[We awoke to another high desert morning, bright and sunny with temperatures in the 30’s as the Supervisor brushes up on her driving skills before we head out to the Grand Canyon.]

[But first breakfast in the hotel, where I christened the lobby’s rug by spilling my coffee.]

[Then it was down Highway 89 to the canyon’s North Rim, a side we had never before visited.  Still snow, even in Arizona?  😉  ]

[And then, “Whoaaaa, Neliie!”  The turn onto AZ Highway 67 at Jacob Lake was closed? While we were aware that the lodge there would not yet be open, the consensus around Kanab was that the road should be open because they’ve had so little snow.  The Super went in the diner at the intersection to check on it . . . and came out laughing.  She said I should go in and get pictures of her with the regulars, a collection of the local color.  I did see one guy go in with a black cowboy hat the size of Delaware.  Anyway, they posited that the road isn’t open yet because of government cut-backs, that there were no employees available to do so.  So, in the absence of new photos of the Grand . . . ]

Grand Canyon, 11 years ago . . .

[With the Supervisor, same time of year in 2004.]

Grand Canyon, 32 years ago . . .

[With Basketball Dan (hiking down Bright Angel Trail, he made it, my knees were killing me on the down slope), same time of year in 1983.]

[The only way back was the way we came . . . ]

[So we looked for an interesting route to our ultimate destination, St. George, Utah, where Jeanne and Ken Howell were holding a room for us at greatly weekly rates!]

[We looked on a map and noticed this place on AZ Highway 389, heading in the direction we wanted to go.]

[Turned out to be an interesting place, a confluence of three cultures – Indians, Mormons, and the Feds.  It seems at one time or another they were in conflict with each other, and at different times pairing off to fend off the third.]

[The building was a family home, but it also housed farm/ranch workers, and on weekends up to 50 people would stay here where it became Party Central, USA!  😉  ]

[We finally made it to the Howell vacation home.  When we first arrived in Hurricane Valley (the Howells immediately advised us the locals pronounced it “HER-ah-kun”), our first task was to get a car wash.  We’d forgotten what color it was!  The Howells only had the right half of the duplex, but it still slept 22!?  😉  ]

[Then Jeanne and Ken took us for a neighborhood walk – to include their golf course, which interested me not.]

[An option during our stay here was a trip to Monument Valley.  We have never been there, but alas we all decided it was just too far for a day trip.]

When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping.  Men invade another country.  ~  Elayne Boosler

Up next:  Day Six.