Below are at least some of the photographs I took on my trip with brief captions (sorry some of the pictures reverted to original orientation after I flipped them to be right side up):
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| Hullabaloo Diner in Bryan. Good, cheap food, decent beer selection. Was a nice stop. |
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| Pulled over on my way through NM as the road ahead looks dangerous. Time to don the rain gear. |
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| Blue Hole of Santa Rosa. That swimmer does not look comfortable. That's because the air temp isnt much warmer than the water temp (posted on the sign there) |
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| The Blue Hole itself. Divers were getting ready to go down. Very pretty. Wish it were warmer the day I was there as it was mighty inviting. |
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| View in Albuquerque of the mountains. So pretty. |
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| Entrance to the Bandera Ice Cave and Volcano. One of the more lackluster parts of the trip but the drive there was pretty going trough a national forest. If I had more time to kill, not a bad way to kill a few hours. |
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| Entrance of the gift shop/admission desk at Bandera. |
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| Stopped on the way up to the volcano to admire the view. |
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| The Volcano at Bandera. Not exactly what I was imagining but I guess those thoughts were ignorant as the volcano hasnt been active for millenia (not sure exact time). |
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| View on way down from the volcano. |
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| Proceed at your own risk: the way down to the ice cave |
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| Standing platform looking over the ice cave. Felt good; nice and chilly. |
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| Not as pretty as I was expecting but was definitely cool in there. For the record, I did not go out onto/into the ice, but the cave felt good. |
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| Entrance building at the Petrified Forest National Park. |
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| First vista upon entering the Petrified Park. Pretty cool. Many of the formations had various color patterns in-bedded in them which made for nice views. |
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| Another view from that first look out at the PP. |
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| My bike at said first stop. I took a few pics of my bike at certain places to show that I was there :) cause otherwise i could have gotten these photos from anywhere. |
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| A different view in the PP. I find the various formations and vastness of the land incredible. |
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| Still in the PP. Got onto a look out to take some pictures. |
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| This photo in the PP you can definitely see some of the color striations in the rock (on the right side). |
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| This was a monument to the old Rt 66 in the PP. |
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| At the above monument. I believe this was an original path of Rt.66 |
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| Among all these giant multi-colored rock formations. Was cool to be able to drive through them. |
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| One of the aforementioned multi-colored rock formations. |
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| Any Eagles fans out there? This was a street corner park dedicated to one of their best songs, Take it Easy. This was in Winslow, AZ. |
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| The monument paying homage to the song that paid tribute to one of the towns through which the original Rt.66 went through. |
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| Rt. 66 historic highway still runs through Winslow. The park from above is in the background. |
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| A view in Sedona, AZ. Look at those red rocks. Was a pretty little city. |
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| More Sedona. Was just admiring the view from one end of a bridge in the middle of the city. |
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| A view from atop a hill that holds the airport. The town of Sedona below practically surrounded by giant red mountains. |
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| A 360 panorama from the viewing platform by the airport in Sedona. |
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| A church built into the rocks in Sedona. Was small, but pretty. One thing I do love about religions, they put effort into making some beautiful houses of worship. |
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| The plaque designating the church above as a national historic place. |
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| View from the church look out. That house in the foreground was HUGE! Apparently people in Sedona have some money. |
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| Close up of some of the red rocks. And by close up I mean still 100s of meters away. |
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| So in Flagstaff, to get good craft beer, you must visit a Mobile gas station. So figured I would kill 2 birds with one stone; fill up and try some local beers after I get back to the place. |
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| The Grand(est of) Canyon(s). I have said it before, but pictures cannot do this place justice. Nor does the word Grand. |
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| Looking at an outlook where people are taking pictures of the GC. Thats the canyon all around them and all to my right and behind me. Starting to understand the scale of this place? |
