Eleven hours. Now we’re right outside Bryce Canyon, securely in the West (Utah). The kids were great. We’re all exhausted, but it’s not too late, just after 10, and we’re all fed and ready for bed.
It was sad to leave the Flaxes, but we were able to get out by 8:30, with a fresh baguette from the bakery behind the unit in which we were staying. Emily drove through the morning as I navigated and tried to plan our day. We decided to find a place for lunch just west of Grand Junction, in Colorado National Monument. There’s a road that runs along the rim of a series of mesas, maybe 1500 or 2000 feet above the canyon floors. Unfortunately, at the same time we were busy putting out a fire (successfully we believe and not literally - there are no fires in Colorado now by law!) with our insurance and mortgage companies. Still, we were all free to roam far too close to the edge for Emily’s comfort. We spent two hours winding our way through the sky, gazing at the spectacular vistas.
Since we spent so much time on top of the mesas, we had to skip Arches, which Derek and Ashleigh had recommended. The drive west through Utah was amazing anyway. We made good progress and got in around seven-thirty. The kids got a little utsy, but Marina read aloud three chapters of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, getting us through the exposition of the final chapters. The story ties together neatly.
We had dinner in the new version of the hotel in which Emily stayed with her brother and mother maybe more than thirty years ago. Tomorrow: Bryce Canyon in the morning, the Grand Canyon in the afternoon.