Day 4 - More of North Rim, Mountain Travel and Vally of Fire

North Rim....notice our change in attire as the day goes on.....it was 56 degrees with winds probably 25 mph when we first stopped....winds never died down, but the temperature did get to a nice 64 degrees! CRAZY! Luckily, the haze did dissipate some as the morning wore on....

Below is Angel's Window with Colorado River pictured inside. You can walk across the top of this to get some great pics!

Yep, that's April out near the edge....we actually both got out there for pictures.....looks much worse than it actually was!

Indian Ruins excavated....and more pictures of the Canyon.

Hawk trying to escape the winds on the meadows on our way out of the Canyon....he was gorgeous!

Upon leaving the Grand Canyon, we headed west through a small portion of Utah and then back into Arizona and through the Virgin River Valley Gorge.....winds still blowing at least 25 mph, 2 lane interstate, 3-trailer FedEx truck, steep grades, and signs warning of cross winds, cliffs that seemed to go forever......put it all together, and you get a wild ride! I only grabbed the "oh crap" handle twice during the 20 minutes of "are you serious!?!?!" Josh did a great job getting us through, even if he had white knuckles a few times trying to navigate through some interesting turns!

After lunch in Hurricane, AZ, we continued on I-15 towards Vegas......before reaching Vegas, we drove through Valley of Fire State Park. Amazing outcrops of red sandstone rock exposed in a very limited geographic area of the Mohave Desert. If it hadn't been 96 degrees and windy, we might have stopped to check out more of it....but I guess that leaves a "for next time" adventures!

We came into Vegas on I-15 and got to see Vegas International Speedway and then drove to Excaliber Hotel for the night.