05/04 Our next stop is Monument Valley. Just one more unique area of the southwest. The incredible sandstone formations in this valley stand isolated; in other SW sites the rock formations are relatively continuous. You are not easily able to see these sights on your own because they are on the Navaho reservation. We book a private tour for tomorrow and request that we include the dogs. They agree!
We reserve a RV space at a place just outside the Navaho reservation where the Monument Valley site is located. On our drive in to the general area we see an incredible rock formation that was born out of volcanic action (it is not sandstone like all the other rock formations). It is huge and very different from the rock formations around it. What a unique sight!
In the campground there are LOTS of foreign visitors. I talk to a Canadian man who was speaking French to a couple of other French speaking people. But it was difficult for me to understand him. He is from French speaking Canada–that’s why! He said that the French Canadians broke away from France 200 years ago and the language has diverged a lot since then. We exchanged travel experiences and had a great time doing so.
I thankfully was able to do some laundry. Boy, the 5 of us create a big mess. I have booked 4 nights at what looks like a great adobe house in Santa Fe. We all need a few days of down time in a bigger space. I find a groomer that not only will make the dogs beautiful again but will also provide doggie day care. We are all set!! Can’t wait to get to Santa Fe!
05/05 It’s our second day at Monument Valley and we are off on our 3.5 hour monument tour with the dogs. Bobby is our guide and I’m a little surprised that we have an open air vehicle. That means the dogs are perched on a bench seat with day-light between the seat and the back and no refuge from the wind. We normally are super safety conscience with the dogs, seat-belts and all. But there is no hope for safety here. Poor Lucky has such a difficult time with the sun and the wind normally and now it is gail force.
Bobby is a great guide. We enjoy a view of all the monuments of the region, petroglyphs, and rock arches. We see rocks that have been named and clearly warrant their names: thunderbird, piggy bank, nuns praying, mittens, and many more. Bobby just prods us a little on the name and we quickly can see the form and name it.
We zoom along the unpaved (and sometimes scary) routes between key stops. Toby gets to bark at horses. And then we “run into” sheep dogs! Of course Toby is out of his mind about those dogs and the sheep dogs run like nuts following along side us for miles. Fortunately they become interested in another vehicle and eventually take off in a direction away from us. I want to know who is minding the sheep while that are off harassing the visitor’s dogs!!??
At one of our stops at a beautiful natural arch, Bobby shows us the beauty of the area and the natural acoustics by playing his flute. It was a lovely touch to our tour.
The winds are terrible (that’s nothing new to our trip). But unfortunately the air is so hazy that it’s not a good day for photographs. Of course, H is disappointed. We end the trip wind-blown, dirty but happy that we had a chance to see this incredible landscape.
H grills a luscious steak and I pan-fry potatoes (with lots of butter). A salad rounds out the meal at Chez Diana tonight.