Megan’s Take
Today started with a 17-mile scenic drive in Monument Valley at 7 am. I knew it was a must-see, but Phil had to talk me into it. I was worried about rough roads tearing up the truck or leaving us stranded. It turned out that road conditions were really not that bad along the route, and the views were spectacular!
Also I found a beautiful rock necklace from a Native American roadside vendor, and Emilia excitedly picked out a special beaded bracelet.
After the drive, we picked up our camper from the campground and drove to Navajo National Monument (small detour en route to the Grand Canyon) where we could see another cliffside ancient dwelling.
It was cool but a bit underwhelming since we had just come from Mesa Verde. This monument would be more impressive if viewed first at the start of a trip. But it did give Emmett the chance to take a power nap in the hiking carrier,
and Emilia earned another junior ranger badge.
From there, we drove onwards towards the Grand Canyon. We had a short stop at Cameron Trading Post for Native American souvenirs and Hwy 89 Yummy Shack for an authentic Navajo taco and fry bread – so authentic that it seemed we only saw locals while there. If the average tourist hadn’t seen the 5-star reviews in advance, they probably wouldn’t have stopped, because it was literally a shack in the middle of a dirt clearing. But the food was good, especially as part of a cultural experience. Of course 4-year olds have no social pragmatics, and Emilia loudly exclaimed, “This place is so weird!” I quickly replied, “It’s not weird. It’s just different, and it’s fun to explore different places. It wouldn’t be as fun to go to places that are just like home.”
It took us another hour or so to get to our campground in the Grand Canyon after that. We stopped for a couple views and ice cream on the way.
The kids had ice cream before dinner tonight, which was a fun vacation thing to do.
Phil’s Take
I was not worried about the Monument Valley drive at all, and it did not disappoint. The time it day made for some unfortunate lighting toward the beginning though.
It is still possible to catch the beauty in a different way though.
I suppose the cameras in these new phones filter the light pretty well.
The first actual stop where we all got out was John Ford Point, where Megan bought her necklace. The view there is incredible, and I can see why it was used in movies.
When we got out to the main point, where you can see people standing in the panorama above, a native man was trying to take selfies for a couple there. There was this dude standing at the prime spot for long enough that the native man informed him that he was a guest on their land and he needed to be considerate of other people who are also visiting. As soon as he was done taking their picture, I took a selfie and he offered to take our picture as well. The dude was back in the way again, and he asked if we wanted him to move.
We were fine with it, but you can see how obnoxious the guy was. He was there for a good 10 minutes. Anyway, our photographer clearly does this all the time and still managed to take a good one without the bomb.
After the shopping spree we managed to capture a number of great views, including this sampling of panoramas.
This was definitely not the kind of activity the kids enjoy, but they managed to entertain themselves with cars and their imaginations.
I did have to shift into 4×4 twice on the drive, primarily due to sand, but there was no chance of getting stuck or damaging anything. I’d say it was definitely worth it. We got to see a significant portion of the valley you can’t see otherwise.
We then headed out with the camper toward Navajo National Monument, and I am happy to report that my wiring fix on the trailer worked perfectly. Now that the brake strength was what it should be, I had to adjust it a bit, but that’s all.
I didn’t have much to add to the rest of the day other than to say it’s sad to see how much air pollution there is, which you can see in the haze here.
It’s definitely having an effect on visibility. That’s obviously the selfish take on it, but it does make one consider the environment as a whole when the effect is so obviously on display in such an iconic place.
There were plenty of other pictures taken in the gallery below, including the drives. Enjoy!
Your pictures help me relive the vacation we took last year . Wonderful pictures