The day began early and we traveled down the scenic route rather that take the main road.

Two oldish gals having fun…. it was really hot and the scenery was stunning. I said ‘Oh’ so many times today.

We drove from Gallup, though Arizona, past Window rock, the Vermillion cliffs, over the Navajo Bridge and into Utah to stay at Kanab for the night.

We went into a restaurant in Tuba City and we were the only non Navajo people there… we got some strange looks indeed. (what are you doing here) I accidentally knocked two glasses of drink into Miss Lisa lap at lunch time as I was getting the map out. Then we only ordered one hamburger to share…. strange ladies.!!!

Miss Lisa decided to stay back in safety while I took off into the red desert lat this afternoon to take photos… walking in sand dunes in red hot sand at 6000 feet is no mean feat. So she stayed back to make sure that if I had a heart attack she could raise the alarm. (that’s her version) I had red sand in every part of my clothing… almost blocked the shower drain.

I’ll put the images up on the blog tomorrow and try to go to sleep ‘earlyish’… so we can do it all again tomorrow. — with Lisa Blevins.

At sunset we ventured to the Coral Pink Sand dunes.

The sand comes from Navajo sandstone from the geologic period call Middle Jurassic. The same iron oxides and minerals that give us spectacular red rock country are responsible for this landscape of coral pink sand.

Sand dunes are created by three factors: Sand, high winds, and a unique influence upon the wind. The notch between the Moquith and Moccasin mountains causes this unique influence. The wind is funneled through the notch, thereby increasing wind velocity to a point where it can carry sand grains from the eroding Navajo sandstone.

This phenomenon is known as the Venturi Affect. Once the wind passes through the notch and into the open valley, the wind velocity decreases, causing the sand to be deposited.These dunes are estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 years old.

It was difficult walking and very hot, but I was determined to get some good shots.

Crossing the Navajo Bridge, the green water looked like an opal strip in the dry canyon.