Cathedral Wash is yet another beautiful hiking trail. It's on the way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from Tuba City.
Believe it or not, we came down the cliff from the mesa on top.
The refreshing Colorado River.
Cliffdwellers' Cafe. The hand battered halibut was delicious. Too bad that I will never be able to find the place again, given my sense of direction... Should've asked for their coordinates for my GPS.
Bottomline: 50,000 years ago, this area near Flagstaff, AZ was a flat plain.
Then a piece of asteroid hurtled through the earth's atmosphere at fearsome speed...
...and the impact created a huge crater!
Beautiful badlands. 
Painted Desert Inn. 
A portion of the old Route 66 cuts through the park. More than 2000 mi from Chicago to LA. Get your kicks on Route 66!
Petroglyphs.
Layers of blues, purples, and grays created by iron, carbon, manganese, and other minerals.
Petrified wood in Crystal Forest.
Hubbell Trading Post. Mr. Hubbell purchased this trading post in 1878 and became a part of the growth of Navajo trading economy for decades afterwards.
Outdoor baking oven. Back in Mr. Hubbell's time, they had a full time baker to prepare 400 loaves per week!
The Hubbell Hill. Seven Hubbells and a Navajo man named Many Horses are buried here. It is said that Many Horses saved Mr. Hubbell's life at some point and they formed a friendship that lasted their lifetime. 
Beautiful Canyon de Chelly. The name originates from the Navajo word Tseyi (within the rock). After going through Spanish then English tongue, it is now pronounced Canyon Chelly ("desha").
Spider Rock. It is said that it was a spider woman that taught the Navajos how to weave.
Down in the canyon bottom.
White House ruins. Tseyaa Kini - House under the rock.
Coyotes footprints?
I saw some horses nearby eyeing this plant... Hope they don't eat too much of this Jimson weed.
Junction House ruins.
Chinle Wash. 
After passing through Four Corners, I drove onto Cortez, CO to visit the Mesa Verde National Park, famous for the ancient ruins.
Cliff House.
All the houses were tiny in comparison to the modern homes: tiny doors, tiny passageways, etc. Here is a small tunnel where everyone had to get on all fours.
The only people who could pass through easily without getting on all fours were little children.
Spruce Tree House. They light this ancient ruin up during the holidays.
Looking up from inside a kiva.
The next couple pictures are to demonstrate to certain followers of this blog (I believe the only followers -- parents & sister) my camping competency. First, see how I set up the tent "the correct way."
Second, here is the evidence that I am not out there all alone. See, mom? There are bunch of other people camping right next to me.
Long House
The view looking out from Long House. I wonder what the ancient cliff house residents thought about when they looked out to this view every morning as they woke up.
The Four Corners Monument is located between the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain.
This is the only location in the U.S. where four states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah) meet. I'm straddling four states in this picture -- hope that doesn't mean I get taxed in every state.
There were a bunch of welcome & goodbye signs for all four aforementioned states right outside the monument. I only had time to catch the G'bye New Mexico sign as the car charged forward...
As a follow-up to our Navajo Taco Nite, we had a Korean Food Nite. Afterwards, we piled into the church van to go to the Coal Mine Canyon.
Do you see the coal?
Here's the group being a bit silly.
Another beautiful sunset over Arizona sky.
The First Southern Baptist Church, Tuba City, AZ.
A group from Davis Korean Church came to put together a playground for the church.
Not sure why we needed the tractor but there it was. Good thing I wore the colorful skirt to match the John Deere color scheme.
Afterwards, the church ladies put together a wonderful Navajo Taco party. It begins with a simple dough which is fried to golden perfection called "fry bread."
Add honey or in our case, chilli, chopped onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheddar & voila! A delicious meal! 
The fire department (I think)
The Mall: Basha's Supermarket & a movie theater.
Tuba City Hospital
Student housing 
While driving along on Hwy 160, I came across the Navajo National Monument.
A traditional sweathouse.
The cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people in the cave.
On the Sandal trail. 
Lake Powell 
Valley of the Gods. It was quite a ride on the curvy gravel road.
Just as I was wondering why the town was named "Mexican Hat," I saw a sign pointing to this rock as the Mexican Hat rock. Hmm...
Entering Navajo Nation.
Capitol Reef is reputed to be Utah's least crowded park -- a hidden gem.
One-room cabin schoolhouse in the Historic Fruita District.
The Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline, defines the park.
Music selection in my tiny sedan: Johnny Cash
I just love these National Park signs. I wonder who the artist is?
A visitor's center on Hwy 12.
Much of the interior of Grand Staircase is accessible by 4x4 only. One day, I will return with a 4x4 and hopefully a much improved driving skill...
The limestone "hoodoos" of Bryce Canyon
Queen Victoria peak.
A view from the bottom of the canyons.
It's not just that I'm short that these canyon walls seem massively tall?
The friendly park ranger told us that arches like this form naturally as the weather erodes away the rocks.
A view south to the Grand Escalente.
A view from Bryce Overlook.
Northern part of Zion lies Kolob Canyon.
The beautiful narrow canyons.
A historic one-room cabin. A family used to summer in this cabin in 1930s to log firewood. They kept pigs, believing that snakes feared pigs.
Zion to the south...
Zion National Park is known for their multi-colored sandstone cliffs.
The eye of a massive canyon wall.
The Virgin River.
For half an hour on this trail, I did not come across another soul. At times I sang, I'm a rock, I'm an island...
Around 6:30pm in the park with sunset still 2 hours to go...
