Kingman, AZ

We left Meteor Crater RV Park this morning after saying our goodbyes to Rick and Y.  They are headed south and east slowly making their way back to Bastrop, TX for Christmas.  They are good company and we have enjoyed our time with them.  Our paths will most likely cross again in Tucson early next year.

In our slow trek back to Sacramento for the holidays, we are making our way to Bullhead City, AZ and pulled into Blake Ranch RV Park and Horse Motel just east of Kingman for the night.  A very nice park with easy freeway access that is big rig friendly.  We would definitely stay here again.  Loving the temperatures - 83 degrees with a slight breeze.  First time in a long time that we will be able to sleep with the windows open.

Tomorrow a short drive to Bullhead City - roughly 63 miles.  Love those short travel days.

What's wrong with these pictures?

You are correct, SNOW!!!!  Our plan was to avoid this kind of weather but the past two days it has snowed.  When the sun comes out, everything melts pretty quickly but it is still very cold . . .  Brrrr.  We are out of here tomorrow; hopefully heading to warmer temperatures.

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.

There was another geocache to be found back up the road, so we stopped to try our luck. Yep, another one found. Here's John holding the container.

Off to our next viewing pleasure.