In Awe of Monument Valley

Gouldings Campground, Monument Valley, Utah

We left the Grand Canyon and entered into the Navajo Nation. I feel as if we've traveled to another place in time, both spiritually and physically. We were so fortunate to experience the many moods of this magical place in one day.

 

One of our first stops of the day was at the Navajo Shadehouse Museum in Kayenta, Az. We spent a long time exploring this place, including watching a documentary about the Navajo Code Talkers. This is our second time visiting here and it continues to intrigue me.

 

 

 

When we arrived at Monument Valley the weather was cool and sunny with incredible cloud formations.

We decided to do the 2.5 hour jeep tour, led by a Navajo, and explore the valley further. Linda was in charge of negotiating the best tour and we definitely had the right person for this job! The 4 of us had our own tour with a very personable guide, Larry.

 

Heading off into the valley.

 

 

 

We saw incredible rock formations, learned about some Navajo traditions and culture, and even heard about all the movies made here. This rock is called "Elephant Rock." Can you see it?

We also visited a hogan where a woman was spinning wool.

 

 

 

These hogans are for all different kinds of ceremonies, everything from celebrating life events to curing sickness. The cone shape one is for the men and the rounded one for woman. The doors in them all face east.

This place is called "Big Hogan". If you look at the back of the rock you can see a picture of an Indian with the long black hair streaming down. It's all just the natural rock colors stained by water that flows from the hole in the top of the cave.

 

 

Per Larry's instructions, we all leaned against the slanted wall in the "Big Hogan" and just took in the space. It was very still and felt very magical. We all got lost in the quiet and solitude.

 

This rock formation is called "The Totem Pole" along with "Navajo Spiritual God Dancers." The dancers are emerging from a hogan.

Within minutes of this picture, the weather changed from complete stillness to a windy thunderstorm. Here it is approaching.

 

 

We got absolutely pummeled with cold rain and wind. Suddenly the open jeep tour didn't seem like such a great idea. (Thanks Linda for loaning me your spare vest to cover up with!)

This picture looks like we have a fake backdrop, but it's real!

 

What was so cool was the waterfalls that appeared out of nowhere as it rained.

 

Thanks Larry for an incredible, up-close visit to Monument Valley.

Afterwards, Ned and I had planned on making Gary and Linda an anniversary dinner. But it was cold, wet and late by the time we were done. So...off to Goulding Lodge for a really good, Navajo inspired dinner.

Can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning and experience the magical valley again. Be prepared for more pictures!

 

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Day 2 Grand Canyon - Taking Care of Business

Winnie needed some extra love, so Ned and I got up at 5 am, hit the showers, and headed for Flagstaff. We spent the majority of the day dealing with minor car issues.

Gary and Linda on the other hand, went on a 3 mile hike down into the canyon.

So, while Linda and Gary went down - Winnie went up. She feels all better now.

I took this picture at about 4 o'oclock as a storm was approaching. Love the dramatic effect of the rain. Still no rain drops fell on this side of the canyon.

We met up with Gary and Linda for some drinks at El Tovar - of course.

 

Walking the rim trail never gets old.

 

Another dinner out. This is definitely "glamping."

 

The artwork, pottery and crafts here are so unique and beautiful. I captured this piece high up on the wall in the Desert Tower.

 

 

 

Behind the scenes look at a blogger at work...sitting in the lobby of the El Tovar. Rough life.

 

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South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Mather Campground, Grand Canyon

Another day of great weather and too much fun! We broke camp and rolled out of the north rim around 9 am. Destination South Rim Grand Canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive from the North Rim to the South Rim was incredible. I especially loved the Vermillion Cliffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of our stops along the way was the Navajo Bridge, crossing over the Colorado River.

 

The views of the Colorado River from this viewpoint were amazing. We were treated to Condors playing in the up drafts overhead. It was almost surreal.

 

 

Linda and I did some fun shopping along the way pulling off the road to see all the beautiful handcrafted Navajo crafts. One of the stops had a beautiful desert view of the canyon. Gary and Ned explored the deep canyon as we shopped.

 

 

Yep, we made it to the Grand Canyon...photo documentation.

 

 

One of the first stops in the Grand Canyon is the Desert View. We toured the Watchtower and were able to get some great pics from up high.

 

We finally made it to our campsite, but were only there a few minutes before we hopped on our bikes and began exploring. We left the site about 3 and didn't return until 10 pm at night!

