Old Timer Garage

When we wake up, it is a cloudless sky that awaits us once more and we discover the surrounding scenery that we couldn’t see last night on arrival. We are still in the middle of the desert but the colours have changed. The yellows are replaced by the oranges that contrast more with the green of the little vegetation that is still there and the dark blue of the sky. I didn’t know it yet then but this day was going to be for me the nicest one of the entire trip.

We have our breakfast under a few tall trees on the terrace of the hotel and we get back in the car for another day of adventure.
Today we are going to visit Monument Valley. During the preparation of this trip, the pictures I could find of this place made me want to go there but I was far from imagining that it was going to be so gorgeous. It is definitely a place that I recommend to anyone interested in big empty spaces.

  

Besides, we are only 30 minute drive away from the entrance of the park so we just have time to admire the scenery that passes by the car and the few houses on the side of the road and we already are there. Just a few miles before arriving, we cross the border between the states of Arizona and Utah and this is where we step into our second American state.

The road to the entrance of the park is right in the middle of one of those long straight lines, we keep chatting in the car and we realize that we missed it just as we pass in front of it. Not a problem, there is no one in sight so we just make a U turn in the middle of the road and go back to where we should have turned right. We pay the entrance and go park the car.

The car park is located at the top end of the valley. It is pretty early in the morning so we are among the first one to arrive in the park. The temperature is still a bit chilly and we are happy to have our jacket to put on today. We take a few pictures in the raising morning sun and light haze before getting back in the car.

 

When we paid our entrance fee to the park, we got given a map of the valley so that we can take the car and drive through it. Seen from the car park, the valley doesn’t look that big: big rocky mesas like in the Lucky Luke stories I was reading when I was a kid with dirt roads that go around them and a few cars that are already driving there. Actually it will take us a good 4 hours to drive around the valley.

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The beginning of the track is pretty rocky and we go slowly not to damage our tyres but very quickly, the rocks are replaced by very thin orange sand. We stop very often to take pictures and enjoy the view. A few Indian people sell traditional jewellery and other touristic items in every of the stops indicated on the map. We don’t buy anything but we soon arrive at the place where a lot of John Wayne moving were rolled. We can straight away recognise the rock where the horse mounted Indian is waiting. Every 15 minutes, an Indian goes on a horse and positions himself on the rock for people to take pictures (that you have to pay for of course). I take a picture with my big lens from the car park and get the same result.

The sun is now higher in the sky and the temperature is now much higher too. The landscape is huge and beautiful. On the next segment of track, we are on our own and take advantage of the sand to do some skids with the car before carrying on to the next stop on the map.

 

It is hard to describe how much I liked this drive through the valley. The rest of the morning is spent in the same way, going from point to point on our map and enjoying breath taking views before heading back towards the entrance/exit of the park.
It is already later in the day and there are many more people. A lot of Jeeps carrying tourists in open cabins. All of them are wearing dust masks to protect themselves against the fine orange dust flying around behind each car and we are happy to be able to enjoy a closed, air conditioned car.

When we exit the park, I suggest to the others that we try and find the place where the most famous Monument Valley picture is usually taken. Everybody agrees and we head towards what I think to be the right direction to get there.
It will take us a good 30 minutes to find it but we take the mandatory picture in the middle of the road before going back toward Kayenta for a lunch.

We are now going to head towards Page and cross the state border again into Arizona.
The plan is to visit Antelope Canyon tomorrow which is another famous place for its light in the middle of rocky walls.
All the trip there is in the middle of the desert and we finally get to Page on the shore of Lake Powell. When we enter the town, we count 12 different churches one next to the other before we get to our hotel.

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This hotel is far from being the best one of our trip although it is clean but we enjoy the rest of the afternoon to visit the town and see if we can book a visit of Antelope Canyon for the next day. Unfortunately the tour that we want is already fully booked for the next day and we are offered to visit the lower part of the canyon. There are a few spot available for this second tour but the price is quite high and it is not exactly what we wanted to do.
However, there are also a few available spots in a tour on a boat that goes into one of the neighbouring canyons and that is what we eventually chose to book for tomorrow. A tour on water will change us from what we have done so far.
We will end the day by eating a huge dinner in a Mexican restaurant next to our hotel. The dinner will cost us close to 100 dollars but the quantity is impressive and like pretty much everywhere in the US we go away with a box and all the left overs of our meal. This will be enough for tomorrow’s lunch.

We just have to go back to the hotel for a good night sleep and prepare for tomorrow. It will be the last day that we will spend away from civilization, the day after tomorrow, we will arrive in Las Vegas…

To be continued… here: 11- Lake Powell and Horseshoe Ben

 

 

 

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