Sightseeing and travel days

Tuesday, April 28
Yesterday was a day of sightseeing. I drove up Oak Creek Canyon from Sedona to Flagstaff. I remember thinking it is the most beautiful road in America the last time I saw it, 47 years ago. It is still incredible, on a more personal scale than the Grand Canyon. I booked a room in Flagstaff and then drove on up to the Grand Canyon. It was a little overcast, so my pictures may not show the colors of the cliffs as much, but I did see it near sunset, so they might turn out OK. It is truly awe-inspiring, on such an vast panoramic layout that it is hard to comprehend with the eyes or the mind. It deserves to be one of the Seven Wonders. The scariest thing I saw was a young woman tourist from Japan who had climbed the wall and walked out to the end of one of the outcroppings, removed her shoes and then raised her arms and one leg out behind, as though she was flying. Her husband or boyfriend or whatever was taking pictures of her. I took some too, praying as I did so that the Lord would send an angel to help her keep her balance, and to protect her, as He often does with fools and children!
As I had during that trip 47 years ago, I stopped at an Indian market after I left the Grand Canyon. The mechandise has changed; back then I bought handmade leather moccasins from the Hopi tribe, this time I bought handmade jewelry from the Navajos. (In case you might be wondering, it is earrings!) I also stopped at a restaurant in the Indian nation and had a taco served on Indian fried bread instead of a tortilla. (Hope I can find a recipe for that online.) Did you know that the Navajo and Hopi reservations are an actual independent nation enclosed inside the US? I learned that unusual fact on that long-ago trip. It was interesting to see the Indian flag flying in front of the restaurant.

Today was a day of travel. I came almost due west on I-40, crossing the Arizona continental divide at over 7000 feet altitude. There was a terrific headwind, the weather prediction for the day that I heard in Flagstaff this morning called for gusts up to 40 mph. I bet I don't get too many miles per gallon for this days travel! We came along the edge of the Mojave Desert, and the mountains are getting taller and more rugged looking. There are very few towns, at long distances apart, and although I wanted to wait until I got to Barstow for gas, I stopped at a lonely gas station when my needle went below a quarter tank. Although I had been praying for a gas station to appear before I ran out, like the Israelites in the desert, as soon as God answered my prayer, I started complaining! My complaints were about the price of the gas, over a dollar higher than any other station so far. What an ungrateful traveler! I did tell Him I'm sorry, but it's scary to realize that murmuring and complaining are listed in the same list of sins with murder.

We are finally back in the land of grass, for which Jiffy is grateful and so am I, for different reasons. Tomorrow we'll see Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, which have the kind of beauty I'm more accustomed to: great evergreen trees and waterfalls! Please continue to pray for me.