Monument Valley

Our campsite at Goulding's RV Park

This is a spectacular area in Monument Valley. Our campsite was located just west of the valley deep in the hills and surrounded by deep red colored hills. A feast for the eyes. The subtle shapes and color patterns of the canyon along with the smooth surfaces formed by millions of years of weathering was jaw dropping. In my mind I was contrasting the modernity of the latest RV's and technology they represent with the timeless sense of age which surrounded us.


There was a gap in the canyon walls that provided a glimpse of the famous "monuments" for which this area was tagged as Monument Valley. I took the photo below while standing on the roof of our camper.

We  were at this campsite for just an overnight and on the way to Durango CO the next morning we had the good fortune to drive past these singular monoliths.

On the way to Durango it was a short detour to visit the Four Corners Monument. This was a must see for Marilyn. She told me that when she was in the fourth grade she saw a picture of the monument and from that moment on she had it on her bucket list. But, being Marilyn, she wanted to lay down on the spot rather than just a regular pose. So she had her wish fulfilled.

I, on the other, hand chose a more traditional memory pose. BTW, it was blowing hard and quite chilly.

Crossing the Colorado border we made our way across the southern end of the San Juan National forest and climbed up and up and up. What greeted us as we climbed was lots and lots of snow, something we haven't seen in a long time.

So here we are in Durango CO and it's freezing cold. When I got up for morning coffee the temperature was 30 degrees and there was frost on the Honda. Brrrrr.....

Page AZ

So let me bring you up to date. After Leeds UT, it was back to Page AZ where we had one full day to explore the area. Lake Powell was formed by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in the early 60's. The lake is ginormous in terms of its coastline. In fact, there is more coastline on Lake Powell than the entire west coast.

The bridge that spans the Colorado River was constructed before the dam because it was a 100+ mile drive to get to the other side.

We took a one hour tour of the dam which landed us first on the top of the dam. There was an example of the 20 ton concrete bucket used and a water turbine wheel recently removed for replacement.

We left Page on Saturday April 27th and headed for Gouldings RV Resort in Monument Valley. We wanted to see a Navajo Nation museum in Tuba City AZ on the way there.

Leeds UT

We arrived in Leeds on March 17th after a marvelous drive past the vast expanse of Painted Desert and a quite thrilling drive through Zion National Park. We stopped at the Lomaki and Wapatki Ruins National Monument while still in Arizona. These are the remains of pueblo inhabitants of this area who lived here a thousand years ago, long before Westerners arrived in the 16th century. The ruins are a testament to the skill and perseverance of these people in developing and surviving this harsh environment. They abandoned these settlements in the mid 1100s.

Our camper viewed from one of the pueblo ruins

A box canyon which was used as a watershed. The rocks down in the bottom right corner is actually a small dam the inhabitants used to trap water and stored for irrigation. They also used the canyon floor to grow their beans, corn and other staples

Two very informative volunteer rangers who explained the details of the pueblos and the lives of the natives

Further along the desert road we finally made it to the Wapatki ruins. These are much more extensive dwelling place not only as homes but as a central gathering place for all inhabitants of surrounding areas. Very, very impressive indeed.

On our way out of the pueblo ruins I took some photos of the desert landscape leading back to the main road to Leeds.

As we headed west toward Utah we passed through the Painted Desert. I got a few shots off but pictures alone cannot reveal the stunning raw beauty of this land.

Next on the journey was Zion and what a visual delight it was. I held tight to the steering wheel while Marilyn took a zillion pictures. Here are a few of them.

Even though we have senior passes to all National Parks which gets us in free, we had to pay a fee of $15 to pass through the long, narrow tunnel. The photo of the tunnel entrance you saw in a picture above was the larger of the two tunnels and two vehicles can pass each other. Not so in the longer tunnel. One way only when RVs need to travel through. This one is 1.1 miles long and is called the Zion Mt. Carmel Tunnel.

I got this interior photo from the web

We made a short stop at the visitor center to have a look around and a welcome respite for your overworked driver.

Finally reaching Leeds in the mid-afternoon we arrived at our campground.

While here we made several trips into St. George checking out properties and values. One of the goals of this trip, as I've mentioned before, is to scout out different areas of the Southwest and see if any seem to fit our preferences.

An example of what $120,000 can get you in St. George

There are also lots of historical places to see. We visited an old silver mining are near Leeds where silver was found in sandstone.

Boot hill

Along I-15 just south of Leeds and to the west is the Red Rock Conservation area. I was fascinated with the sheer size of this red rock wall and the enormous cathedral shaped hollow on its face.

Oh and one more thing to cast a juxtaposition into this nature stuff. Here's a shot I took of Marilyn while we were visiting the Lomaki ruins back at the beginning of this posting. Even in the middle of nowhere.......

We're never really out of touch anymore are we

Next stop is back to Page for two days then on to Colorado.