We woke up late in the Budget Host Hotel--the king bed was wonderful. We were getting better at packing the car and it only took 20 minutes. We were glad that we had gone on to Williams, because it was then only an hour's drive to the Grand Canyon. Road signs had been threatening us with crossing elk for 500 miles, and we finally got a glimpse at a few deer. A passing car threw up a rock that chipped our windshield, and the growing crack will surely be documented in the pictures to come. We paid for a National Parks Pass because we figured that, for $30 more than the regular Grand Canyon entry fee, we'd make use of it elsewhere on our trip.

We'd been told that you can't really appreciate the size of the Canyon from the rim, and that's true, but it's still a spectacular view and well worth the trip. We walked to a few places and it was quickly 2 o'clock, so we left and headed for some Indian ruins. We'd like to come back some day and spend a week at the Canyon, maybe hiking down to the valley and camping.

We got to the Wupatki Pueblo just before sunset (already using our National Parks Pass!). The cold wind cut short our tour of the three-story 800-year-old Sinagua Indian house. It's amazing to thing that so much work went into the construction of a place that was only occupied for 30 years.

We unfortunately skipped Meteor Crater, between Flagstaff and Holbrook, because it was dark when we got there. Plus we'd seen enough very large holes in the ground for one day.

We had pulled off in Holbrook, Arizona, eager to spend another $20 for a king bed at their Budget Host Inn, when Jennifer swirved through two lanes of traffic at the sight of the Wigwam Motel. The owner's father built the place in the 1940's, and everything, including the bed, bathroom, and cars in the parking lot, is the original stuff. It was hilarious. The Budget Host Inn didn't stand a chance. We had dinner at the Butterfield Stagecoach Company Steakhouse, where they play nothing but Texas love songs and everything on the menu comes with a baked potato.