Day 7 (July 17): Day of rest
As said earlier, the view and the nature of Glen Canyon , Antelope Canyon and Grand Canyon left us in awe. We decided to take a break and enjoy family time at hotel. We used this time to pack for our 3 day trip back home . Page, AZ has a very well equipped Walmart. We did shopping and got required food, snacks , juices, drinks for our return trip. We setup the Battery, Fridge and filled the fridge with gatorade, water, orange juice, coke and some snacks . That day the outside temperature reported as 120F and battery was throwing alert that it was “HOT”. But it still was powering the fridge and keep all things inside at 33F
Outside temperature - 120F
All set and packed up
Day 8 (July 18): From Page, AZ to Grants, NM - 430 miles
Our drive back home included going to Monument valley as a short detours. As our plan was not to drive more than 7hrs, we decided to stay in Grants, NM
SH - 163
Its a scenic drive with varied formations and the entire drive till monument valley was interesting to see. Our target was to get till Forrest Gump Point, so we didn’t drive to Mexican hat
Once we cross into Utah we were greeted with red rock formations.
Forrest Gump point
The view was absolutely breath taking, when we reached this spot there was no one in the vicinity , we got lot of time to walk around and take pictures. This small stretch is 35mph, which helped
As there were not much of traffic, we got opportunity to take pictures right in the middle of the road
Monument valley over look
It was absolutely a delight with this amazing overlook
After spending some time in the valley we headed to Monument valley visitors center and took a break. Then we started heading to the destination of the day. Not sure what happened with the GPS, after reaching SH 160 from SH 163, it routed us via Shiprock and then through SH 491. We didn’t force to take the path that we took during onward journey. We had another opportunity to see Shiprock mountain and a nice view along SH 491. This stretch had very nice 4 lane divided roads.
Shiprock Mountain
SH 491
End Odometer : 12,039
Summary:
Leg one (Monument Valley)
Total Miles : 179
Fuel Type : 91 Octane
Mode : Adaptive, Active Cruise
Speed Maintained: spirited
A/C : 73
Milage : 18.3
Leg two (Grants, NM)
Total Miles : 251
Fuel Type : 91 Octane
Mode : Adaptive, Active Cruise
Speed Maintained: 75 miles
A/C : 73
Milage : 21.6
Driving in Adaptive mode gave a similar milage compared to Eco mode (I was expecting it to be lesser result). Planning to drive entire stretch tomorrow in Adaptive Mode ...