Kastle's Journey: October 2019

Friday morning we were on our way by 10am, leaving the Grand Canyon. Hated putting the dish down as everything was working. lol

Stopped at Cameron Trading Post for lunch. We remembered we ate a great meal there 7 years ago, and it did not disappoint. The Trading Post is huge with tons of Navajo merchandise. There is a Post Office on site and another store that is a Gallery showcasing more artwork/jewelry for sale.

Here are some pictures of the Dining Room.

We arrived shortly after noon and checked into our spot at Gouldings RV Park at Monument Valley. This is a lovely RV Park although quite expensive. I did not pay attention when I booked, as the price I saw from Good Sam was $41/night. Turned out with the discount it was $64/night. Oh well, we are very close to where Ray wants to take pictures. Another spot on his bucket list. He had to go up on the roof and undo one of the cables for the dish and it sparked so static electricity had built up again. The dish is working fine now.

Here is a picture of the campsite before everyone rolled in at 4pm.

View back towards the highway

There is a lovely short trail from the campsite to Gouldings Arch. Ray loves taking Freya for her walk there and I went for a tour one of the days, as well. You take the trail at the upper end of the campsite and come down to the bottom end where we are camped.

For lunch we went to Goulding's Stagecoach Restaurant where their Lodge, Museum and Restaurant are located overlooking the Valley. Pictures are from my cell phone so not up to the "Ray" standard. lol

Every table had a jug full of fresh water and ice. Being on a reserve there is no alcohol served.

Stagecoach Restaurant

The road up to the restaurant.

Museum

Lunch was okay but nothing special.

Ray went out for some sunset pictures down the road from the campsite to the entrance road to Monument Valley.

Sunday, we did our tour of Monument Valley. OMG it is so immense and most of it you cannot see from the highway going by. The gate opens at 8am so we were out the door at 7:45 as it is only 10 minutes away. Worth the $20 entrance fee which is good for 2 days, so Ray can go back again tomorrow for sunset shots. They give you a map of the road and the names of the buttes you see.

East and West Mittens

The next three pictures are of Elephant Butte. Notice the last one how big it is compared to Ray.

Elephant Butte

Three Sisters

John Ford's Point where a scene from one of John Wayne's movies was shot.

John Ford's Point with Ray. You can see the road back out of the valley on the left.

Camel Butte

Rain God Mesa

The Hub. Looks like a wagon wheel with spokes. The have their traditional Hogan's at the base of this butte.

Totem Pole. Unfortunately we had to shoot right into the sun.

At the Artist Point Lookout you can see how hazy it is in the distance due to the dust storm developing.

North Window Overlook

Cly Butte

Another Butte we couldn't name. Kinda looked like an arch forming.

Here are some other sights along the way:

Glad we went early as it took 2 hours to drive the 12 miles around the monuments on a very rough road at 15 mph and all the stops we made for pictures. By the time we were done the forecasted wind had come up, blowing lots of dust into the air. Hopefully it blows itself out tonight for tomorrow's pics.

We stopped at the Visitor's Centre and ate lunch at their restaurant, The View. What a view!

Monday morning we woke up to freezing temps and a skiff of snow. It sure made the hills look fabulous. Ray was out the door at 7am to catch pictures of the unusual sight. When I booked our extra day the lady at the desk laughed at me ... "we never get snow here"! Well I was right. Unfortunately our water line is frozen, as I forgot to get Ray to disconnect last night. Oh well, we do have water in the water tank for occasions like this. :) Glad I booked the extra day for the views alone. Ray spoke to some Aussie's and they were at Bryce Canyon yesterday and there was snow on the amphitheatre.

By 10:30 we were able to get water out of a different tap with a different hose. I could then get all our laundry done as I don't know when we will be hooked up next with full service. Most of the places just have electric and water with a sani-dump and the grey fills up way too fast with laundry. lol Need to have everything stowed tonight as it will get even colder so all tanks emptied at dinner time, ready to leave first thing in the morning.

Here is Ray's pics from this morning:

Frozen Campsite:

Frozen Car:

Freya ... Oh boy snow!!!!

Ray was able to get into the park for his pictures before the gate opened at 8:00, they just told him to drive around the gate. The first picture is looking back towards the campsite which is in the valley behind.