Saturday we left Santa Fe and headed to Monument Valley. When I was looking at places to stay, I was a bit confused. Should I look in Utah or Arizona? Isn't it a national park? I used the internet and found a place that had "great views" but was pricey. Good views are a great plus, given the fact we've stayed at some places by a busy highway with not so good facilities at a little less than this pricey place.
Monument Valley is NOT a national park. It is owned. by the Navajo Indian Tribe. We stayed in Utah at The Goulding compound at the border of Arizona/Utah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulding%27s_Lodge
The Gouldings settled here as a trading post with the locals and Navajo. During the Depression they went to California to suggest Hollywood to use this area for Western movies. Long story short, "Stagecoach", "Tie a Yellow Ribbon", "Thelma and Louise"' among others were filmed here.
The RV campsite was gorgeous! Sunday we drove to the Arizona side ($20.00/car) and hiked the Wildcat Trail, about an easy four miles. The trail took us around the Left Mitten and was jaw dropping! I think it took us three hours to hike it and Eddy took about 50 photographs. Wild flowers were in bloom, sheep were on top of the butte, the air was crisp and clean.
Late Sunday afternoon we took the sunset tour of Monument Valley. Evidently MV is a popular place to foreign visitors. There were Italians, French, and British on the tour of about 20. Germans and Scandinavians were our camp neighbors. The Navajo tour guide took us on the 17 mile bumpy, dusty road, telling us the names of the buttes and the mesas. Thirteen Navajo families live in the MV, some with water and electricity and some without either. It was a spiritual and emotional place for us.
This morning (Monday),we cleaned the red dust off everything, loaded up, and took the scenic route through the Hopi Reservation to Holbrook, Az. We're staying at a KOA. Near the Interstate. Shadeless. Meh. But tomorrow we go to Petrified National Park yay!
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