Monument Valley Pictures-Part One-Long and Potentially Boring!

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Okay, I've been working on my Monument Valley Pictures all morning, and I have to tell you, this will be a long project!

I've decided to break it down into time periods, and maybe that will help a bit. It may not make as much sense as it would if I did it by subject, but will at least help me get it done.

I now realize how very fortunate we were weather wise. In talking and emailing with others who visited around the same time, we seem to have had the best of it. It was neither too hot nor too cold, with just enough precipitation to give us some interesting skies.

In looking at my pictures, I see how taken I was with the colors. Of course, everyone remembers the vibrant reds of the earth and rock, also the bright blues of the skies. But what kept catching my eye was the greens and yellows of the plants. These hues against the reds and blues made for some of the most beautiful views we've ever seen.

I'll start right outside the rig,
shortly before sunrise.

Now the sun is rising.
If you click and enlarge this
you can see Cholula Red
in the lower left.
Great camping spot, right?

The sky was so beautiful
I couldn't resist one more shot.

This shot was taken
in the opposite direction.
It's not quite sharp,
but I like the way it looked
in sepia.

The last time we were here (ten years ago, on our honeymoon/30th anniversary), Gouldings was the only lodging. We knew that the Navajos had a campground nearer the valley, but at the time, we had no RV.

Now there is a beautiful facility
on the very rim of the canyon.
It contains a hotel with a stunning view.

They also have a gift shop,
a Museum and a Visitors Center
as well as a lovely
indoor/outdoor restaurant.

As for the restaurant, we recommend breakfast. It's a buffet (eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, pastries, etc.) for $11.00. Since we were eating it around 10:45 it served as our main meal of the day.

One night we went for dinner and had a John Wayne burger. If you go for dinner, I can recommend you eat one of their large salads . . .

Since this was our first full day at the valley, we decided to do some exploring. We went to the Navajo Village, where you can purchase all sorts of items directly from the artists. It was here that we met a wonderful silversmith, who later recommended our guide for our "big exploration". That would be the next day.

This afternoon, we drove around the area a bit and decided to go behind Gouldings (a drive we had taken ten years ago). This is a lovely area, and fortunately we had just experienced a light rain, making the colors extremely pronounced.

On the reservation,
it is open range.
The animals often look at us
like we are seriously intruding
on their territory.

Which I guess we are.

I love this shot of Terry,
an accidental photo,
but kind of cool.

Look at these colors!

In case you haven't spent
much time in the desert,
it undergoes an amazing transformation
with just the tiniest bit of moisture.

See all these "silver" lines?

The geology of this area
is composed of a lot of very hard rock
interspersed with a softer,
packed sandstone type of clay.

When it rains,
the red rock absorbs the water,
brightening its color

while the water just runs off
the harder rock.

That's what creates these lines.

If you come back in dry weather,
the harder "silver" rock
seems to disappear.

It's a beautiful sight.

But then,
this area is abundant
with beautiful sights.

Not to mention the colors,
which I can't seem
to stop shooting.

Next we went to explore Gouldings.
Here's Saint Terry
in front of Nathan Brittles' Cabin
(and if you don't get the reference,
you need to watch
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon).

One of the displays inside
the Gouldings Museum.

This flag flies
where many a western movie
has been shot.

I liked the layout
of this tiny garden.

Another shot I've included
just because I like it.

And one more shot

of the Gouldings picnic area,
with Monument Valley
in the distance.

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Now, because I have so many
Monument Valley Pictures to post,
I'll be interspersing
current photos
so I may one day catch up!

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I took this shot
out the front door of the rig,
about 6am.
(taken with flash).

This was a few minutes later,
straight out of the camera
(no computer manipulation).

Is this a gorgeous campground or what?
Here's our site.

And here's our "patio".

These are right in our "front yard".

My next installment
will be our seventeen mile drive
through the valley floor.