On the road again.

6th June – Tucson to Holbrook, Az

Paul’s birthday!  So after he had opened his birthday cards we set off north from Tucson.  Driving 270 miles was not the most exciting way to spend a birthday but when we arrived at Holbrook we went for a very nice Italian meal in the evening.

7th June – Petrified Forest and Painted Desert NP

I think its wood?

The camp site provided free coffee and muffins for breakfast and then we drove up to visit the Petrified Forest National Park.    Trees that lived over 200 million years ago have become stone.  Petrified trees are in other parts of the world but these ones in Arizona are particularly noted for their variety of rainbow colours.  Before the area became a park souvenir hunters collected a lot of the ‘wood’ so sadly large tree trunks are scarce. This is a finite resource as they aren’t making any more these days!

At least this far north the temperature is cooling – it was only 33C today!

8th June – Holbrook to Chinle

We set off north again, towards Chinle.  The area of Arizona that we now enter is a Navajo reservation.  The first thing we have to do is change the clocks forward an hour as this part of the state operates Daylight Saving Time (unlike the rest of the state).

We stopped for coffee at the Hubbell Trading Post which is of historic significance for this area.  The Navajo had been ‘removed’ from the area in 1864-68 (known as The Long Walk) and upon their return they needed a central point to aid trade etc.

It was set up in 1876 and became the main point for the Navajo to trade goods.

We then carried on to our final destination of Canyon De Chelly National Monument. Many Navajo families still live in the canyon so local guides were available for visits to the Canyon floor.  However we decided to drive around the South Rim, that afternoon, viewing the many ruins which could be seen across the canyon.  The Canyon walls stand at over 1000ft and some of the ruins are over 1500 years old. 

 

 

9th June – Canyon de Chelly to Monument Valley

In the morning we drove the North Rim and checked out the various overlooks across Canyon del Muerto, which converges with Canyon de Chelly.

At the bottom of both canyons are rivers and we could see areas that have been planted for farming, as well as horses and cattle.

After lunch we set off to Monument Valley, the classic icons of Western Film sets.  This area was very busy with tourists and we had to dry camp in the campsite car park for the first night as the campsite was full.  However we got to use the amenities, such as the swimming pool, and then after dinner we drove to the parks visitor centre to watch the sunset on the Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10th June – Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Navajo guided jeep tours are available but we decided to take the car as we could see many other people were not having any problems with the dirt track road.  So after we relocated the RV to a site within the camp ground, we drove the 18 mile route stopping for sandwiches part way round.  Some of the monuments are up to 1500ft tall and seem so familiar to me, having been brought up with the Westerns directed by John Ford, many of which starred John Wayne. 

Harry Goulding, a local trader, went to Hollywood to meet the film director and showed him photos of the Valley. We learnt that the films did not boost the local economy as much as we might have thought. 

 

 

 Although local people were employed as ‘Extras’, the film crews brought everything else with them such as food, accommodation and livestock.  However judging from the number of tourists around I am sure the local area has made up for it now.  We understand there used to be just four Jeep Tour companies now there are 27!

In the evening we had a meal at the “View Restaurant” in the park and watched the sun setting whilst we ate some traditional Navajo stew of lamb or chicken.  There was an exhibition explaining the situation of the Navajo and how oil and uranium had been found on their land and how the working populace had been exploited.  There was also an interesting exhibit about the Navajo Code Talkers contribution to the war in the Pacific during WWII.

11th June – Arizona and Utah to Colorado

Monument Valley is right on the state line of Arizona and Utah.  So today we are covering 3 states as we set off for Colorado.  We drive through Moab and past Arches and Canyonlands National Parks; two places that we visited just 12 months ago. We stop for a couple of nights at Highline Lake State Park near Loma.

12th June – Highline Lake State Park

It has been a busy few days so we take some time to chill out.  Paul goes fishing on the Lake – with some success!  Fish for dinner. (a 3lbs Trout) caught-cooked and eaten within two hours. During our stay we watched a Robin feeding her young in the tree next to our Motorhome.

 

13th June – Travel to Cheyenne Wyoming

We travel the I-70 east towards Denver, following the Colorado River. Then head north on I-25 to Cheyenne, Wyoming.  A total of 385 miles – the longest we’ve driven in one day!

The route takes us up through the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. We passed many ski-resort areas with pretty Alpine-style  buildings.

Our lunch stop was at 10500ft where there were a number of vehicles parked. 

People bring their bicycles up here and then use the cycle path to cycle back down (presumably someone meets them at the bottom to go back up to collect the car as it would be a long way to cycle back up!).

We encountered a lot of traffic around Denver which slowed us up a little, finally we arrived at Bev & Dave’s ranch about half five.

After a long days traveling a G&T was in order and then something to eat, we were glad to get to bed that night.

We will now chill out here for a few days before resuming our journey north east.