September 29 - Days 106 - 109 Mesa Verde

We departed Monument Valley about 8:15 and headed East on US 163, then onto US 191, US 162, CO 41 and finally US 160 East. The trip was short, only 126 miles through very scenic territory. We arrived at Cortez, CO just after noon and were set up on a totally gravel site, but the view was quite nice. We spent the afternoon cleaning the outside of the coach, the car and the bike to rid ourselves of the red sand and dust from Monument Valley. We also hit the WalMart Super Center to resupply. Then we found the local pub and watched the Sunday football games. Without "local channels" we couldn't watch them on DirecTV in our coach - but that's another story!

Monday morning we finished up some work then headed up to Mesa Verde for our afternoon tour of the most impressive and largest cliff dwelling sites on the planet. The trip from Cortez (at 6,200 feet) is 8 miles on US 160, then 25 miles South up onto the mesa. At its highest point, the road reaches over 8,000 feet and the view of the surrounding territory is spectacular. The cliff dwellings are at 7,000 feet.

We ate lunch at the Far View Visitors Center. I had a Navajo Taco, and it was enough for the entire day! Probably would have fed both Suz and I! Our tour departed at 1:00 on a bus with 20 other folks and Clyde, a Navajo Guide. We started by visiting the sites of the earliest Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi). The natives prefer that we call the ancients Ancestral Puebloans since we do not know how to pronounce Anasazi - although our guide Clyde gently instructed us in the language and how to say words properly.

The first sites were Pit Houses, excavations with timber and clay roofs. The earliest such house dates back 1400 years when the first agriculture began in the area. The ancients had lived in the area much longer as nomadic hunter/gatherers but had not established physical dwellings. The ancients believed that they emerged from deep within the earth, and the pit had great religious significance. Even after the residences moved above ground, there was always at least one pit or "Kiva" where it is thought religious ceremonies were held.

Later, the homes emerged from the ground with clay and sandstone brick walls and timber and clay roofs, much like the current Hogans of the Navajo. Later still, the ancients developed refined masonry skills and built elaborate multi-story dwellings – all on top of the mesas.

Archeologists cannot explain what caused the people to abandon the mesas and begin building residences in the many alcoves in the cliffs below the mesa. Some say it was to free up agricultural land, others say for protection from the elements or enemies, but no on really knows. Nonetheless, the first cliff dwellings in the area, and there are many, date back to around the year 1150. The cliff dwelling period lasted about 100 or so years, and then the people vanished, abandoning their homes.

Speculation has it that the drought in the late 1200s drove the people away. Others say it was disease, or deforestation, or depletion of the soil making it unfit for agricultural use. Whatever, by 1300 or so, Mesa Verde was uninhabited. Clyde the Guide speculates that the people simply moved on and assimilated into tribes to the South and West.

The highlight of our tour was the descent to the Cliff Palace, the largest and most elaborate of all the cliff dwellings with upward of 150 rooms and many Kivas. Suz had great trepidations about making the descent down and up ladders and narrow, steep stone staircases, but with some prodding, she made the trip – and was very glad she did (her legs were sore the next day though).

It is awe inspiring to be among the dwellings, and the guides description of the lives of the ancients added greatly to our enjoyment. If you visit Mesa Verde, be sure to take a guided tour. It is well worth the money!

On Tuesday, Suz and I headed South and West to visit the “Four Corners.” It is a bit of a tourist trap, in that it costs $3 per person to get in and the site is surrounded by native crafts sellers (yes, we bought some – as we did in Monument Valley). With the mandatory pictures taken – our toes in New Mexico and Arizona and our heels in Colorado and Utah – we headed back to the coach where a thorough inside cleaning job awaited. Laundry, vacuuming, washing to the floor and dusting (the red dust from Monument Valley again!). Then it was off to our local pub for our final happy hour with the locals.

Today, we departed Cortez on our way to Albuquerque (Bernalillo actually), where we are having dinner with my cousin Susan Siebert. We arrived at the KOA Bernalillo at 1:00 and got setup. Then it was Blog time and that is what I have been doing for the past hour or so. Tomorrow we head for Fabens, TX and a steak house that is said to be the best. We hope to camp in the restaurants parking lot, then head out for San Antonio on Thursday morning. Until then, Cheers!

As an aside, I should mention that we have had the greatest good luck with the weather so far. Out of the three-and-a-half months, we have had no more than 7 days with rain, and most of those were at night. The rest of the time has been sun and brilliant blue skies.

