Day 10, Thurs. May 1, Valle, AZ to Albuquerque, with a stop at Page.

Our original plans called for us to fly over the Grand Canyon in the morning, land in Page around noon, and spend the day there; but the forecast was for the winds to pick up in the southwest over the weekend and storms to move into the midwest.  It seemed maybe we should try to beat the weather, so we stopped in Page for lunch and headed on to Albuquerque.    

First we spent about 2 hours flying over the Grand Canyon before heading to Page.  You can only fly over certain corridors at certain altitudes.  I programmed the flight into the GPS ahead of time so just went where it told me to go and it worked great.  We crossed to the north, then south, north, south, and then north, covering 5 corridors before heading to Page.  The air was smooth.   Here are a few pictures:












The town of Supai, in Supai Canyon




Snow on the north rim.  I see why they don't open up until May.



We followed Marble Canyon up to Page.



The scenery at the Page airport was quite nice.  Navajo mountain is in the background.

We got a ride to Stromboli's restaurant from the friendly FBO.  You're not going to believe me but it was the best pizza and salad I've ever had.  




Looking back towards Page.




Goulding's trading post at Monument Valley.  There's a one-way runway here that the arrow points to (mostly dirt until the last couple hundred feet which is asphalt).  I'd like to stop here sometime.  If you plan ahead you can stay at the lodge or just have lunch at the restaurant.  I hear the green chili burger is good.  




More Monument Valley



Campground at Monument Valley.  We've stayed here.  It has a great view.




The famous Mittens.  Navajo mountain in the background.  We could see that from the ground at Grand Canyon, Page, and Monument Valley.  Quite a distinctive feature.



Canyon de Chelley.  Spider Rock in the lower middle.

We flew on to Double Eagle airport in Albuquerque and this time I didn't make any mistakes that I know of.  We stayed again at our favorite hotel, the Best Western Rio Grande and went to Little Anitas for dinner.  I had cheese enchiladas and Marilyn had beef enchiladas.  It was really good.  I love that green chili sauce.