On our way to Sedona we stopped at an overlook on Lake Powell.
The overlook was full of interesting sandstone textures. *** After passing through Page, we hit the road again. Somewhere between Page and Flagstaff on Hwy 89 we were driving parallel to a big mountain ridge, maybe a mile or so to our left. All of a sudden the wind started picking up and ripping alongside the mountain. In a matter of just a mile we went from clearly seeing the ridge to seeing nothing but dust. The wind was blowing directly at us and even with the Explorer nearly floored it was difficult to maintain speed. *** Fortunately the dust storm stayed just off the road on our left and eventually the wind subsided to a moderate level. Up ahead we see a big tumbleweed blowing from the right side of the road directly towards the road and us. I slow down almost to a stop to avoid hitting it. It was a good 6 or 8 feet diameter. We shouted, "Gina, get that on video!" as it would make a perfect desert clip (a tumbleweed blowing across the road in front of us... how classic). She fumbles the camcorder out, remembers to take the lens cap off, and is eventually ready to shoot. Of course by now the tumbleweed has long ago tumbled across the road and is now nearly out of site on our left.
