Tag ArchiveEverywhere Once |

Morning in Monument Valley

by Brian on July 13, 2012 in Travel, United States, Utah

The rising sun illuminates Monument Valley formations

In some respects, we were incredibly lucky. True, two of our three days in Utah’s Monument Valley were completely blown away by dust storms. And on our fourth day those same gusty winds threatened to force us off the road as we tried to escape the wicked weather. But that second day, the day we arranged an off road tour of the Valley? That day was perfect.

We arose well before sunup to get the first tour of the morning. Our only complaint is that we didn’t get up even earlier. We couldn’t have known that this would be our only clear day in the Valley, and our only chance to photograph the monuments as they emerged from night’s inky blackness into beautiful blue silhouettes of dawn.

We saw them briefly in that light as we pulled into our appointed pick-up spot but had no time for photos. Our jeep was waiting and a bit impatiently too.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument

by Brian on July 11, 2012 in Arizona, Freshly Pressed, Travel, United States

Mummy Cave Ruins, Canyon de Chelly, AZ

After a couple of days at the breathtakingly large Grand Canyon, we were ready for something smaller and more intimate. If visiting the Grand is like going to a huge metropolis (complete with teeming sidewalks), Canyon de Chelly (“Canyon d’SHAY”) feels more like a quaint town. It is so cozy that you can explore the entire area in a single active day.

You access the bulk of Canyon de Chelly via two scenic drives along the North and South rims. You can visit all ten overlooks in about four hours. Budget more time if you want to while away an afternoon basking in the beautiful canyon scenery.

Petrified Forest National Park

by Brian on July 6, 2012 in Arizona, Travel, United States

Go for the Fossils. Stay for the Scenery.

Of all the places we’ve visited in our more than two years of continuous travel, Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park has to be the most under-sold. We arrived there expecting to see 225 million year old wood. What we found were some of the most magnificent badland vistas of our trip.

That’s not to say Petrified Forest doesn’t live up to its namesake, too. It does. The place is lousy with fossilized trees. And unlike other fossils, these aren’t impressions of once living creatures in stone. These once living organisms are stone.

Photo of the Day: Sunrise Over Theodore Roosevelt NP

by Brian on July 4, 2012 in North Dakota, Photo of the Day, United States

Sunrise Over Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

Mission San Xavier del Bac

by Brian on July 2, 2012 in Arizona, Travel, United States

We rounded a corner and, at first, the gleaming white building looked to us like the Taj Mahal. An instant later we recognized the Moorish-inspired structure looming over a sea of green as Mission San Xavier del Bac.

A short drive from downtown Tucson, Arizona, San Xavier stands as one of the most impressive missions we’ve visited in our tour of the Southwest. Its seemingly spotless white façade is a distinct contrast to the more ancient look of the San Antonio Missions. And its ornate architecture sets it apart from the simpler structures we found on El Paso’s Mission Trail.