Monument Valley

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The tour of Monument Valley, a seventeen mile loop over ungraded gravel roads, took about 2 hours. The monuments are great too look at and if you have ever watched a western, The Eiger Sanction, Back to the Future 3 or even Forrest Gump, you have seen a part of Monument Valley.

We did take a short round trip back to Four Corners (200 miles) as we were told that it was open Friday through Sunday. What she didn't say is that the monument itself is underconstruction and was not accessible. We would not have bothered. Instead, there were over 50 Navajo craft vendors there. Very disappointed. It is Navajo territory so I will assume the best intentions. We did take a couple pictures of the construction. We drove through Mexican Hat on our way to Four Corners and took a couple pictures there too.

It feels like the Mexican border towns or the Bahamas with all the native craft shops. It is hard to know what is a good deal. We did shop, I mean window shop, at the Monument Valley gift store. There was a beautiful watch, native stones set in silver. It was 40% off but the price was $1100. Everything you buy comes with a 'genuine guarentee' and the artisans do beautiful work. But, they are just doo dads to me. I did splurge on two beaded hairclips for $10 at one of the roadside vendors.

We are headed to the pool and laundramat. We will be heading to Moab tomorrow with a side trip to Natural Bridges National Park.

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