July 10, Wednesday

 Monument Valley Day 

This is inside the Navajo Nation which take up the NE corner of Arizona, a bit of Utah (where park entrance is), and a bit of New Mexico. See map --->

The whole park is a holy site, protected by the Navajo people. Access to areas is limited.


Monument Valley is red.  Red dust is everywhere, this is desert sand and the sand is fine, almost silky,  and nothing is safe from it. 

Pictured here is our Jeep in front of the 3 Sisters monument. Picturesque for sure. 

Navajo guides will take you on trips into these restricted areas if you like.

We chose a self-guided tour along a 14 mile unpaved access road and we went early in the afternoon.  The sun was high. 
It was a fun road trip.

First time taking the jeep off-road and John had a good time with it.  He loves his new jeep!   Tucker and I had fun too and I handled the camera.  Dogs are allowed in the park if on leash.  There are many hiking trails, horse back trails and guided tours, but we were content with touring the main trail and getting lots of fun pictures; mostly of our jeep and our fur baby. LOL.

This is my favorite picture of the jeep... It got a bit dusty.

This picture was hard fought as we pulled up and no one was around.  This sight has a sweeping view of the whole valley and I got out to take a few pictures.  Of courser multiple tour vans pulled up just about that same time and we suddenly went from having the whole place to ourselves to sharing it with 3 dozen selfie snapping others.  Ha.  One of them actually was upset with me as our jeep (parked way before their arrival was in her way.  She snapped photos over the hood of the jeep.   I just patiently waited and then got this photo before the next batch arrived.

Note:  There was 50 yards in front of the jeep with the exact same view and clear... but somehow they wanted to be where we were.  It was a bit weird.

Here is an obligatory picture of yours truly.  I'm grimacing into the sun while John takes my picture from the jeep.  The momument in the background is the left mitten... so iconic.  This monument to this park is like the Eiffel Tower to Paris.  Pretty cool.

So... the park we are in with the RV is as picturesque as the actual Navajo Park.  It is up a basin with huge monuments on either side and a gorgeous view.   A bit crowded in spaces but nice amenities and very popular.  It fills up every night.