[Monday] Today we scheduled an Uber to Bush Intercontinental Airport and took United UN 1798, a B737 MAX 8, from IAH at 2:20 pm and arrived in Phoenix PHX at 3:16 pm.

We rode the shuttle bus to the Rental Car Center, where we picked up our Hertz Kia car.

After we checked into the Sonesta Suites Scottsdale Gainey Ranch Hotel, we drove to a restaurant and ate dinner in Scottsdale.

[Tuesday] After breakfast in the hotel, in the late morning, we drove to the building where Lawson used to work for Motorola Government Electronics when he lived in Scottsdale in the 1960's. He wanted to see what the building looked like today as it is now occupied by General Dynamics Corp. We tried to locate the apartments he lived in, but couldn't identify them after all these years.

< The old Motorola building.

We then drove up highway 87 to Saguaro Lake in the mountains northeast of Phoenix. The lake is one of several lakes on the Salt River. We drove back to Scottsdale on North Bush Highway. It was a very scenic drive in some very rugged badlands.

< < < < Our scenic drive.

After relaxing in the hotel, we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens at 6:30 pm and stayed until after sunset to see the colorful lights along the trails through the desert displays. It was still well above 100 degrees. The high temperature in Phoenix today was 115.

< < Some of the cactus plants.

[Wednesday] Today we left Scottsdale and drove northwest to Sedona AZ, stopping along the way at scenic areas. We stopped in Jerome, AZ, an old ghost town, and walked around the old downtown area.

As we approached Sedona, We stopped at Sedona Airport Scenic Overlook and took pictures of the beautiful mountains in the area.

< Airport Overlook view.

We then drove to the Aiden by Best Western Sedona Hotel and checked in. We walked nearby to Moon Dog's Pizza and ate lunch/dinner. After dinner, it was still a couple of hours until sunset, so we drove to the Bell Rock and the Courthouse Rock viewing areas to check out those formations. The high was about 105 degrees today in the Sedona area.

< Courthouse Rock. < Bell Rock.

[Thursday] This morning we drove southwest of Sedona trying to find some sites to view the mountains up close and didn't have good success.

< Scenic Sedona area.

We then drove to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is south of Sedona and went inside. The Catholic chapel is built directly into the dramatic red rock buttes.

< < Chapel of the Holy Cross

We drove north on highway 89A along Oak Creek Canyon toward Flagstaff. This is a very scenic drive on winding roads through the mountains. The mountains are covered in trees.

< < Drive between Sedona and Flagstaff.

After we reached Flagstaff, we continued on to the Grand Canyon on US-180 highway. After checking into the Yavapai Lodge in the National Park, we drove to Mather Point and viewed the canyon. We then drove to Bright Angel trailhead and walked a little down the trail toward the bottom of the canyon. We returned to the lodge and ate dinner in the restaurant. It rained as we approached the canyon today and the temperature cooled down to the 70’s for the late afternoon.

< Here we are at the entrance.

[Friday] We spent this morning driving along the south rim to the east and stopping at the different view points. We got back to the lodge about 2:00 pm and got a snack.

We tried to drive west from the hotel to some of the canyon sites, but discovered that the only way to get there was to ride the bus.

We decided that we would ride the orange bus to the South Kaibab trailhead. We walked down the trail a little ways toward the canyon bottom. After getting off there, we rode to Yaki Point and got off looked at the canyon. It was storming and thundering and lightning at the north rim all afternoon, so photography was not as good as it would be if the sun was shining.

We rode the bus back to the lodge and relaxed until 7:00 pm. We went to the restaurant and ate dinner. It was thundering and lightning and raining late this afternoon and into the evening.

< < < <

< < < < The Grand Canyon.

[Saturday] Today we left the Grand Canyon National Park and headed east and then northwest to Bryce Canyon National Park.

A thunderstorm at our Grand Canyon lodge at about 7:00 am this morning caused the electricity to go off as we were getting ready to go eat breakfast. It didn’t come back on so we decided to leave the park and drove out of the park. We drove east and stopped in Cameron, AZ to eat breakfast at 11:00 am.

