Remember those old John Wayne movies, with the incredible western landscape? Driving by Monument Valley on the highway offers a distant view of those iconic ‘mittens.’ However, actually taking the time to visit the Monument Valley Tribal Park, a Navajo owned and operated park, is worth the time and travel on the rough dirt roads. Winding around the buttes and formations is amazing.
One of a zillion photos taken by Richard. I'll share the link when he posts them.
Crossing the Colorado border we heading southwest only to be disappointed
So much for touching all four states in the plank position.
Maybe they are moving it to the geographically correct location.
Heading northeast we made it the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge for a glimpse of the sandhill cranes. They stop in the San Luis Valley during their migration north in the spring and south in the fall. We were close enough to hear their strange creaking noise and see their funky chicken mating dance. As Richard says, they look prehistoric.
Sandhill Cranes
The final night of our trip was spent in Salida, our favorite little Colorado town. Activities included coffee and internet surfing at the Salida Café, formerly Bongo Billy’s, strolling around window shopping downtown, and pizza at Amicas. We couldn’t resist buying this ‘monument’ to our trip at Free the Monkey Consignment Shop—Buddha meets the Man in the Moon:
The Buddha or The Man in the Moon?
Boulder was a welcome sight, as we finished up our 2700 mile journey before the spring blizzard.
* An earlier version of this post referred to Valley of the Gods, which I learned is nearby in Utah. Monument Valley is the correct name for this area.
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