Monument Valley - May 11 - 15

Our next stop was Monument Valley, site of dozens of classic movie Westerns. It was amazing to be in the middle of scenes that were beautiful and familiar at the same time. Home base for our stay was Goulding's Campground, a shady park located in a narrow canyon surrounded by red bluffs and just a short distance from historic Goulding's Lodge and Trading Post.

Monument Valley is located on the Navajo Reservation. Although you can drive a 17-mile loop through the site, to see the remote locations and Anasazi ruins, you'll need to take a tour with a Navajo guide. That's how we found ourselves with a group of other visitors spending the day in an open air four-wheel truck with Billy, our driver and cook. Billy navigated us over dirt roads and sandy washes, showed us off-the-beaten-path Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs, and led us scrambling up over rocks to see natural arches and beautiful views. Around noon we stopped in a remote canyon near some ruins and he cooked our lunch over an open fire. Later in the afternoon when our truck got stuck in the sand, it took Billy, a shovel, and all of the guys on the trip to dig us out. It's the occasional brush with danger that really make your travels memorable!

Mothers Day found us exploring more ancient ruins at Canyon de Chelly. You can see much of the canyon from the roads along the rim. The canyon is lovely with lots of trees and Navajos farms below. We decided to take to hike down to the canyon floor to see White House Ruin, the most famous at Canyon de Chelly. It's somewhat strenuous, but it's worth it to see the shady washes and view the ruins up close. While Ez and I were slowly descending on the switchback trail, we saw a young Navajo running down over the rocks toward the bottom. When we chatted with him later, he said that he can sometimes make the trip out of the canyon in seven minutes! And it's about a mile each way on the trail! And while I didn't get a fancy Mothers Day brunch that day, we did have posole and green chile stew with fry bread for lunch at a restaurant in Chinle. . .

Next we are off to Farmington to have a oil leak problem taken care, and then it's on to Durango, Colorado! We love seeing your comments and getting your emails. . Until next time. .