The Slow Lane: Monument Valley, Mexican Hat, and geocaching

After a day off to get some domestics done, today we headed off towards Monument Valley. Monument Valley is famous for being the setting for more Western films than any other site in the United States. It is also the home to the Navajo Indian Nation. Movie tidbit - we wanted to get the shot of the valley where Forrest Gump stopped his cross crountry run. There were a number of us stopping along the road taking shots. This has got to be one of the most beautiful road vistas we have ever seen. The camera just doesn't do the view justice.

The Visitor's Center was being remodeled so we went up to the Trading Post/Restaurant to browse around and were greeted with some impressive views. Here is West Mitten (left), East Mitten (background), and Merrick Butte.

Admission to Monument Valley is $5 per person and it does entitle you to take a loop drive through the base valley. Tours led by the Navajo Nation are $80 for a 4-hour tour and $115 for an 8-hour tour that supposedly taked you to areas that aren't readily seen in Monument Valley and/or Mystery Valley. Before we left home, we weren't sure we wanted to spend that kind of money before we had even seen Monument Valley to see if it would be worth a tour. We happily opted to take the drive. Should we return to this area, we would seriously consider taking a tour from what we were able to see on the short drive.

Three Sisters

Camel

Totem Poles

Happy to be in such a beautiful place.

Window

After driving the loop, we were hungry and decided to eat at their restaurant. Surprisingly, it was a good choice. The guys had the Green Chili Stew which included chips and salsa, salad, and fry bread. Rick and John both thought the Green Chili Stew was very tasty. I opted for a salad with chicken that had wonderful greens (no iceberg lettuce - yea!). A little skimpy on the chicken but it was still yummy. Y had a patty melt with fries.

Then we were off with a stop to take a shot of Mexican Hat.

There was a geocache at the base of Mexican Hat so we stopped to see if it could be located. Checking out the rocky surrounding (snakes???), Y and I decided to stay behind and let the guys go with a walking stick to poke around any possible sites. That's Y and I standing way in the back near the Jeep. Success! John and Rick located the cache - Rick with the bounty.