Volcanos, Indian Ruins, Grand Canyon, and London Bridge

We headed north from Flagstaff to the east entrance of the Grand Canyon.  We stopped along the way at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument (which sits alongside Wupatki National Monument). There is a 31-mile drive that takes you through both sites.  (It is not a loop drive, so it takes you about 15 miles down highway 89.

Sunset Crater Volcano was an interesting site.  There is a large wash of volcanic rock that was impressive, and there are attractive views of the region.  Lots of pine trees and mountains.

As you transfer over into Wupatki, there are a series of VERY impressive pueblo ruins.  And even more impressive, the park service allows you to climb all over some of them.  We really enjoyed the largest ruin with several rooms and a large tower.

When we left Wupatki, we drove on up to the Grand Canyon, driving in the East Entrance.  We drove from the East Entrance to the South Visitor Center, stopping at most of the great views along the way.  The canyon just goes on, and on, and on!  We had intended to take the shuttle bus that takes you from the Visitor Center area to a couple of lookout points that are not accessible by personal car. 

However, it was getting late in the afternoon (and the line for the bus was pretty long), so we headed on down to Havasu Lake City where we were spending the night.  If you haven't heard of Lake Havasu City, that's the current location of the original London Bridge.

Tomorrow we head to Calfornia:  Joshua Tree National Park, a visiting my college roommate!