THE Trip, Grand Canyon to Monument Valley Utah.

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Our trip was about 185 miles today.  We followed 64 north and east through the national park one more time, taking in the views as Big Butt and Tana rolled through, no stopping, just rolling.

We then took 89 north to 160 which runs northeast to Kayenta where we took 163 north to Monument Valley.

One section of the ride was so rough it opened a silverware drawer in Tana and moved our very heavy recliner more than I have seen it moved.  It was not the surface of the road, that was pretty good, it was the "heaves", mini roller coasters.

This is beautiful country, the rock formations and colors change frequently.  I took a lot of photos (about 220) as we rode through this fascinating countryside, and during our first evening in the Monument Valley area.

First we see a lot of green and rock walls, in the back ground what looks like large tables of rock, float on the top.  And, mmm, see that house and RV??  I could not help but wonder, is there really utilities way out there??  Water from a well, and what about electricity, I don't see solar, nor above the ground wires.  Hmmmm???

Every where we turn, different colors, different textures, this reminds me of shingles falling off a roof.

Along 89 I saw these lovely stratified hills, and took photos, only to find out later (thanks Charlie from the MOC) that we had driven through a section of the Painted Desert.  Well, no wonder, color this special:

Another change of rocks and formations, almost looks like a domed sports stadium, maybe they got the idea from these:

Then, all white with slightly red caps:

Lets take a closer look.  Texture, color, extremes, smooth vs crumbly, white vs almost red, combined in so many different ways.  Sensory overload takes over again.

And then, no words, red again, the huge slabs in the front of the photo, that angle, pushed out up and out by forces we cannot imagine.

Not far down the road we start to see formations that are distinct and different, and dominate the landscape, and we were not in Monument Valley yet.  I'll show you next time around.




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