I recently traveled to Canyon de Chelly National Monument with my niece and a friend. We decided to take a different route there than we would take home, trying to get as many photography opportunities as possible.

From Flagstaff, we took I-40 east to State Route 191. There was some road construction in Winslow that slowed us down but otherwise, we could drive at the posted 75mph the entire way. The roads were clear and there was hardly any traffic at 7a.m. on a Saturday morning (and this was during Memorial Day weekend).

State Route 191 is rough but beautiful. The drive was really stunning with rolling green hills, red cliffs, and interesting buildings. It took us about 3 hours to get to the entrance of Canyon de Chelly.

We stopped at the visitor's center. Canyon de Chelly doesn't require an entrance fee (although I carry a Golden Eagle pass) but they do welcome donations to assist with monument overhead. My niece picked up the paperwork (a booklet to guide her) for the Junior Ranger program and we headed headed out. At this point, it was 10a.m. our time (the Navajo reservation is on daylight savings so they were an hour ahead of us -- 11a.m.) and the midday sun was coming overhead.

In order to go down most of the trails, you need to make a reservation and have a guide with you. Since we had planned this as a one day trip, we didn't make those kinds of plans.

We drove along the south rim drive, stopping at each of the overlooks. We spent so much time at the overlooks that I worried we wouldn't get to see much. However, we eventually got down to the White House ruins overlook and were able to hike down into the canyon (this is the only trail you can hike without a guide).

The hike was worth it--quite beautiful. While it was hot, there was also much more shade than if you hiked the Grand Canyon, for example. It is absolutely beautiful there.

On the way home, we decided to drive over the Hopi Mesas and down through Leupp. In Leupp, we found the remains of the Leupp Isolation Center, a detention camp for the "troublemakers" that were being deterred in other Japanese Detention Camps during WWII. It is an interesting site and really makes you stop and think about what has happened in this country.

The entire trip took us about 14 hours but was well worth it.