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

September 25 - Days 104 - 105 - Monument Valley

We departed Grand Canyon at 8:15 am on Friday and headed back East on AZ 64. We had to take one more photo of the canyon on the way out. Reaching US 89, we headed North to AZ 160 East to Navajo National Monument.

To see the monument, and after the error at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where we took the coach rather than the car, we (I) decided to leave the coach at a large service plaza on 160 and take the car up to the monument. Suz was not too happy about leaving the coach, and Dixie, at a service plaza, but ..... Arriving at the monument, it turns out that the coach would have been fine on the 10 mile trip and there was plenty of RV parking. Oh well.

The monument has a number of displays of early pueblo life and there is a cliff dwelling ruins site - but you can only see it from a distance. As a result, we viewed what we could, bought the DVD, and headed back to the coach.

Back on AZ 160, we headed off for our ultimate destination - Monument Valley. Turning North on AZ 163 we arrived at Goulding's Lodge and Campground around 3:30 mountain time. The campground is situated in a narrow valley and is very nice. As you can see, the surroundings are breathtaking. We were looking forward to our 17 mile tour by car of Monument Valley in the morning, but after talking to some other RVers, we decided to cough up the cash and take a 3.5 hour tour by open bus - a wise decision. The road is so bad that it would have done serious damage to the car, although many others were taking the tour by car - usually rentals. We also would have been precluded from seeing some of the interesting sites which are not open to private vehicles.

Monument Valley is truly magnificent, and the tour was worth every dollar and then some. the sandstone buttes and mesas are a wonder to behold, the result of millions of years of erosion. We started at a Navajo Hogan where Paul, our Navajo guide, lead a demonstration of wool spinning and carpet making, plus a description of how a Hogan was built and other aspects of early Navajo life. As we headed into the valley, Paul had a name for every one of the monoliths and proved to be a great guide.

The valley is full of history, there are many examples of petroglyphs left by the ancients, plus numerous arches and the like. Eventually, in many millions of years, all the sandstone monuments will be gone, returning to a desert of red sand. But not in our lifetime!

Monument Valley is definitely a must see for those who are not familiar with the West. It was the site of many Hollywood movies including such John Wayne classics as Stagecoach, with the famous John Ford Point scene (the picture with the Indian on horseback), and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and scenes from the valley were featured in Forest Gump, Back to the Future III and The Eiger Sanction. You've also seen some of the buttes and mesas featured in TV commercials.

The valley is also a place where you can get some great prices on Navajo jewelery and other Navajo art. If you're in the West, don't miss it, and Goulding's RV park is a good place to establish the base.

Tomorrow we head further North and East to Cortez, Colorado where we will visit Mesa Verde and tour the best preserved cliff dwelling site in existence. Looking forward to it! Until the, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

September 23 - Days 101 - 103 - Grand Canyon

We departed Glendale, Utah for the Grand Canyon at 8:00 am, heading South on US89 to Fredonia, Arizona where we turned off onto US89A toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Arriving at Jacob Lake, we made a mistake. Instead of parking the RV at the Jacob Lake Cafe parking lot and taking the toad into the North Rim, we continued on with the coach for the 45 mile trip on highway 67. Arriving at the North Rim Lodge, we discovered there is no place to park an RV without taking up a dozen or so car parking spots. We couldn't do that so we stopped, took a couple of quick photos, and headed back to Jacob Lake without seeing the lodge or the great vista from the front of the lodge. Oh, well ....

The trip from Jacob Lake to the South Rim is a couple of hundred miles of spectacular scenery. First, you drop down into the Colorado River valley, a descent of more over 3,000 feet, then you travel up the river with magnificent vermilion cliffs on the North side. Reaching Lees Ferry, where the Grand Canyon officially begins, you cross the Colorado River and head South with the vermilion cliffs now on the South side.

Passing through Navajo country with roadside vendors selling all sorts of native arts and crafts, one finally arrives at AZ 64, which heads West to Grand Canyon Village. Shorthly after reaching the park entrance (another $25 saving thanks to the senior pass!), we soon had our first real look at the Grand Canyon in all its glory. We didn't stop with the coach because parking space was limited. Instead we continued on to find the Grand Canyon Camper Village, which we thought was in the Grand Canyon Village - it's not, it's in Tusayan just outside the South entrace to the park. We finally sorted this out and got ourselves installed at the RV park. It is not much to look at, but it has all the necessary amenities.

