Day 29

Day 29 - Monday, July 20th, 2009

North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ to Monticello, UT

Damn children. They started squawking at dawn in the campsite next to us and for all we know kept it up all day. To be fair the parents weren't much better. One of their brood began to walk toward the restroom and the mother called (read shouted) to him across the campground about something or other. Things were fuzzy, I was still trying to sleep. While I'm on a bit of a rant, people really have to figure out their cars. Every morning there are people unlocking their cars with their key fobs and the car beeps twice in response. A honking car horn is not what I'm seeking out in the wilds of America. Its even worse at night as their car lights turn on as well, destroying whatever amount of night vision that had built up.

Once the sun starting hitting our tent the internal temperature began to climb precipitously. We emerged and packed up quickly in the face of a 6+ hour drive. Yet again, the drive was scenic.

We traced our way along RT-89, going through Marble Canyon and crossing over the destructive Colorado River (did you see what it did to northern Arizona). We could see Monument Valley

and Mexican Hat rock formations from the road, but did not stop.

We quickly dismissed being complete tourists and jumping from state to state to state to state at Four Corners, even though we passed by it by a mere 53 miles. We arrived in Blanding, UT and were mystified at not being able to locate our Best Western. Then we learned the motel in question was in Monticello, UT, 20 miles further north. We decided to be lazy for the rest of the evening, so we went to the local pizza joint, The Wagon Wheel, and watched a National Geographic special on Death Valley National Park. Close enough.

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