We started the day by sadly leaving Brian Head and driving back to the Parowan Café for breakfast.  Jessica (the server) looks and talks like a pixie but does a great job taking care of the customers.  I broke down and ordered the “short stack” of pancakes.  I know that is not on my approved diet list but I was craving it.  I don’t usually take “food” pictures but I couldn’t resist this time.  This is a mammoth short stack.

We headed out and covered a lot of the same territory we drove through yesterday so there was not much new to report.  This area was hit hard by some flash flooding due to heavy rains yesterday.  We were keeping our eyes peeled for signs of damaged roads or flooding.  We were really fortunate and did not see any major damage.

We did come across a national monument called Pipe Springs.  We stopped to investigate and discovered that it was a site that was being restored to it’s 1800’s condition.  It is an oasis of sorts in that there are continuously running springs that supply water to the site.  The signs claim that it was never enough water to support a town but could support livestock and a family.  I thought the highlight of the sight was the longhorn steer who appeared to be watching us as we walked around.  I took his picture – it was the only thing I considered noteworthy at this national monument.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is not nearly as crowded as the South Rim.  Part of the reason for that is that you have to drive 43 miles down highway 67 to get there and 43 miles to get back.  That doesn’t count the many, many miles you have to drive on Highway 89A to get to 67.  We made the trek and QME handled the curving roads   By the time we got there we were ready for some food. We were escorted to a table with the most amazing view of the canyon.   The food was so-so but the scenery made up for it.  We purchased the required hat pin for our map at home and headed out.

We stopped for the night at Tuba City, AZ.  A little researched uncovered that the town is named for a Navajo Chief Tu’uvi which got it’s a new pronunciation from the English.  The town was not named for being the home of the sousaphone.  It is in the middle of the Navajo reservation.  Another claim to fame of the city is that is home to the original Navajo Code Talkers from WW-II.

Most of the day was spent inside the QME and we were way past being ready to exit.  Dinner was next door and mediocre.  It might have been that we were just not in the mood to eat.  We plan to spend part of the day tomorrow “standing on the corner”.

Jessica working hard at the Parowan Café.

This is a short stack! A full stack could do some real damage.

Intimidating looking creature.

I like the way the light draws patterns on the landscape.

This was taken from our table at lunch at the North Rim Lodge Restaurant.

Just another random shot at the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Walking the path at the North Rim.

After leaving the Grand Canyon we drove through northern Arizona.