Day 3 - Sedona - Tusayan, AZ

After grabbing some Starbucks we headed towards the Church of the Holy Cross, a Catholic church completed in 1956 and set directly into a red rock butte.  Even though it was fairly early, there were lots of other tourists as well and our visit was fairly brief as the building isn’t very big at all.  It did offer us a view of one of the church’s residential neighbors.

Next we turned north onto the Sedona–Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Road towards Flagstaff.  The road follows Oak Creek and after a series of hairpin turns, emerged from the canyon to offer a stunning viewpoint looking back south.

Our next stop was the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  The road northwest out of Flagstaff started with some piney woods and aspens mixed it (they hadn’t changed colors yet) and soon became very flat and barren.  After a brief wait to enter the park, we were soon closing in on Grand Canyon Village.  We decided to grab a quick lunch at the Harvey House Café located inside the Bright Angel Lodge and from our seats we were afforded our first views of the canyon.

Fully fed, we grabbed gear from the car and then walked along the Rim Trail, passing through the Lookout Studio and Kolb Studio, ending up at the Bright Angel Trailhead.  Several folks were still entering and exiting the canyon itself here as it was mid-afternoon.

The western side of the park is closed to private vehicles through October, so we caught the shuttle bus and soon made stops at Maricopa Point, Hopi Point, and Pima Point.  The canyon was somewhat obscured by haze due to pollution wafting in from Southern California, but as the sun began to lower, some really cool shadows emerged, highlighted by the haze.  We were also afforded our first view of the Colorado River at Hopi Point.

For sunset, we found a spot at Mohave Point (along with many other enthusiasts) to shoot the canyon walls.  No clouds were present so it wasn’t a “breathtaking” sunset, but a good one nonetheless.

After a short shuttle ride on a packed bus, we were back at our car and headed to Tusayan to check into our hotel for the evening, but we still had one more great adventure up our sleeve.  After settling in for a bit, we headed back to the South Rim and enjoyed a wonderful, late dinner at the El Tovar Dining Room.  Located in the historic El Tovar Hotel, the room is constructed of native stone and Oregon pine. There are murals on the walls that reflect four Native American Tribes – the Hopi, the Apache, the Mojave and the Navajo. While we didn’t see any celebrities or politicians while we ate, we were assured that guests such as Teddy Roosevelt, President Bill Clinton, and Sir Paul McCartney have dined and shared stories within these walls.  More Grand Canyon tomorrow before we head north into Utah.