Hwy 163 - Open road in Navajo country
Video: On the road to Monument Valley, UT via Hwy 163 - 1
Video: On the road to Monument Valley, UT - 2
Video: On the road to Monument Valley -3
Posing
Where Forrest Gump, in the movie, ended his cross country run. Below the sign are the sneakers he wore during the movie.
Forrest Gump's shoes from the movie
Goulding's RV Park Office
Nestled into the rock formations of Monument Valley
The Mittens
This monument is called The Mittens - I call it " Giving Us the Finger" in Monument Valley, UT
Impressive Architecture
Even though we couldn't go into the park (closed due to COVID) the monuments we could see from Hwy 163 were very inspiring.
Video: Passing by Monument Valley which is closed, on the way to the Valley of the Gods.
Video: Valley of the Gods
Another impressive park is Valley of the Gods, just down the road from Monument Valley. It wasn't closed.
Impressive monuments as well at Valley of the Gods
Valley of the Gods, UT
Cowboy Lore
The desolate surroundings in Valley of the Gods lends itself to imagining cowboys and bandits riding their steeds across the open range.
Goulding's RV Park
Campers nestled in amongst the red sandstone cliffs at Goulding’s RV Park in Monument Valley, UT. It was nice to have some greenery interspersed with the red formations.
Elephant Arch
This formation resembles an elephant's trunk. We found this on a short, morning hike very close to our camper at the RV park.
In residence at Goulding's RV Park
Goulding’s RV Park in Monument Valley, UT
Petroglyphs
They are hard to see in this bright sunlight, but if you expand the picture, you will find some orange scratchings on the rock, petroglyphs from the indigenous people who lived here thousands of years ago.
Petroglyph carved into the rock
Petroglyphs carved into rock
Petroglyph
Standing next to the petroglyphs
Selfie with Fritz Tsosie
Fritz took us far into the back country to see these petroglyphs and to see his hogan, the classic home of the Navajo made of dried mud and tree bark packed against a timber structure with dried mud and grasses on the top.
Fritz's Hogan
When Fritz retires, he plans to build a home for his wife near this hogan which will become his private man cave. Fritz, now a truck driver, has been a Navajo guide and a bull and bronc rider in his younger years. In his off time he works as a locksmith which is how we met him. We were locked out of our trailer, and Fritz came to our rescue.
