the honeymoon arizona & utah july 2002	also see: the proposal the wedding
	Our honeymoon consisted of a meandering back to Denver through a handful of national parks in Arizona and Utah. We left LA and drove through the Mojave Desert to Arizona, bound for the south side of the Grand Canyon, where we stayed on the Hualapai reservation. A 20 mile dirt road took us deep into the canyon, the only place where you can drive right up to the water.
Cooling off by the Colorado River, inside the canyon.   View from the South Rim of the canyon.
	More of the spectacular canyon from the South Rim.
	We were amazed at the drastic changes in the landscape that occurred every handful of miles. Cashless and hours from the nearest ATM, we couldn't stop at the numerous jewelry stands run by the Navajo, much to Sadie's dismay. Next stop was Zion National Park in Utah.
At Zion, we stuck to "moderately strenuous" trails, avoiding the treacherous ascent to Angel's Landing, which switch-backed up the mountain, through a narrow channel cut into the sheer cliff, lined with chains to assist climbers. Instead, we wandered up to the Emerald Pools and looked at waterfalls and tadpoles.
	Bryce Canyon National Park actually consists of an amphitheater (not a canyon) of alien rock formations called hoodoos.
Spiralling down through "Wall Street."
	These are hoodoos, pillars and ridges of sandstone and iron oxide caused by differential resistance to erosion by wind, water, and repeated freezing and thawing.
Our last stop was Capitol Reef National Park, which we breezed through, avoiding the intense desert sun on the first hot day we experienced on our trip. We had planned on hitting Arches and Canyonlands before returning to Colorado, but, as Sadie put it, "I've seen enough rock formations to last a lifetime."
We had to stop in Green River, Utah, to find the Robber's Roost Motel. This is as far west as Sadie had ever driven. When they were seventeen, she and Suzanne planned to run away to LA. They made it this far, called their mothers to let them know they were okay, stayed at this motel, and turned around the next morning. A real Thelma & Louise adventure.
	So, we're all settled in our first home, a little house we're renting for $5 more per month than my 400 sq ft Brooklyn apartment. We've got a two car garage, a Brady Bunch of cats (two from each of us), two complete sets of living room furniture, two cell phone bills, and only one of us has a job. But we're newlyweds and nothing can touch us. Stay tuned for future installments in this series, including "mother india," "the downpayment," and "the first born."