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| More Grand Canyon. If you were to fly to the other side of this picture (many many miles) that is the North rim of the Grand Canyon. Popular camping area. Wish I could have checked it out. Next time. |
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| A 360 panorama from a lookout at the south rim of the GC. |
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| The entrance to the Desert Station side of the GC south rim. |
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| A tower at the Desert station. you are allowed to climb to the top (where the windows are, not the tippy top). From here you get some nice views looking from one end of the canyon. |
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| The watchtower above is another national historic landmark. I guess you can now call me a history buff :) |
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| View from the top of the tower. That canyon goes on forever it seems. |
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| Picture perfect view of the Grand Canyon. Just soaking it all in. |
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| Visitor Center right outside of Page, AZ, near the border of UT and AZ. |
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| Bridge overlooking the Dam. Happened to be around here a little before sunset. Pretty colors laying over the rocks. |
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| The dam and the massive lake formed behind it which is one of UT and AZ water sports destinations. |
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| My campsite in Kanab. I am a simple traveler. |
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| My Coffin/tent. Thank goodness I am not claustrophobic. :) |
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| View from my site of the sun starting to bask the mountains in UT. |
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| Entrance to Bryce Canyon |
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| The tallest lookout in Bryce Canyon |
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| The Grand Canyon is huge. Bryce is just amazing. Trees, wildlife, etc. abound with paths all through the canyon and places to camp and what not. Really wouldnt mind getting my gear, a few friends, and just taking a week to wonder through here. |
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| Red rocks, white rocks, different formations. So beautiful. |
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| These were some caverns in the side of the canyon. See near the bottom right the transition from the white rock to the red. Nature aims to please :) |
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| The US Geological survey seal from atop Bryce Point. Remember finding one of these in Philmont and thinking it was cool that these exist on top of our mountains. Something to look for when/if you climb on top of our nation's mountains. |
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| Another lookout in Bryce. |
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| View from Sunset point. Closer to all the formations down in the canyon. |
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| A rock tunnel on the way into/out of Bryce. Notice the size of the RVs on the other side of it. I can only imagine what it must feel like when you drive through the tree tunnels over in the red wood forests. These rocks are just sediment. Those trees... they are living things that are able to make us feel like ants. |
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| East entrance to Zion. |
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| Zion visitor center. |
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| A rock formation after passing through the mile long tunnel to get into Zion park from the East entrance. |
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| Within Zion. Walking among the giants. |
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| More Zion. Surprised I didnt pull a muscle in my neck looking up so much. |
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| Rad lil spider on the trail. |
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| The canyon is narrowing. On the path to the trail head called the Narrows. |
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| Rocks can cry? Water coming out of the rock providing a source of continual sustenance for the flora on the rocks. |
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| Proceeding toward the Narrows |
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| This is as far as I go toward the narrows. People playing in the water and proceeding to the trailhead. |
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| The unconventional eggs benedict I had in Avon. Not only does this stretch of road have unbelievable scenery, but really good food (based on this meal) |
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| Little outlook stop in Breckenridge. Was absolutely stunning. |
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| 360 view from the above stop. |
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| Sun shining through holes in the clouds in Kansas/East Colorado. Seeing rays of sunlight pierce through clouds is incredibly inspiring and beautiful. |
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| To anyone who has seen this guy freak out you will know why I took this picture. DOUBLE RAINBOW! I had to take a picture if only to show people that link :) |
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| Thank goodness for clouds. Sunsets are beautiful things. Throw in some clouds to help with the color palette of the sky during sunsets and BAM! so much better! |
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| Butcher shop in KC. They had like 5 different kinds of bacon (shown above) as well as all kinds of other meats. Pretty nice! |
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| A tasty beer that decided to rupture in my saddlebag on the drive from KC to OKC. So we put the rest on ice and enjoyed it. |
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| Oh, Braums. Where have you been all my life. What you see here is 2 breakfast burritos (was like 10 or 11am), a sausage english muffin and a peanut butter fudge shake. Yeah, you only live once so I went for it :) |
