Monument Valley, Utah

As many of you have noticed, we are running a little behind on the blog. We took a quick trip to Montana over the holidays to spend time with families. When we returned to Arizona we spent a week trying to get our RV fixed, and finally had to leave for a few days to tour the Four Corners region via car. The RV is supposed to be fixed now, so hopefully we will be back on track (with the blog updated) soon. Here is Teressa's journal entry from Monument Valley:

After a light hotel breakfast looking out over the icy Animus River, we took a quick morning drive through downtown Durango. Durango, an old mining and mill town, reminded us of Bozeman, MT and Wallace, ID with its old building, trendy restaurants and hip shops.

Rather than retrace our steps as we once again headed west, we took a back road from Cortez, CO toward Hovenweep National Monument. It was a bit windy, but there was little traffic and pretty scenery as we left the snowy mountains of Colorado for the red rock of Utah. Almost to Monument Valley, we noticed a large boulder perched precariously on a tower of rock. We were all alone as we pulled down a side road to get better pictures of what we later learned to be Mexican Hat. It was so quiet, peaceful and beautiful. Ah...to be out west again!

Near Monument Valley we all tried a Navaho taco at Goulding's Statecoach Restaurant, which is chili, cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato on Indian flatbread. Pretty good. Monument Valley is on Navaho land and, therefore, is subject to a $5 per person fee to enter. They recommend a guide drive with you through the landmarks at a cost of an additional $60 per person. We passed on that and enjoyed the scenery along the pothole dirt road to the valley floor. What a magnificent work of nature it is with the magestic red spires, blue sky, green shrubs and a dusting of white snow. Tonight we are staying at a Hampton Inn in Kayenta. Apparently I kept the kids awake last night and, since the beds here are doubles, we sprung for 2 rooms that are adjoining. Tomorrow we shall return to Phoenix and assess the situation of what Laura now calls, "the box".