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
The real Eiger mountain is near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, where I worked in the summers as a teenager. Keep up the great history tour John.
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