Heading East and South - amazing sites and sights! (Zion and Grand Canyon Nat'l Parks)

Geri here.

As we left SW Idaho, we headed East, SE, then South into Utah. 

SW Idaho, the Payette River. 

Umm...we're not in FL anymore! Besides the signs warning of frequent, unusually high winds, of severe storms, and even of dust storms!!!

And life elevated was beautiful, with a sunshower and a full double rainbow!

(Couldn't get a pic, sorry!)

And a beautiful morning after good sleep in the middle of nowhere (Nephi, UT).

There are so few rest areas and gas stations! It's wild and beautiful! (We are being proactive about these things, fret not.)

As we wound south and east, we drove through Zion National Park. 

Mile-long tunnel!

Some more bison...we were like, "Those aren't cows grazing next to the road!"
See the baby?! Cute.

As we got closer to Arizona, the landscape continued to amaze us. 

And then we crossed into Arizona. 

Wanna live here?

As you can see, we were truly in the middle of nowhere! The road stretched on for miles. 

Then, we entered Navajo country. It was wild and beautiful, and started with a very high bridge across the Colorado River north of the Grand Canyon. 

It's a long way down!

As we came nearer to Grand Canyon, there were caves and washes that looked like miniature canyons along our way. 

After many breathtaking vistas, we arrived. 

Punny:

We were so awed and overwhelmed. And tired..... :-)

All too soon it was time to get back on the road. 

We drove along the deserted desert road, when, out of nowhere, Vickie says in disbelief, "Is that a dinosaur?!"

It was another Flinstones campground!!!! A much drier one! (If you don't know about our South Dakota camping adventures near Mt. Rushmore, go back and read about it. You'll be glad you did.)

The desert sunset was beautiful. Pictures don't do it justice at all, but here goes:

The car looked cool, too: 

And we drove toward and by controlled burn forest fires:

This was the cause of all the haze on the Grand Canyon. 

Then it grew dark. The stars were AWESOME!

The change in grades and elevation from Flagstaff to Phoenix were not so great from the car's perspective - we dropped almost 5000 feet in a few hours! Pop pop pop!

We had a great day, but were very happy for comfy beds with friends.