Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort, UT: Decided to just kick back today. Sat outside reading into the early afternoon. I just finished “A Land Remembered” by Patrick D. Smith—a historical novel of Florida. A great read and hard to put down. I’m now reading “Lone Survivor” about a Navy SEAL team’s mission in Afghanistan where they were ambushed by al Qaeda fighters and only one survived. Pretty good so far. Mike is reading “Cross” by James Patterson—another good read. We went over to the restaurant here and had dinner. I had spicy pork and green chili stew with Navajo fry bread which was really good. Mike had a burger on Navajo fry bread. I think we’re getting hooked on the fry bread. A beautiful, sunny day today. Hit 88. The wind really whips in this canyon.

Mexican Hat Rock Formation

Town of Mexican Hat is named after this landmark

Beautiful Monument Valley

Goulding's Trading Post

Est. 1924

Home/office of Capt. Nathan Brittles

John Wayne's character in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"

Gouldings--Monument Valley

Goosenecks State Park

Supposedly the most stunning example of an entrenched river meander

(whatever that means)

San Juan River

About 3/4 of the way up

Mike on the edge trying to get a good shot

They call this road a "dugaway" because it's dug into the side of a cliff
That's where the road started way down below

View from the top of the mesa

Getting there was not fun

Anasazi ruins on top of the mesa

This is the Kiva, or ceremonial chamber

Prickly Pear Cactus in Bloom

Ancient Anasazi Cliff Dwelling

Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort, UT: Woke up this morning to the patter of rain. Haven’t seen rain in a while. Went over to the restaurant for breakfast and after that went through the Gouldings Trading Post which is now a museum. Harry Goulding and his wife Leone (her nickname was Mike) came to Monument Valley in the early 1920s and set up a trading post. They conducted business with the local Navajo people who traded hand crafted items for food and other goods. The Gouldings lived upstairs over the Trading Post. Very nice place. John Wayne stayed with them when he was filming in the area. When the depression hit in the 1930s the Navajo people suffered greatly. The Gouldings heard of a movie crew scouting locations and so with their last $60 they set out for Hollywood, California, and managed to get a meeting with director John Ford. When Ford saw the pictures of Monument Valley he immediately gave them an advanced payment and in a few days filming started on “Stagecoach” with John Wayne. The Navajos were given parts in the movie and other jobs servicing the actors and crew. They actually filmed right here at the trading post and the surrounding area. After the museum we drove north to Mexican Hat, UT—named after the landmark rock formation. Made a side trip to Gooseneck State Park where the San Juan River makes 4 goosenecks through a deep canyon. Then I said, let’s continue north on this road and make a big loop stopping at Bluff for dinner and then back home. So we started up this road (State Rt. 261) which starts out paved, turns into gravel with 180 degree switchbacks and goes up the side of this huge mesa. 11% grade! I was freaking out. In some places the road wasn’t wide enough for two cars because of the boulders jutting out. And it was right on the edge! We finally made it to the top and just before that an eighteen-wheeler was coming the other way. I was so glad when we made it to the top. We stopped and walked around the granite up there and took some pictures. Then continued over the top of this beautiful mesa thick with cedars and sage brush against the beautiful red dirt and rock. Stopped at two Anasazi ruins—one out in the open on the mesa and the other we hiked up to a canyon and observed these cliff dwellings from the other side of the canyon. The prickly pear cactus were in bloom. Beautiful. Had dinner in historic Bluff where the Mormans settled in the early 1800s. Had a wonderful meal of beef ribs slow cooked with cabbage, onions, and carrots. They only buy open range beef with no hormones or anything else added and their vegetables come from a garden across the street. Drove back to Gouldings. Started out in the low 70s this morning. It was in the mid-60s at the top of the mesa. The high was 81.

View from our site...

Our site

Approaching Gouldings RV Resort, Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Painted desert

Area around Flagstaff

Distant Drums RV Resort to Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort: Left this morning around 10:00 and headed up Rt. 17 to Flagstaff. Uphill all the way and the truck worked just fine. So, I guess the GMC guy was right. It was about 20 degrees cooler in Flagstaff. And it’s so pretty in this area with thick pine forests and mountains all around. After leaving Flagstaff we drove through a variety of ecosystems. Mostly desert with buffalo grass and sagebrush and cedars. Drove through the painted desert which was a moonscape in some areas and in others the hills were different shades of pink. Stopped at Tuba City for some lunch and continued on. After Tuba City we started seeing clumps of grass with pretty little flowers--all pastel shades of violet, orange, and white. Stopped at Kayenta for fuel and then headed north on Rt. 163 through Monument Valley. What a magnificent place! We’re staying at Gouldings RV Park which is right in the middle of Monument Valley. The RV Park is up a beautiful canyon and we have red bluffs all around us. And Gouldings has a restaurant, a lodge, a grocery store, a gas station, and a laundry. It’s in the middle of nowhere, so we’ll have everything we need right here. Coming up Rt. 163 through Monument Valley we hit a cross wind that I thought was going to blow us off the road. One of the worse we’ve experienced. 83 when we got here. They say it goes down into the low 50s at night. Oh yeah!