 

My favorite part of the trip so far was biking the Hermit Road. We took the bus up the grade, except for Gary who showed us up by riding it, and then biked to Hermit's Rest. We had so much fun stopping at all the overlooks and taking hundreds of pictures.

We returned back to the Village at about 8:30 and ate dinner at Angel Bright Lodge. Ned and I opted to ride our bikes back to the campsite with headlights on. We had the roads almost to ourselves. Such a fun day.

 

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From Canyon to Canyon - Bryce to North Rim

North Rim Campground, Grand Canyon

Y'all must have taken my last words from yesterday's blog to heart, cuz we woke up to much cooler weather. Thanks! After a quick breakfast, and bundling up, we took off for a morning bike ride along the rim of Bryce Canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

The skies were overcast, but we still managed to get in some great views.

 

 

 

Gary and Linda goofing off at Ruby's Village.

 

 

 

 

 

Late morning we packed up and headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We stopped at Jacob's Lake, a rest stop that seemed frozen in time. An old fashioned ice cream counter, bakery, trinkets and a sitting area. Pretty fun place to take a break and wonder about.

 

 

 

 

Yep, made it to the Grand Canyon, North Rim. It's also opening day of the season!

 

 

We didn't let the cooler weather keep us from jumping on our bikes and taking a ride.

 

Our first stop was Bright Angel Point.

 

 

The views did not disappoint!

 

"Someday this will be all mine..."

 

 

Of course all this hiking and biking called for adult refreshments in the saloon. Devil's Stout, North Rim IPA and Grand Canyon Pilsner. (Debi took sips of them all).

 

It was a pretty amazing day. I'm still trying to get my head around that this morning we were biking the rim of Bryce Canyon and this afternoon we were biking the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. So thankful for the good weather, good company and my great traveling buddy. (Winnie update: She's humming along fine. The a/c comes and goes at will, but ironically when it was 50 degrees it worked fine! Go figure. The temp gage only went up a bit with all the climbing we were doing. No heater needed today.).

 

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Bikram Bonding to Bryce Canyon

North Campground, Bryce Canyon National Park

We had a date with a VW service repair in St. George early this morning to replace the a/c compressor. While we weren't looking forward to the hour drive (in the wrong direction), we were treated to an amazing sunrise. What a great way to pull out of the campground in Zion.

 

 

 

The repair would take about 4 hours so we decided to explore the area on our bikes. As luck would have it there is a series of connecting bike paths near the VW Dealer. So we spent the morning biking along the Virgin River. Pretty fun way to pass the time actually.

 

 

We finally got back on the road at high noon and headed for Bryce Canyon. It was quite warm but we were feeling relieved to have a fully functioning a/c and a car that wouldn't over-heat. Well....about 30 miles down the road the a/c kicked off and the engine began over-heating. We called the VW dealer, but the service dept. had gone home for the day.

 

 

So....Mr. Ned aka McGuyver, said "This will be uncomfortable, but let's turn our heater on full blast to help cool the engine.". Yep, it worked like a charm. The engine immediately cooled off and we headed for Bryce in 90 degree weather with the heater running full blast. I like to think of it as our Bikram spiritual bonding moment.

Along the 3 hour drive to Bryce we saw some great rock formations and Cowboys riding with their little doggie along the road.

 

We met up with Gary and Linda at the campsite in Bryce, hopped on our bikes and headed for the Visitor Center. After watching the film about the park, we took a shuttle to the farthest point in the park to see the first hoodoo amphitheater.

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce Point,

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed to Inspiration Point

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the gang walking along the Rim Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunrise or Sunset Point...I kept getting them mixed up, doesn't matter...here's my peeps hanging with the hoodoos.

 

 

Linda taking in the sights.

 

 

 

We had a really great time goofing around walking from Sunset Point to the Lodge, and then back to the Visitor's Center. By the time we got "home" we were more than ready for dinner. While Ned was grilling the burgers, I was busy tasting the wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great meal together. You can never go wrong with burgers and salad.

We made another late night ice cream run and then spent way too long drinking and telling stories. Tomorrow we head for the Grand Canyon North Rim. We'll figure out Winnie's woes as we get closer to civilization. I'm thinking Santa Fe or Albuquerque - days from now. Pray for cooler weather.

 

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