Sandstorm Travel to Cortez, Colorado - Day 60

Today, we rather sadly packed up the camping gear, as we will not camp for the rest of our trip. And, we were sad to leave Zion. The weather was supposed to be cold when we got up, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was about 54 degrees when we were breaking camp and also sunny.

We drove by back roads all day. Routes 9, 89, 98 and 160. We went through Zion first. It was a beautiful drive, including driving through the mile-long tunnel which was built in 1930. After we left Zion, we drove through high desert to Page, Arizona and over the Glen Canyon Dam. As we got into the drier, Navajo reservation country, the wind picked up. At times, it looked like the hamaseen (sandstorms) of Egypt with the entire sky filled with sand and the car being buffeted by some pretty strong gusts. It meant that we barely could see the scenery of Monument Valley country, and we saw nothing of the looming Rockies in the distance.

Four Corners Monument was closed for construction, so we couldn't stop there. Then, we pulled into an Econo-Lodge in Cortez, Colorado. It is not looking very promising for visiting Mesa Verde tomorrow as the visibility is so limited and it may either rain ...... or snow! We had thought to stay here for 2 nights, but have changed our plans because of the weather and will stay here just one night. Mark made reservations for us to move on to Durango tomorrow.

We did have a lovely Mexican meal at Tequila's here.