Visit to Monument Valley and beyond

After family left we worked our shifts and stayed put.  It has been very windy and cold.  Until the last few days we have been using our heat at night and have not been able to sit outside in the afternoon or evening.  The trip two days ago to the Utah border through the Navajo Reservation was windy but the days were clear and it was a beautiful drive putting almost 600 miles on the Scion.  

Cows on the reservation wander the road.  Traffic must watch the road!  We saw horses along the side of the road also.

Monument Valley is just breath taking!  We could not ride the 17 mile road because of the Scion low clearance!

The Traditional Navajo hogan is made of logs covered with clay

After the monument we traveled west to Navajo National Monument, Tuba city, down to Flagstaff stopping overnight.  Yesterday we visited Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon National Monuments.  We are about crosseyed viewing ruins in the area.  Hundreds of years ago ancestrial Plebloans lived all through this area in rock sheltered canyons along the sides of cliffs.  Ruins are everywhere!

The National Monuments

We traveled to many canyons and the lava field of Sunset Crater NM and Walnut Canyon NM.  It was amazing scenery and beautiful hikes.  This part of the country has everything from deserts badlands scenes to mountian snow capped mountains.

Navajo Monument Canyon

Sunset Crater lava fields

Black volcanic hills with the snow capped San Franscisco Peaks in the background

Family and PEFO

Long Logs Trail with our family

This is rock

We spent one day walking the trails in the park and a two days traveling the reservations next to PEFO.

Snow and Family at PEFO

We spent the rest of the week in and around Petrified Forest NP.  We visited the Navajo and Zuni Reservations and did hikes in the park.  One day it was so windy we had a sand storm (68 Mile an hour winds) and the next morning we woke up to 5 inches of snow and fog.  The girls must have brought the weather from New England!

Snow came to PEFO



This crab apple was beautiful



Lisa at the Painted Desert Inn




My tiny snowman Pam and I made



Grand Canyon with Lisa and Pam

Picnic with a view on the South Rim of the canyon

What a "GRAND" view



We had a wonderful time roaming the rim.  We did not go down to the bottom.

 Lisa and Pam, our daughters, flew from Connecticut to visit us.  We met up at Flagstaff and spent a day at Grand Canyon National Park.  The rest of the week we spent in and around Petrified Forest National Park.