It was time to take another Caravan Tour, so we booked the National Park Tour out West. Flying into Phoenix we joined the group for a week of
natural beauty.The first day included a lunch stop in Sedona before arriving at the Grand Canyon.
Our room was in the Thunderbird Lodge a great location only a few feet from the rim. Dinner that night was at the Arizona steakhouse with our new friends, Jeff and Bev, where we enjoyed a delicious meal. The next day we took full advantage of the park bus system to enjoy many of the trails and scenic overlooks. A giant pizza at the Maswick Lodge was our dinner stop.
Off the next morning we headed to Monument Valley Navajo Park for a jeep tour, with Henry a member of the Navajo nation behind the wheel. This valley is home to sandstone masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet, framed by clear blue skies.
Lake Powell and the Lake Powell Resort was our stop for the next two nights. Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River. It is a huge lake surrounded by breathtaking scenery. Each morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast buffet in the Rainbow Room overlooking the lake. The highlight of this location was a guided boat trip on the lake with views of the Glen Canyon Dam and the Navajo Canyon. A great tour, plus we had picture perfect weather to enjoy the scenery from the top deck of our boat.
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On the road again we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah home to the largest concentration of hoodoos on Earth. Hoodoos are geological structures formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the sedimentary rock. There are red, orange, and white colors provide spectacular views.
Our final stop was Zion National Park in Utah with its steep Navajo sandstone red cliffs. Mother Nature
painted a gorgeous landscape with the fall foliage in full display. We enjoyed a private tour of the park after lunch at the park lodge. The drive into the park passes through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. Our bus had to drive down the middle of the narrow tunnel road to pass. Our tour guide, took a photo of our group for us to remember our new friends in Zion.
Caravan treated us to a delicious farewell dinner at a local restaurant on our final night.
Our tour ended in Las Vegas where we all headed back home! The beauty of Mother Nature was on full display all week!