Being late in the day, we headed next door to the Grand Hotel where we were told there was a cowboy bar with a real, live cowboy singer. Reports were right, but the singer didn't come on until late evening. So we had happy hour and headed back to the coach for the night.

Wednesday morning, I did some repair and maintenance on the coach, including the cleaning of the front! Once again, we had a bay door come loose on the road, and once again it was due to a lost screw/bolt in the latch mechanism. Glad I bought 5 when we were in Harrisburg. This is the third one I have replaced. Now I add LockTite!

Around 10, Suz and I headed up 64 to the South entrance to the park in the car and started our tour of the South Rim. We began near the East entrance where we had arrived the day before. The first look came at Grandview vista. We were in awe! From there we headed back toward the visitors center with a stop at Pipe Creek Vista. Once at the visitors center, we boarded one of the shuttles and headed back out to Yaki Point, which is only accessible by bus, and where you get the first good view of the Colorado River. Each and every vista point was breathtaking! As you can wee, we are having fun!

The shuttles make three unique loops: the "green loop" goes East to Yaki Point; the "blue loop" covers the middle ground from the visitors center to the original lodges and hotels; and the "red loop" goes from the hotels to Hermit's Rest in the far West of the park. We stopped at the visitors center and visited Mather Point for another look at the canyon, then took the car to the market plaza where we had a late lunch. I have to say that Xanterra, which runs the concessions here and also at Zion, does a wonderful job with the food, and their prices are very reasonable!

After a late lunch, we headed back to the coach for happy hour and to tidy up some items. On the trip back to the coach, we spotted a Coyote on the side of the road, and later a herd of Elk. Well, Suzanne was thrilled, being the animal lover she is! She got a photo of some of the Elk, but missed the Coyote. Oh well, there is always tomorrow!

The weather had turned nasty when we arrived at the coach with a bit of rain, then a lot of rain and high wind while we were at happy hour. And the temperature had begun to turn cold. Overnight, we had the furnaces on and there was frost on the ground this morning. But the sky was crystal clear blue with not a cloud in sight.

Suz decided to stay at the coach and get caught up on the wash and things, and I headed off to take in the sights on the "red loop". It is the longest of the shuttle loops and is very scenic. But first, I had to stop at Yavapai Geology Museum for a better understanding of the canyon and its formation. The following quotes and paraphrases from the park brochure.

"The rocks exposed within the Grand Canyon range from fairly young (relatively speaking) to relatively old. Kaibab Limestone, which forms the caprock (white section) on the rims of the canyon, formed 270 million years ago. The oldest rock within the Inner Gorge at the bottom of the canyon date to 1,840 million years ago. for comparison, the earth is estimated to be 4,550 million years old."

"Beginning about 70 million years ago, heat and pressure generated by two colliding tectonic plates induced mountain building in western North America. An area known as the Colorado Plateau was raised more than 10,000 feet but was spared most of the deformation and alteration associated with most uplifting of strata."

This high plateau is the canvas upon which the Colorado River carved the canyon. Over its 277 miles, the canyon varies in width from the South Rim, ranging between 8 and 16 miles across. The photo from the museum shows the layers through which the river carved the canyon over the past 70 million years - incredible isn't it? (NOTE: If you double click on a photo, it will go full screen)

Thank goodness the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear blue! I stopped at Powell Point first and got some good shots. Then back on the next bus 15 minutes later and on to Hermits Rest. The building was designed by a female architect in the early 1900s. It is built of stone right on the edge of the precipice, and was a favorite destination for the earliest travelers to the canyon. the large stone fireplace was a preferred spot after a long days travel on horseback.

After a time, it was back on the next bus for the return trip to the hotel area. When I arrived, it was around 11:15 and the line-up for the "red loop" bus was around 100-plus people, meaning at least a 30 minute wait to board a bus

The hotel area is also the terminus of the Santa Fe railroad spur that has brought visitors to the canyon for generations. the old station is still in operation and trains still arrive on a regular basis. Having finished the tour, I headed back to the coach. Suz and I then went across the street to the IMAX theater and took in the Grand Canyon film - it is spectacular, and we agreed it was a great way to end our visit to this magnificent area. Tomorrow we leave for yet another great adventure - Navajo National Monument, and later, Monument Valley where we will spend the next couple of days. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog