Attention: This post, like so many travel entries I made in the earliest days of blogging, was a mere one photo. Here in late 2022, I’ve been repairing them.

Admittedly not a great photo to open a post with, but I recognize that one of our all-time favorite restaurants was very poorly represented here on my blog. El Conquistador Mexican Food was owned and operated by Maria Altmaier with a lot of help and love from her husband, Mark. Maria passed away nearly 11 years to the day after I took this photo and so my sentimentality for her rose up this evening as I’m writing this. Countless late afternoons on our way out of town, El Con would be our last stop before hitting the road. The place wasn’t fast, but the quality of her Jalisco-inspired fare was always perfect, always.

With stomachs full, we were out on the 17 freeway going north.

The sun is about to take its final dip as we are now north of Flagstaff.

We try every time we pass The Gap Trading Post to stop in and buy a little something to help support the local Navajo economy.

We are on the way to Salt Lake City, Utah. This evening, we will drive over Page and Lake Powell on our way to Kanab, Utah, as the route over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is closed due to fire that can be seen in the distance.