A "Monumental" Day...

What a "Monumental" Day we had...!

We woke up unusually early this morning, to a perfect August sunshine out the window in our Flagstaff hotel room on Route 66.

Too bad we haven't had the same weather yesterday for the Grand Canyon, as it would have made it for the perfect shot out there. Oh well, I guess I don't really have anything to complain about since in the last 71 days of traveling, we hardly hit any rain.

Left Flagstaff around 10AM, our first stop of the day has been Monument Valley, in the Navajo Nation reservation.

Monument Valley is on US163, very close to Kayenta, AZ if you're coming from the south, but far enough to be on Utah's State Territory.

Coming to the sign that tells you you're leaving one state for another, I probably snapped the most interesting "State Sign" picture of them all. There's no price for a road sign with the majestic beauty of the Monument Valley on the side, here it is, all for you:

The perfect postcard picture on the other hand, the one that we would all recognize, is taken on US163 south bound, coming from Mexican Hat in Utah towards Kayenta, Arizona.

Anyway, don't worry about that, because one way or the other, you will get to that specific point on US163 and be able to take your own personal shots of these beautiful, silent giants, unless you're coming and going the same way.

Monument Valley is, as I said, part of the Navajo Nation Reservation, which means, if you want to get in the Tribal Park, you have to pay an entrance fee, no matter what kind of National Parks Pass you have, or who you know at the White House!

The entrance fee is $5 per person, and that gives you a map of the park, including the 17 miles off-road loop complete with information on where to stop to take pictures, etc.

This is sacred land for the natives, and that means you cannot venture on your own while driving on the 17 miles road loop, unless you're with a member of the tribe.

If you want, they offer guided tours on their trucks for $50 per person, which I thought was a little bit too much, considering that you're going to sit with another 6 people, in an open mini-bus/truck, breathing red dust for at least two hours while you're "derriere" is going to get kicked anytime the driver steps on a pot hole with the truck.

But hey, if what I just said sounds exciting to you (especially the non-stop red dust breathing deal), then be my guest and enjoy the tour!

An Italian Across America decided it was time for the two explorers, to take "The Bug" beyond some of these conventional boundaries humans have set for it; how about some plain, old, dirty off road?

And so we did, aiming to do at least part of the 17 miles loop.

There's a posted 10 t0 15 mph speed limit in the park, but even if there wasn't, It would be hard to find someone going faster than that, as the road is not exactly in great shape.

We got as far as John Ford Point, which was anyway the point I was mostly interested in. We're used to see so many movie scenes who have been shot from this fantastically perfect postcard panorama, so that's exactly where we stopped to take some more pictures.

If you're a real Spaghetti Western aficionado, you might want to take a picture with the horse. There was a Native American guy over there who would let you take a picture mounting the horse for just $2, which earns him a lot of cash everyday, considering there were many people waiting in line to get "on board" the quadruped. The picture below is a wonderful shot that I found on the Flickr account of someone that uses "Terdata" as their nickname. Here it is:

John Ford Point is only 4 miles away from the Park's Visitor Center, that means roughly 8 miles round trip. It took us an hour to get there, and then come back, mostly because of the poor road conditions.

After we left the park, we had another 90 miles to drive on backstreets, through small villages, after we got to our second, and last destination of the day: Four Corners.

Don't forget, you leave the Monument Valley Tribal Park, but that doesn't mean you're not going to see any other huge rock formations that are also interesting. This one down below is located about two hours drive away from the Tribal Park. This is a very interesting scenic route, and from Monument Valley to Four Corners, you'll come across the "Valley of the Gods", Lake Powell, Mexican Hat, and some other interesting places.

Or even this one here, very close to Cortez, CO:

Going back to what I was saying, we left Utah to briefly enter Colorado, and then leave Colorado to enter New Mexico where the entrance to the Four Corners is located.

Here are all the pictures certifying all our achievements.

Welcome to Colorful Colorado:

Welcome to New Mexico, Land Of Enchantment:

Having been to "Four Corners USA" means that today we've been in four states: Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado, where we're presently spending the night in a small city called Cortez.

Four Corners is also on Navajo territory, which meant we had to pay another fee, this time $3 per person.

There were some people there, but thankfully, not as many as I would have expected on a nice, sunny August day.

We both took each other's pictures, taking turns while the other was patiently standing in line to get on the famous platform with the cross marking the boundaries.

Hap had to wait less than I did, mainly because when my turn arrived, a happy, "oblivious" family decided to make Four Corners their "home" and take as many family pictures as possible. You'll be able to see them in the following picture that portrays me with hands in Arizona and New Mexico, and feet in Utah and Colorado.

After such a hard task to perform, we both needed a small rewards. And what a better way to reward ourselves than to try for the very first time in our lives, some original, freshly baked, Navajo Fry Bread?

For $3 they give you a whole pie, which consist of four slices. Being where we were, I couldn't help associating the four slices of the Navajo Fry Bread, with the four states on the cadastral survey metal plate at the center of the monument.

Here is the plate:

Here is the fry bread:

As you can see, we ordered ours with powdered sugar, but you can also have it with cinnamon, or better, with honey; and if you're really hungry, you can make it a combo and get all the three toppings on your pie.

We left the park, and consequently New Mexico, and we got back into Colorado, where we're currently spending the night as I said, in Cortez.

The reason why we're here is because tomorrow we're again up for another treat, as we will drive to Mesa Verde National Park (this time we will not pay! LOL), to see the ancient ruins dating as far back as the 1300's.

This evening we had dinner at a Mexican place on Main Street, nothing to tell home about, especially after the two fantastic meals we had in Flagstaff, AZ.

After Mesa Verde National Park, we shall continue to Durango, CO, and then eventually cross into New Mexico, stopping in Taos, for then reaching Santa Fe where we think we're going to end up spending the night.

As you can see, there's never an idle moment in this adventure...

We will keep on trucking for you!

Nico