My Trip to the American Southwest

These photos and video are from Cathedral Gorge, Nevada. We stumbled upon this place completely by chance while en route to Tucson. See more pictures of Cathedral Gorge here. Read more about it here.

I spent almost a week in Tucson while my husband was doing some training for his job. While I was there I visited the San Xavier Mission which dates from 1767 (for North America, that's really old) and is filled with primitive carved wood iconography and murals. It's a working church that sees as many praying pilgrims as tourists, so I didn't take any pictures inside, but you can see inside photos here.

While in Tucson, I also visited Tohono Chul Park (where the two photos above were taken). I also took a day trip to Bisbee (which I loved and would recommend visiting if you are anywhere in the region). I also visited Tombstone which was having it's annual Wyatt Eerp days and had the main street roped off and lots of men wondering around in cowboy/old west sheriff costumes and women dressed as turn of the century prostitutes. I didn't hang around (no pun intended) for any mock hangings (apparently if you get "mock hung" you are presented with a "miniature commemorative tombstone").

Montezuma's Castle (which has nothing to do with the actual Montezuma) built over 1,000 

years ago by native Americans.

 

We traveled through Sedona area (where I would have loved to have stayed longer). It's really beautiful and I highly recommend putting it on one's "places to visit" list. More photos of Sedona here.

We visited the Grand Canyon. I had been there as a child and it's still as impressive to me now as it was then. On the south rim is the definitely-not-to-be-missed circa 1920's watchtower with central staircase and walls covered with murals by Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie.
 

We drove from the south rim to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The road passes through the Navajo Nation Lands and the Vermillian Cliffs National Monument. It also passes over the Colorado River (photo above) and past the fascinatingly bizarre ruins of the Depression Era Cliff Dwellers Roadhouse (not to be confused with the present-day Cliff Dwellers Lodge just down the road). More photos here and more about the ruined Cliff Dwellers here.

We went to Zion National Park (very beautiful but came away with not-so-beautiful photos) and Bryce Canyon National Park (two photos above).

The three photos above were taken in the highly under-rated Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah).

Arches National Park (three photos above). 

Canyon Lands National Park (photo above).