Album: Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly, located within the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona, was our first destination after a three-day drive from Pennsylvania. Spectacular in its own right, Canyon de Chelly was a warmup for larger canyons yet to come.

Album: Monument Valley
Monument Valley, also part of the Navajo Nation, was our second stop. We quickly realized that our perceptions of the west are largely shaped by this relatively small area, as nearly every western film and commercial was filmed here. I even recognized the stretch of road leading into the valley, which was featured in Forrest Gump and on the cover of my Southwest USA travel guide.

Album: Zion Canyon
We spent five nights in Zion Canyon, located in southwestern Utah. One of those nights was spent in Kolob Canyon backcountry, which required an arduous but worthwhile hiking adventure. I would happily visit Zion again, as it featuerd the greatest variety of scenery and hikes.

Album: Las Vegas
After seven nights in a tent and only a few showers, we abandoned the tranquility of our national parks for two nights of excess in Las Vegas. There, we met up with Mike, Bonnie and Angela on a mission to take in all the Vegas we could handle (about two days' worth).

Album: Bryce Canyon
After overloading on Vegas, we crammed Angela into the already-packed car and headed off to Bryce Cayon, near (two hours from) Zion Canyon. Bryce certainly contained the most bizarre scenery of the trip, but I would disagree with those who claim that it's more spectacular than the Grand Canyon.

Album: Grand Canyon (North Rim)
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon was our final stop before dropping Angela off at the Las Vegas airport and heading back to Illinois. No photo can do justice to a canyon that's 17 miles wide and 6000 feet deep, so I didn't make much of an effort.

The Civic acquired more than 6000 miles as it drove from Illinois to Pennsylvania to Las Vegas and back to Illinois. Here we are passing a truck at 80 mph, shortly before Rachel got her speeding ticket (she was driving).