Mellow's Blog: Grand Canyon

I'd never
been to the
Grand Canyon..
So, this was my chance..

Wednesday: (2:30-6:30)

I met Blink at Palo Duro Canyon State Park Wednesday, or shall I say Thursday morning, on his way back from Alaska. I left after work and got there around 6:30pm. I just fell asleep around 10 and awoke with strange headlights coming through the tent at midnight. Blink and I talked about his trip 'til around 3am.

Thursday: (8:00-5:30)

We left camp around 8 and headed for the Cadilac Ranch

where we talked a bit more and said goodbye, Blink was heading home and I was headed to the Four Corners area. I made it to Mesa Verde National Park around 5:30, I-40 through TX/NM sucks!

Friday: (5:00-5:00)

Time to hit the Grand Canyon! I got up at 4:30 and got ready to hit the road, I also forgot I was in a different time zone LOL... I decided to do the Four Corners monument on my way back so first up was Valley of the Monuments

It's not a very long stretch or maybe it just feels that way because you are in awe of the landscape and time goes by so fast. There was a split in the road and one was Valley of the Monuments and the other Valley of the Gods, I went the Monuments route as that was towards the Grand Canyon.

The GC was an incredible site, however I still prefer the mountains. I was kinda disappointed as all the scenic pull-offs on the way to the park were littered with Indians selling jewelry, rugs, whatever. You can barely get to the rail where the view of the scenic area was built. As you approach the park, there are signs stating it's unlawful to sell items at the scenic pull-offs and please don't support that activity by buying any of those items.

After GC, I headed to Four Corners via Hwy 264, this was supposed to be a scenic road but I didn't see much and there were more cops along that road than I saw the entire rest of the trip. US-191 from Hwy-264 to US-160 was a great road. Next was the Four Corners monument.

It was cool to be in that spot however I didn't think an entry fee should have been charged ($3), I bought a shot glass and headed back towards camp. During the entire day there was a looming chance of downpours

but it only rained a couple times and it only lasted a couple mins each time. I made it back to camp after a 12 hour 600+ mile day.

Saturday (5:00-6:00)

Time to start heading back home. I left at 5am and took US-160 through Durango and Pagosa Springs then US-84 south to New Mexico. US-84 is an incredible road but US-64 is awesome!