March 29 - April 2, 2014
We traveled through so many different landscapes and from elevations of 2,000 to 7,000 feet: low desert with sand and cactus to mountains and valleys with long upgrades and downhills (by the way the new exhaust brake worked wonderfully). From 5,000 to 7,000 feet the desert and cactus changed to large pine trees, elk and deer and when they disappeared we were in the high desert. We experienced our first dust storm...watching the dust swirl all over the place and feeling the wind gusts almost pick up the coach with definite rocking and rolling throughout the day. We stayed put and kept the windows closed!
Monday we made our long awaited return to Canyon DeChelly. We had done the south rim self-tour last visit and were so impressed by the views. This time we booked a jeep tour to check out the bottom of the canyon.
Here was saw the First Ruins, so-called as they are the first ruins you reach on your jeep tour...it is also called the Last Ruins when you are leaving the canyon!The hieroglyphics were interesting. Here we see a snake, Kokopeli, a frog, and the positive hand and the negative hand (representing the living and the dead).
This was totally a wonderful experience; however, both Ken and I think the south "Rim" cruise for $0 was so much more incredible than the $150 "Canyon" cruise; but would never want to sacrifice one for the other...we have so loved Canyon DeChelly....top or bottom; it can't be beat!
I know there are a lot of pictures here, but it was so hard to just choose...just a couple more!
This was another windy day....we just didn't feel it being at the bottom of the canyon. Not quite as bad as the day before, but you could see the whirlwind dust occasionally.
We woke the next morning to even more wind; but decided to make our planned trip to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Before we left we made sure all was tightly closed and even put the slides in. Then off we went...
We followed the same route we did five years ago, so, some of the pictures will be the same; but bear with us! 
First stop was the Visitor Center where we took the half mile Giant Logs Trail, home of the park's most massive log, known as "Old Faithful".
It was so windy there were a couple of times Barney's ears looked line wings and we thought he might go airborne; but I kept a good hold on him. 
Next stop: Crystal Forest and Trail, again an easy trek through colorful petrified logs that once held amethyst and quartz crystals. The wind was once again howling and every once in awhile took your breath away...never mind the scenery.
Then, my favorite, the Blue Mesa. This is a 3-mile look road off the main road with views beyond belief. The vibrant colors just don't show up in photos. It is truly beautiful.
Next stop was the Teepees, layers of blues, purples and grays created by iron, carbon, manganese and other minerals that stand in cone shapes along the route.
Last came the many vistas of the Painted Desert. The desert is composed of layers of siltstone, mudstone and shale. These rock layers contain iron and manganese compounds which provide the pigments for the various colors.
The colors seemed more dramatic to us this trip. Our first trip, we probably didn't reach the desert until later in the day; even with the wind and dust in the area. It's so great to revisit these areas and realize they can excite you even the second time around.
Leaving Holbrook...our next vista will be the Grand Canyon.
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