Another Diablo adventure in the books. We decided, in spite of the gas prices and a non-functioning toad vehicle, that it was time to hit the road for a bit. The weather has been warming up a somewhat, but still not enough to head north. So, we headed west to explore some areas in and around the Navajo Nation.
Our first stop was one of Will’s go to’s, Route 66 Casino RV Park. It is a good place for us to drive to and get Diablo all de-winterized and make sure he’s ready to continue on down the road. This time around, I was driving our new Hyundai Tucson. Our normal toad is in need of a new engine.
The next campground didn’t have any hook-ups, so we loaded with water and headed further west to Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, AZ. It’s located in North-East Arizona in the midst of the Navajo Nation and is a National Monument. For RV’ers, there are really only a couple of options near the monument, the Cottonwood Campground near the monument’s Welcome Center or the privately run Spider Rock Campground. We chose to stay at Spider Rock, located right off the south rim scenic drive. It’s $15/night boon docking, but water fill-up and a dump station are available. The owner, Howard was very personable and wanted to make sure we were happy with our parking site. It was really windy when we pulled in, so that night we just hunkered down to stay out of the dust.
Luckily, the next morning brought a beautiful sunny day and hardly any winds. We stopped at the scenic views on our way to the visitor center to get more information. Currently, the only way to get to the valley floor is with a guide. The valley is still home to a number of families. The White House Trail had been open to the public to hike down, but has been closed for a couple of years as there had been a problem with break-ins. We opted not to do a jeep tour of the valley this time around and were happy just to drive and check-out the views from the overlooks. (Well, I was happy anyway, Will did not share that sentiment as he doesn’t like heights.) From the north rim you are able to view a few of the ruins.
Gerry Gnome decided to make an appearance on this trip.
The woman at the Visitor Center recommended going to the Spider Rock overlook at sunset. That turned out to be excellent advice. The lighting was amazing.
Took off the next morning and headed to Monument Valley. It’s a red sand desert that has numerous sandstone rock formations located on the Navajo Nation on Utah/Arizona border. We camped at the Goulding’s Resort. The campsites are sandwiched in between some large rock formation, which provide a very picturesque setting. There are a couple of short hikes on the property and the one nearest to the campground heads to the Goulding Arch. Goulding’s started as a trading post and now includes a restaurant, museum, lodge, couple of indoor pools and the campground.
The Butte reflected in the neighbor’s windshield was pretty cool.
We had a tour scheduled for the next afternoon, so in the morning, we headed out for a drive on UT-163. This is a very scenic drive and there are a number of pull-outs along the way.
There’s even one at mile 13, where you can recreate your own moment from the Forest Gump movie.
We continued on to Mexican Hat and once there we discovered that the Goosenecks State Park was right down the road. It’s $5/car and offers an overlook of the winding San Juan River 1,000 feet below. There are also a couple of campsites along the rim, which are supposed to provide great star gazing opportunities at night.
Mexican Hat 
Then we took a drive through the Valley of the Gods. It’s a smaller version of Monument Valley with a number of its own sandstone rock formations.
And some cows as well.
You can drive a 17 mile stretch through Monument Valley on your own. The valley itself is on the Navajo Nation and they charge $20/vehicle for up to 4 people. We chose to do a guided tour of the valley. We wanted to get some additional history of the area and the people, and Will could just ride instead of drive. The tour also includes other roads not accessible to the public and a tour is the only way to catch a sunrise or sunset while in the Valley. The wind had been picking up all day and when we were picked up for our tour it was in the middle of a dust storm. Our guide, Mike was very knowledgeable and has lived in the valley his entire life. He said there are still about 10 families that live in the valley. Those that live there do not have water or electric.
Will was holding my hair or the wind would have had it in my face.
This is the Big Hogan.
And this is a view of the Big Hogan’s ceiling. Do you see the eagle head?
It was a good tour in spite of getting stuck in the sand. Will was digging out sand from the tires and him and a few other guys were able to push us out.
