Desert Southwest Trip Report

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    We had a great trip with a couple of bumps in the road, but had a wonderful time none the less.

    On our trip we spent a couple of days in Carrizo Plain Nat. Mon. in CA. We saw gorgeous wildflowers,Caliente Ridge -- Carrizo Plain, NM took a hike and saw dramatic effects of plate tectonics along the San Andreas Fault, and finally got to see the Indian Pictographs on Painted Rock (our third and finally successful attempt to get onto a guided tour -- the only way anyone is permitted on the site).Pictograph in Painted Rock -Carrizo Plain NM Then we drove down into AZ and stayed at Kingman. Driving on across AZ we took a detour from the interstate highway to drive through the red rock country around Sedona. It seemed that the truck lacked power, and driving down from the quaint,Desert Candles -- Caliente Ridge extremely hilly mining town of Jerome, I noticed a slight pulling to the right as I braked. This condition got worse as we went. About 10 miles from Sedona, the brake pedal began to get squishy and the pulling much worse. With the last bit of brake remaining, we managed to pull into a tire and brake place at the edge of town. It turned out that the seals around the left front caliper piston had cracked and the dust from the dirt roads in Carizzo Plane had gotten in and caused the left brake not to release fully. The brake was dragging all the time and got so hot it caused that brake to fade and the brake fluid to boil. We were lucky to make it in one piece. The guy at the brake shop was great. He worked us into his already overbooked schedule, made a couple of calls and lined up a rental car and lodging at a very nice resort hotel at a reasonable price. He had us on our way early the next morning.

    From Sedona we made our way to Canyon de Chelly Nat. Mon. where we spent twoCanyon de Chelly from Rim nights in a great, free campground.Cliff Palace -- Mesa Verde NP We saw that gorgeous canyon thoroughly from the rim and from the bottom with a Navajo guide in a "shake and bake" truck (everybody are on seats out in the broiling sun bouncing down rough dirt roads). We also saw Mesa Verde Nat. Park thoroughly, spending three days there. On our way home, we saw all of Hovenweap Nat. Mon., part of Canyons of the Spider Rock -- Canyon de Chelly NMAncients Nat. Mon., went through Monument ValleyHovenweap, Nat. Mon. in both directions and ate a terrific Navajo meal in Kaenta, AZ, drove north into Utah and up state 261 that they carved into a cliff face (incredible!), took side trips to vistas overlooking the Goosenecks of the San Juan River and overlooking the San Juan River and Monument Valley in the distance from Muley Point, traveled through Capitol Reef Nat. Park, and finally Canyon de Chelly from rimgot to tour Lehman Cave in Great Basin NP. This was our third attempt to see that, but weTypical Utah Scenery never were there at the right time to get on a tour before.

    Another bump in the road is that we both got tummy flu. I got mine a day after Lona, was much sicker, but was over it about 3 days before she was. It didn't spoil the trip, but caused us to delay exploring Mesa Verde. We ate very little of the food we brought but were both on a BRAT diet for about a week.Leyman Cave -- Great Basin, Nat. Park The final bump was that Lona got an infection in her right index finger on Tue. of our return trip It was not until Friday that we were sure that it was really an infection and not arthritis. By then it looked so serious that we found a town in NV big enough to have a hospital and went to the emergency ward and had it lanced and drained.

    We went from broiling across AZ to being in a blizzard snowstorm in NV, and had a wonderful time. We were not ready to come home.