As we were leaving the EconoLodge in Albuquerque I looked up to see two hot air balloons passing overhead. Everyone else was already in the car ready to go but I made them all get out and look at the balloons.
Then we headed into Old Town and ate at the Church Street Cafe which I'd highly recommend. The breakfast was delicious (skip the pancakes and go for something that comes with one of their yummy chili sauces). We headed out for Flagstaff and enjoyed the variations in the rock formations along the way. In Colorado most of the rock has been mangled to some degree (lots of folding, mostly) but here the rock was fairly level and the layers were so clear and well defined. It's really beautiful.
In Flagstaff, we ate at the Flagstaff Brewing Company which had good food, reasonable prices, the beer was crisp and fresh and they had live music (that was slightly too loud).
We got to the Grand Canyon just in time to watch the sun set across the rock face. Then we went to El Tovar for dessert which was mediocre at best (and also probably the most we'd spent on a "meal" so far in the trip).
We then drove on to Kingman for the night and plan to hit the Mojave Dessert today.