Oak Creek Canyon

Rancho Sedona RV Park

Sedona, AZ: We got hooked up and out of heRancho Sedona early and were at the GMC dealer in Cottonwood before 8:00. We sat there until almost 5:00. I wasn’t feeling real great so I went to the fifth wheel and laid down on the bed. A very long, frustrating day. And they say it’s the Banks system. They unhooked it and Mike drove it around and didn’t get any engine light or anything. I think they just wanted to get rid of us and let someone else deal with it. So we cancelled our reservation at Monument Valley for tonight and went down the road a couple of miles to a really nice, fairly new RV park. Didn’t even unhook. Out of here tomorrow for Monument Valley.

Ancient cliff dweling

The beautiful Verde River canyon

Richard & Kim Conant and his father Russell

Wed, 6/17/09:

Sedona, AZ: We had a relaxing morning and then headed to Clarkdale around 11:00. We decided to make a reservation on the Verde Canyon Railroad which goes from Clarkdale to Perkinsville and back. The route followed the beautiful Verde River in a deep canyon into a beautiful wilderness area. The lush area around the Verde River was in sharp contrast to the stark beauty of the desert bluffs and mountains. We made reservations in the first class coach so we had complimentary champagne and quite a spread of snacks and sandwiches. The first class car had comfortable couches and tables so it was very comfortable. And there was a flatcar next to our car where we could go outside—which was where we spent most of the trip up. Seated across from us was a couple from Columbia, SC, and his father, Russell, who is 95! Russell lives in Sun City—just outside Phoenix. He still lives by himself and is as sharp as a tack. We enjoyed talking with them. Dr. Richard Connant is a bass-barritone soloist who performs all over the world. He’s performed for 3 presidents and various other dignitaries from all over the world and has even performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC. He also works with the FBI in Columbia. His wife, Kim, is a pediatric nurse in Columbia. I talked him into singing for us. He sang “Old Man River” and “Some Enchanted Evening”. We meet the most interesting people. After the trip (4 hours) we went grocery shopping (ugh) and then back home. Have to leave early tomorrow to take the truck with fifth-wheel in tow to the GMC dealer. That should be fun.

Jason--Sedona High School Teacher

View from the rim

Our jeep tour group

Art Gallery--Sedona

Sedona, AZ: This morning started out cloudy but cleared off some. The herons are their usual raucous self. They have some nests up in the trees also. These long-legged birds look so ungainly up in the trees. This morning we drove around Sedona some more. Drove the Red Rock Loop road and saw more amazing scenery and some really nice homes. The airport here in Sedona is on top of a mesa. They have a restaurant up there so we drove up and had lunch. Some amazing views up there also. And the food was pretty good. Actually the views are amazing everywhere around here. In the afternoon we went on the pink jeep rim tour. They picked us up at the RV park and we went up the road from the RV park climbing 2000 feet to the rim. Great views of the rock formations and of Sedona down in the valley. There was a car down there that had gone over the cliff about 10 years ago. The old wagon road to Flagstaff was still visible and I can’t imagine how rough that would have been. They hike on that road now. The tour was two hours long and then we headed to the Olde Sedona Bar and Grill for drinks. We had fried cactus with our drinks which was pretty good. Had a great conversation with a couple of Sedona high school teachers and a public defender and his wife from Toledo. We all got pretty inebriated. Back home to the rookery over our heads. Everyone we talked to today was amazed at how cool the weather has been. Guess we really lucked out. Another great day!

Conner Hotel - Jerome, AZ

Gas Pump--Jerome, AZ

Building ruins--Jerome, AZ

Rock formations around Sedona

What a beautiful place

Sedona, AZ: Mike was up early and off to the GMC dealer in Cottonwood. I hung out at the RV park and took care of some things I had to deal with. This park is nestled among some old growth desert sycamores, cottonwoods, and pines. At night though the herons roost in the trees—some of them right over us. And they’re so vocal all night. It is entertaining. I was curious as to how Tom Mix died at that spot we stopped at out in the middle of nowhere yesterday, so I googled and found out that he was driving his car along this road (probably dirt back in 1940) and the bridge over the wash (now named Tom Mix wash) was out and he couldn’t stop in time. Workers on the bridge said that the car went into the wash and the metal suitcase on the back seat slammed into the back of his head and crushed his skull and broke his neck. That would do it. Mike finally returned around 12:30 from the GMC dealer. Again, they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. They even called Detroit and they didn’t know what it could be. The error codes showed communication errors. They want us to come back with the fifth-wheel in tow and take it for a test drive. So we’ll do that when we leave here on Thursday. We had to drive back to Cottonwood to an RV dealer to get a part we needed so we went a little further and checked out the little, historic town of Jerome. A former mining town, it sits on the side of a steep mountain with little houses jutting precipitously over the edge. After that we headed back to Sedona to Walgreens to get my prescriptions filled. Dropped them off and went across the street to a little strip mall and had lunch at Casa Bonita—a Mexican restaurant my daughter recommended. A cute little place and the food was good. Then drove the scenic Oak Creek Canyon road up to Flagstaff. What a beautiful drive through this amazing canyon of heavily forested pines and beautiful rock formations. Climbing up out of the canyon was pretty scary for me since the road was right on the edge of a precipitous drop-off. The view at the top was amazing though. Came back on interstate 17 through a beautiful pine forest and when we started back down the pines disappeared and the hills were covered with cedars. We went through about 4 ecosystems on this little drive. Got off interstate 17 on Route 179 and went through the pretty little town of Oak Creek. I like this pretty little place better than Sedona. Drove through some amazing residential areas and then back to the RV park. The herons were in fine form causing a ruckus up in the trees fighting for their roosting spot. Went up to 88 today. Chills down pretty good at night.