106 But It's A Dry Heat

Volcanic vent left over from earlier times as this area was
being formed.  It's a geology thing!

Three days in Monument Valley and we crossed between Utah and Arizona at least a half-dozen times.  It's right on the border within the Navajo Reservation.  It's a "national park" put managed by the Navajo tribe, not the National Park Service.  The area is so beautiful - kind of like Moab but the spaces here are more wide open and vast.  We took lots of pictures but none of them do justice to the immensity of the rock formations.  We had fun trying to figure out why the different formations were given there names - East Mitten, West Mitten, the Thumb, etc.  Some of them we just couldn't see like the Bear and the Rabbit.  We could see the Rabbit but the bear was a mystery.  This is the area where they filmed a lot of John Wayne's movies and they actually have a pullout called John Ford's Point.  He was the director for many of films.  The girls and I

West Mitten and East Mitten.  See the thumbs?

also visited the museum in the visitor's center.  They had a fascinating display about the Navajo Code Talkers who served as marines during WWII after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They used their native language to create a code that was unbreakable by the Japanese. It's fascinating how they went about developing the code. I picked of the book titled Code Talkers: the first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII. It explains in greater detail the process they went through as well as telling the story of  the life of Chester Nez, in his own words. It's excellent.

Three Sisters.  The rocks, not us. Or a big W if you like.

Our camping spot was a brand new KOA.  The facilities were lovely and such friendly people but it is in the middle of the desert and there is NO shade.  They've planted trees but they'll need about 10 years before they provide any shade.  Our first day here it only got to around 97 but that second day it actually hit 106 for a bit. With the humidity the "feels like" temperature was only about 96 but standing in the sun was blistering hot.  We made sure to drive through the park early in the day. We saw a bunch of folks in the open air jeeps going on tours.  I don't think I could handle that - the dust and the heat - ugh!  

What is amazing is the night sky. Such little light pollution (after our RV neighbors turned off their 

Jade at John Ford's Point.  Yes, you can have your picture taken
on a horse.  So cool

dang door/porch lights - omg, there might be boogie men out there in the dark!)  Great night sky viewing. We even got to see the Milky Way at 4:30 a.m. because Otis had been having gastrointestinal issues (if you know what I mean) and no one woke up in time before he had an "explosion" at the front door.  So we "made lemonade from the lemons" and went outside to see the stars - after we cleaned up the mess.  Had to air out the joint anyway! All the pets are having bathroom issues because there is no grass anywhere for them to do their business.We are out there with the other owners trying to find a spot that our dogs find acceptable. Silly.

Jeff at Artist's Point in Monument Valley.  It's magical.

Traditional Navajo homes called Hogans. They still build
these today.  We saw a lot of them next to regular modern
day homes.

Day two we traveled slightly north to a place called Mexican Hat. A tiny little town just outside the reservation area. The town is named for the rock formation near the town that bears the same name. A little anti-climatic after the towering formations we saw in the valley.  Everyone was asking me, "Is that it, is that it?"  We also visited Gooseneck State Park named for the "entrenched river meander" that was created by the San Juan River running through the area. Apparently, it is "the most striking example" of this type of geologic feature on the North American continent.  It's like

The Thumb.  It's huge.

switchbacks on a road, hence the name Gooseneck.  I was surprised to actually see water in the river. The river eventually flows into Lake Powell in Page, AZ. 

We drove through Page, AZ home to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon dam.  So sad.  Due to drought and water overuse, the lake is down 89.1 feet.  I remember years ago when I was here the lake was huge and a gorgeous blue. Not any more. You can barely see the water from the road except from the bridge over the dam. 

Gooseneck - an entrenched meander.

Mexican Hat - so cute!  I guess you can
 see why I got, "Is that it?"

Made our first stop at a store since leaving home.  We sure love Wal-Mart when we are traveling.  However, it was near the lake and it was a Saturday; the place was a zoo! Two tour buses full of Asian tourists had just descended on the place. Jeff stayed in the RV with Otis. He wanted no part of that mess. So we are in a little town called Glendale in Utah about 20 miles outside the park.  It was the closest spot Jeff could get that looked decent. I've read that Zion is the second most visited National Park in the nation.  They have been having discussions about how to manage the park because of the millions of tourists that descend on the place every year.  

It's lovely here at our RV park.  Trees and green grass; I've got a whole new appreciation for these simple gifts of nature after being in the desert. There are apple, dwarf pear, and cherry trees growing around the campground and they have a little water fountain in the park-like area up front. It's only 96 degrees.  So refreshing - lol! Love to hear the breeze rustling the leaves.  Ahhhhh. Tomorrow we tackle Zion.