The original plan is in pink & the variations are circled & in orange.

We varied by traveling Rt. 66 a bit, then a side trip to Portales, NM to find a missing cousin, we completely eliminated Vegas & Hoover Dam. We scooched across Rt. 160 East & resumed the original plan at Limon, CO.

We began our tour of the Painted Desert, east of Holbrook, Arizona.

It really did look like God had taken a paintbrush to the rocks, mesa's, buttes and teepees.

There were some areas where it was very steep and some more flat and rolling.

A long view.

More painted desert.

There was what used to be the Painted Desert Inn which unfortunately is now just a gift shop and museum.

Oooooh!

Aaaahh!

This is a slab of a petrified tree in what's aptly named "The Petrified Forest".

The Petrified Forest is adjacent to the Painted Desert.

More chunks.

The forest was created when a gazillion years ago water washed the trees into this low lying valley where they eventually turned to rock.

The wood is completely stone now and it's so colorful.

More of the same.

I loved this one!

The wildlife wasn't too wild as we entered the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We made it to the Grandest of Canyons!

Charlie finally realizing his life long dream to visit the Grand Canyon. Notice how tightly he's holding onto the railing?

This is right before I asked him if there were earthquakes in Arizona.

It was breathtaking and also made us a bit loopy. The elevation was very high.

Another view.

More Grand Canyon.

Did you know there's an actual book (and it's thick) for sale there about how many people have died in the GC?

I'm going to get the book at Amazon, I think. Amazing place, it is. The Grand Canyon, I mean.

There's the Colorado River in the distance.

At the end of the day at the Cameron Trading Post we watched the sun set over the desert in Arizona.