Monument Valley & Kayenta AZ

Time to pack up and hit the road once more. We had our continental breakfast again and left about 9:45. We had to go through Flagstaff and then up to Tuba City. We went through a variety of countryside, from very dry and barren to some flaky red rock and then some funny little piles of green soil that looked either like cinder cones or piles that people had made. From Tuba City we headed north east for Kayenta. Plenty of signs of the Indian population around and the ground still very rocky but greener.

In Kayenta we found a Burger King and had lunch, then went across the road to the Holiday Inn and checked in. We only had one room, but they let us sleep 5 in the one room. A little cramped but we weren't spending long in our rooms these days. After unpacking and checking that we had plenty to drink we headed off for Monument Valley. The air was very dry and hot and the kids were complaining.

Monument Valley was, of course, quite awesome, but its impact was probably lessened by visiting the Grand Canyon the day before. We had a look in the visitors centre. Not much to see but a shop and a couple of dinosaur prints.

We drove a little way into the Valley - a 17 mile self guided tour on a dusty rocky road. We turned back after a little while after decided that the view probably wouldn't get much better. At one point you could pay $2 to photograph a little Navajo girl.

The conditions were very unpleasant, dry, dusty, hot and windy. We drove down toward the Goulding Museum and stopped at a store for an ice cream. The cheapest round of holidays - $2.50 for the lot! We decided to call it a day then. We were all tired, irritable and hot, and drove back to Kayenta.

The kids made straight for the pool while Pete and I had a sleep. I slept for about an hour, then joined the kids at the pool while Pete went for a walk. After cleaning up we ate in the Holiday Inn restaurant. Pete ate a Mexican plate, Nicole a Navajo sandwich and I had a taco salad. The Navajo fry bread was very tasty. The boys had burgers, and I challenged Joel to recall the last meal he'd had that wasn't a burger. He found it difficult .. was it Hawaii? I enjoyed my nice big pot of decaf coffee. Pete and I surprised by the large number of Europeans around here and the Grand Canyon - French, German, Swiss. Hardly any Americans.Read more