I want some grits

Heading to the petrified forest from the Grand Canyon you pass a couple of things that you really can't say no to (well you can but I didn't).

Firstly the Barringer Meteor crater...very deep and very wide (see if you can see the lifesize astronaut figure holding the US flag in the middle at the bottom...will give you some perspective).

Second is "standing on the the corner in Winslow Arizona" as sung by the Eagles in "Take it easy". The good people in Winslow have decided there is a specific corner and set up a statue etc. If you do this little tourist trap, just do that and get out of Winslow quick. (Note that "the girl in the flatbed ford" didn't say much to me...she seemed a little one dimensional)

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert were nice but I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to get there. Checked out the Wigwam hotel in Holbrook but that is about it for that town too.

Took the trip up the Moki Dugway. Following an old Navajo trail up a cliff it is a steep and twisty road with sheer drops almost all the way up. The road drops (or climbs as appropriate) 1100 ft in 2 miles. Views over the "Valley of the Gods" from the top are sensational . See if you can see the road in the wide shot (hint: some people have parked a campervan in a passing area about 3/4 of the way up)

Monument Valley was next. Makes you want to buy a cowboy hat, get a horse and ride around saying "pardner" and eating grits (whatever they are). The scenery is every cowboy movie you ever saw. Staying at the new View hotel which is owned and operated by the Navajo so they get to put it in a prime location on their land. Great job they have done too cause it give you views like those below from your room. Well worth staying here.

Page tomorrow to do some rafting down the Colorado through the canyon.