Do you know the way. . .

. . .to Santa Fe? We do. And it's a wonderful town full of culture and artistry. Palace of the Governors is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the U.S., dating back to 1610. Native American artisans abound and display their work under it's portico and in the neighboring plazas. The architecture in this olde town area is mostly adobe style and is filled with cafes, galleries and museums. The perfect place for an afternoon stroll.

The Ultimate Artist

The Painted Desert in Eastern Arizona near Holbrook has more colors than a giant box of Crayolas. And nature did it all. The hues change with the sun's position, providing interest throughout the daylight hours. Another beautiful reflection of God's handiwork. . .

A Grand Time

The Grand Canyon is appropriately named: 277 river miles long, 18 miles wide, a mile deep, rock nearly 2 billion years old in the bottom of the canyon. The park's free shuttle system is really convenient and allowed us to ride to some of the overlooks or hike along the 12-mile rim trail to others. The views are awesome, but not for those with tendencies toward vertigo.

Viva Las Vegas

On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped over in Las Vegas at Arizona Charlie's. What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. No pictures. No comment.

Byway Highway

Scenic Highway 12 is officially designated as "All American Road" and it's 112 miles provides some of the prettiest this country has to offer. The contrast of hues from the red rock, to the deep green evergreens, to the brilliant blue skies dotted with pure white clouds is breathtaking.

We do Hoodoos

What are hoodoos? They are carved pinnacles of stone, and Bryce Canyon National Park has spectatular ones of varied shapes and colors. To me, the Canyon looks like thousands of chess figures standing tall awaiting their move. Although the park road is a mere 18 miles long, it's strategically placed overlooks pack some amazing panoramas. We walked part of the 11-mile Rim Trail which affords views of the Canyon from almost every angle.

Whittled Wilderness

Gravity and water from the Green River and the Colorado River carved hundreds of canyons, mesas, buttes, arches, and spires in the Colorado Plateau. Canyonlands National Park preserved this vast wilderness of rock and it remains fairly untrammeled today. While most of its roads are unpaved and its trails primitive, there are numerous overlooks and short hikes that offer incredible vistas.

Golden Arches

The arches are actually red unless you catch Arches National Park at sunrise or sunset. This area boasts one of the world's greatest densities of natural arches--over 2,000 catalogued. Landscape Arch (shown) is the longest, measuring 306 feet across. Not only are the arches fascinating, but so are the spires, pinnacles, and precariously-balanced rocks that look ready to topple. Drew and I had lots of fun using our imagination on the never-ending rock formations, much like you do when cloud glazing. We decided the Park could name a gazillion such formations rather than just the handful they have, like Three Gossips (shown) and Balanced Rock. But then, of course, you'd need months to make your way through the Park!

Temple Square

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 35 acres in downtown Salt Lake City contain some wonderful sites rich in history and a campus of beautiful gardens. The domed-shaped Tabernacle was completed in 1875 and was an amazing engineering achievement in that the 150-foot span had no center supports. The acoustics are incredible. Our host stood on stage and tore strips of paper to demonstrate how the ripping sound carries throughout the building as if there was a microphone. The Tabernacle houses an organ with close to 12,000 pipes. Salt Lake Temple is the largest of the 120 LDS temples world wide. Brigham Young personally selected the Salt Lake City site and the Temple was dedicated in 1893. The beautiful Victorian Gothic Assembly Hall was constructed using mostly discarded granite stone from the Temple and was completed in 1882. Church headquarters are housed in a skyscraper towering above the city with views in all directions.

Practice Makes Perfect

When you hear singing as awesome as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, you don't really think they'd need much practice. We had the privilege of sitting in on Thursday night rehearsals and were thoroughly fascinated. Because of the Choir's popularity, most performances are now in the Conference Center rather than the now-too-small Tabernacle. The Choir has 360 volunteer members and was formed in 1847. Their first radio broadcast Music and the Spoken Word took place in 1929 and is the longest continually running program in the world. I tried the video feature for the first time on my digital camera and was able to capture some of the singing as well as photos. We're enjoying being able to hear again and again the wonderful music.

Large and Lovely

Flathead Lake, southwest of Glacier National Park, is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It is 28 miles long and up to 15 miles wide, comprising more than 188 square miles of clear, strikingly blue water. With temperatures in the 80's this Fourth of July weekend, Flathead Lake and Flathead River (where we are camped) got lots of action, yet hardly seemed busy.

Going-to-the-Sun

No, we're not bee-lining it back to Florida. We're in Montana's Glacier National Park. Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only way through the heart of the Park. It's 53 miles long, took 12 years to build, and was completed in 1932. Quite frankly, I thought I was on Going-to-my-Death Road as we neared Logan's Pass, the highest point. Looking out my window at a vertical drop of 6,000+ feet made my palms sweaty. Glacier National is a beautiful park and the scenery was well worth the occasional anxiety.