Day 6: We tried to get up early this morning to have everything all packed before Mass, but didn't quite manage it. We had to stop back at base camp in Moab after Mass to finish packing up the van and head out. Our plan had originally been to drive directly to the Grand Canyon, but the forecast there called for continued cold and rain so we decided we needed a night to warm up and try to buy some warmer clothes. We drove to Flagstaff instead and found an inexpensive hotel room. There was a pool, so the kids were happy to swim for about an hour before dinner.
We were only mildly successful in finding some sweatshirts; apparently a great many people were surprised at the colder-than-normal spring weather. Still, we found a few things that added to our layers and were definitely appreciated during the rest of the trip.
The temperature did get down to 30 degrees at the Grand Canyon. With our new layers, we survived about the same the following night, but it was nice to have a warm and dry night for a change, just about the first one in a week.
Total driving for day 6 - 333 miles.
Day 7: On our way to the Grand Canyon, we decided to stop at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. I'm not sure we would have driven down from the Grand Canyon to visit it if we hadn't spent the night at Flagstaff, but it would definitely have been worth the drive!
We hiked just one little trail, the Lava Flow Trail. You really hike right on the cooled and crunchy lava. That's not something you can do in Kansas!
Bizarre, other-wordly landscapes.
This trail was one of my favorites of the whole trip!
We got back in the van and drove the rest of the way to the Grand Canyon, so I'll save the remainder of Day 7 for the next post.
