31 Jul 2023 - Arrived at Monument Valley - The Path that Forrest Gump Took!!

 

Only 154 pictures today on this journey!!!  The number of pictures is directly proportional to the total awesomeness of the travels.  I remember back to 1969 when my parents took me on a classic road trip, not unlike Clark W. Griswold's trip to Wally World.  I was 13 years old.  Our vehicle was not a Ford Country Squire station wagon like Clark W. Griswold's, although we did previously own one.  We rocked on down the road with a white 1969 Plymouth Fury II with a 440 cubic inch police interceptor engine.  Yes we had my grandmother with us.  Yes we were headed to California.  Yes we dropped off my grandmother in Scottsdale AZ (she survived the trip)!  I don't remember a hot blond (Christie Brinkley) in a Ferrari 308GTSi but other than that there were many similarities!!  So in preparation for that trip, I bought, with my own lawn mowing money,  a brand new Kodak Instamatic 134 camera.  

I cannot imagine what 154 pictures would have cost back in 1969 using that Instamatic 134, figuring the 126 cartridges were either 12 or 20 exposure.  So you have the cost to purchase the film, then the cost to develop the film.  And now we just click, click, click on our iPhone 12 Pro Max with it's triple-lens camera system with a 12 MP wide lens, a 12 MP telephoto lens, and a 12 MP ultra wide lens.  So 154 pictures later, here I am trying to sort out what to present to you.  In the middle of all this we had a several hour power failure here in Monument Valley as a nasty storm rolled through.  

OK, enough of that.  We rolled out of Mesa Verde RV Park this morning at 0928 hrs which is later for us, but we had rain last night and I did not get the tanks dumped, hoses stowed etc until this morning.  Also, our total journey today was only supposed to be about 130 miles, and we could not check in here at Monument Valley KOA until 1300 hrs, so we had time to kill.

Very overcast today which obscured the view

In my research and trip planning, our journey between Mesa Verde and Monument Valley was going to take us scaringly close to the Four Corners Monument, so we had to make that stop in route, which is a bit unusual for us.  It is most times difficult to stop at sights and venues on our travel days when we are towing our trailer due to it's size and our overall length with the truck and difficult maneuvering them.  But Four Corners Monument had ample parking for large vehicles, so we decided to make it so.

The significance of the Four Corners Monument is this is the only place in the United States where four state corners intersect - Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona!

It was only about an hour and we were at the Four Corners Monument.  We parked and headed to the monument. 

I did not realize how controversial the location of the monument is.  Apparently the original location of the stone shaft marker was 2-1/2 miles from the actual spot.  This monument is about 1800 ft from the exact spot, but all four states have accepted this marker as accurate.  The monument was most recently updated in 2010.

Doreen and all four states.

All around the outside are booths which native American items for sale such as jewelry, pottery, etc.  Doreen picked up a couple items and then we were back on our way.

The drive from the Four Corners to Monument Valley was in some areas very flat and desert-like.  In other areas the rocky landscape and "monuments" were awesome.  A few pictures:

I had noted during my planning this iconic stretch of highway.  See if you can remember it!

Our picture of this site today.

In the 1994 movie Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks stopped running here at mile post 13

So that was pretty cool!  And so was the terrain as we drove through a portion of Monument Valley.  

Are we being flipped off here?

At 1302 hrs we arrived at the Monument Valley KOA campground and got setup quickly.  It is a baron landscape here.  Not so much as a blade of grass for Liberty to pottie on, but she is getting this "peeing on the rocks" thing down pat!  

The campground filled up as the day went on, and then the weather turned bad.  The wind picked up, the rain arrived and the power went out.  Eventually the power came back on but even after that this landscape made for some amazing lightning shows!  Internet connectivity is bad here, so I could not upload any video.  

Tomorrow we will head to Kayenta AZ to get our rock chip fixed and then to the Navajo Code Talkers Exhibition.  We are only here for three nights, and we have not sorted out the remaining time.  Likely it will involve enjoying the scenery and beauty of Monument Valley!