When we left home we had not planned on continuing to Arizona. While in Colorado, Dennis proposed visiting the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Being retired allows for more spontaneity. We were not able to get any campsite inside the national park on such short notice. We were able to get a campsite at the Demotte Campground in the Kaibab National Forest just a few miles from the entrance to the national park. It is a great campground for a visit to the north rim. We highly recommend it.

The drive across the Navajo Nation on Highways 160 and 98 was one of the high points of the entire trip. The landscape is spectacular. The awareness that we are a country rich in many cultures was profound.

The Navajo Nation

The Grand Canyon East Rim Overlook

Smoke in the Distance - 

Rising from Bryce Canyon National Park

Moonrise over Demotte Campground

Views into the canyon

Mike with Brighty The Mule

View from inside of the North Rim Lodge

View From Point Imperial

Ravens

Fleabane flowers

Western Tanager

Wild rose

Mike at the Parissawampitts Rim Overlook

A Short Horned Lizard

Dennis and Mike outside of the North Rim Lodge

Madonna and Child

Papa Bison

Mike relaxing at the North Rim

Dennis on the Transept Trail

Burned out Ponderosa Pine Stump

Squirrel

View from Cape Royal

Bitterbrush

The Window at Cape Royal

Cactus bloom

Candelabra Cactus

 

And then we drove on into Colorado

Buffalo Pass Campground - Saguache, CO

A Chipmunk

The two of us

Flowers

Our Campsite at Buffalo Pass

In the Hammock - Mike is in the reflection

Rio Grande National Forest

Mike Relaxing

On the road to Gunnison, CO

Curecanti Reservoir, CO

Welcoming Committee - Ridgway State Park

San Juan Mountains and the Ridgway Reservoir

Uncompahgre River

Mike and the Uncompahgre

Red Dahlias

Chipmunks by the fire ring

White Bleeding Heart

Sunset at Ridgway State Park

Full Moon as seen through layers of thin clouds

Ridgway State Park

The Road to the Top of The Pines

Mike at the Top of The Pines

Mountain Bluebird

Tiny Flowers

Stealth Chipmunk

Sneffels Range

Blue Lupine buds

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on Lilacs

Blue Rocky Mountain Columbine

The road towards Ouray, CO

Main Street, Ouray, CO

Rainbows 

Ridgway State Park

Yellow Salsify

Dolores River at Mavreeso Campground

Spreading Joy Throughout the Southwest