after lunch, spent the afternoon checking out the park.  The park hasn't really changed much since I was there few years ago, and there wasn't really enough snow to make the scenery any different.  Still, it was a nice break from the driving.  As for walking Millie, we couldn't really do any of the hikes since they don't allow dogs on most of the trails, which are snow or ice covered anyways.  On the way into the park though, about 14 miles out, there is the Thunder Mountain trail.  The trailhead is at the first scenic view point as you head towards the park.  We only walked around for an hour, but since there wasn't anyone around, we were able to let Millie run around off-leash.  Actually, I think the area outside of the park was a lot nicer than the park itself.  If you're going to go into the park, you really want to spend time doing some of the hikes down into the canyon.

One of the things I noticed today, a bright sunny day, is that my eyes are now more sensitive to light than it used to be after living in a dark place for two years.  I find myself wearing sunglasses a lot more than I used to.

Boise to Springville

Today was another easy drive, though the day was chilly and windy.  The scenery today was more 'white', as there was snow all around us except on the roads.  We also left at a reasonable time today so with a 5.5 hour drive, we got to Salt Lake City mid-afternoon.  This gave us time to take Millie to a nice walk at Parley Historic Nature Park.

Parley Historic Nature Park