We went through several more thunderstorms on the way to Bryce. At the time, we were not aware of the catastrophic flash flooding that occurred that morning on the Bright Angel River down in the canyon. Many people had to be airlifted out of the canyon, and two people were killed down in the canyon.

The drive today was through some very beautiful mountains. We passed by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. It forms Lake Powell, which is very low due to the drought conditions of the past few years.

< < Glen Canyon Dam & Colorado River.

We arrived late afternoon at the Best Western Plus Ruby's Inn just outside the park. A couple of thunderstorms came through in the night. The temperature here at 7000 feet was nice and cool (50’s, 60’s and 70’s). 

[Sunday] It was 51 this morning and the high for the day was 72 at Bryce Canyon National Park. We spent today in Bryce Canyon National Park. We drove to the end of the park to Rainbow Point (9,115 feet). We started back, stopping at each of the view points on the way back to the entrance. The weather was good where we were, but thunderstorms were nearby.

This evening, we ate dinner in the Park Lodge restaurant.

< < < <

< < <

< < Bryce Canyon National Park.

[Monday] Today we left Bryce Canyon and drove the short distance west to Zion National Park. The drive to Zion was beautiful as you get inside the park on the road to Springdale, UT. We Arrived at the Best Western Plus Zion Canyon Inn & Suites Hotel at about 1:00 pm and were greeted by a heavy thunderstorm. It came a big flood and hail storm. Fortunately, it was only pea size hail.

< Leaving Bryce NP area.

< < Entering Zion NP area.

After the storm passed, it was a nice sunny period, so we decided to ride the shuttle bus to the park. All the buses within the park were not taking riders to go to the trails because the rain storm had damaged the trails. We found out that the Virgin River had flash flooded and some folks were stranded and had to be evacuated.

< People being evacuated from up the park.

We tried to walk some on the Watchman trail and the Pa’rus Trail that were just inside the entrance, but we were not able to get far because of the mud. The Virgin River in the park was having a flash flood from the rain this afternoon. We came back to the hotel about 4:30 pm as more rain was expected.

< The Virgin River in the park. < The Watchman Trail was muddy.

We drove across the road to a restaurant and got takeout meals to eat at the hotel because we didn't want to risk getting trapped in the restaurant. Rainstorms continued in the area into the night.

[Tuesday] This morning there were no storm warnings in the area. The temperature was 59 and the high was 76. We took the shuttle bus to the park, then rode the buses that take you to all the stops in the park. The Weeping Rock Trail was our first stop. We hiked the trail to where the waterfall comes over the top of the cliff

< < Weeping Rock Trail.

The Riverside Walk was next trail. We walked some on the trail.

< < < < The River Walk Trail.

At the River Bend stop, we decided to just take photos.

At the Kayenta Trail stop, we tried what we understood was supposed to be an easy hike, but it wasn’t.

We stopped at The Grotto Trail stop and walked some on that trail.

< < < < The Grotto Trail.

At the Emerald Pools stop, we started out, but were run back to the Visitor Center by a little rain event. After about 30 minutes, the rain stopped and we were able to walk the trail to the Lower Emerald Pool and back.

< < The Emerald Pools Trail.

At the Court of the Patriarchs and the Canyon Junction stops, we just took some photos. We rode the bus back to the Park Entrance, and the shuttle bus back to the hotel.

[Wednesday] Today we left Zion National Park and drove to Las Vegas, where we will fly back to Houston. Generally on the way, as we left the park, we drove north to Kolub Reservoir and then on a 20 mile gravel road through the mountains to Interstate 15. This is a scenic drive, but the road is in pretty bad shape in some parts northwest of the reservoir. In Las Vegas, we turned in our rental car and checked into the DoubleTree by Hilton Las Vegas Airport.

< < <

< < Scenic drive.

[Thursday] Today we left Las Vegas. We rode the hotel shuttle bus and took United UA 1956, a Boeing B737 MAX 9 at 10:05 am to Houston and arrived at 3:19 pm. We picked up an Uber ride back home.

This draws to a close our visit to the National Parks of Arizona and Utah. We hope you enjoyed the photos and brief descriptions of our activities. God willing, join us again soon for another travel adventure.

Goodbye for now,

Lawson & Kay

Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. (Deut. 32:1-4 NIV)