Wild West road trip - day 10 - Monument Valley

[TrueBlue]

Day 10 and we're heading to Monument Valley

Today was one of the days I was most looking forward to on this trip. A few of my friends had visited Monument valley in the past and I was so envious of their pics and decided there and then that we just had to put this into our plans.

It was to be a 4 and a half hour drive from Zion to Monument Valley (238 miles according to google maps) but there was a twist in the tale. I knew we weren't too far off the road from Horseshoe bend. I just could not go all that way and be so close to this place and not visit so we (I) decided it was a 'must do'

We had breakfast in Wildcat Willies again and checked out of Bumbleberry Inn. We were on the road out of Zion by 9am.

This is where our first delay happened as the scenery on the drive out of Zion was stunning. So we ended up stopping off at loads of view points for photo's.

At one point Scott decided he wanted to run up a steep hillside. God knows where he got the energy from but he sprinted up there

By now we were already half an hour behind our schedule so we hit the road once again. We didn't stop again until we approached Lake Powell. We got out the car briefly to take some pics but this was just a quick 5 mins pit stop

We hit the road once again and the next stop was Horseshoe Bend. But first we stopped off at McDonalds for lunch (which was only a 5 min drive away from horseshoe bend)

After our quick lunch we filled the car with fuel and headed off in search of horseshoe bend. It was literally only a 5 min drive to the car park. We parked the car up in the busy car park and set off up another hill yet again in temperatures over 100 degrees.

We had been walking for 5 mins or so and my feet were getting burnt with the sand. I guess wearing strappy sandals wasn't my brightest idea I could hardly walk

We got to the top of the hill then realised we were still a good 10 minute walk away (this time down hill but that meant uphill on the way back).

We walked towards where was a large gathering of people and approached the edge and right in front of us was horseshoe bend! It was just as amazing as i'd imagined it to be and more.

We were so high up and with me not being good with heights I was feeling very uncomfortable with how close other people were to the edge. I kept telling Scott to stay back (even though he about 10 feet away lol)

I peeked over the edge (but didn't get too close) and noticed there was rafts on the colorado river below. I said to DH that when we come back again i'll look into the raft rides.

We stayed here for 10 mins or so taking lots of pics then we decided it was time we hit the road again as time was pushing on.

We had the steep walk back up the hill again and I wasn't looking forward to it in my sandals

Once we got back into the car we had the air con up full. The heat from the sand was still burning through the soles of my sandals. My toes were roastie toastie for ages after so had to have the air con pointing at my feet till they cooled down.

Continued below...

[TrueBlue]

Continued...

Time was really pressing on now as we decided we wouldn't stop again until we reached Monument Valley. It was already gone 1pm and we still had at least 2 hours of driving to go.

There wasn't many more places I wanted to see anyway so we powered on.

Before we knew it we were leaving the State of Arizona and entering Utah

We also got our first glimpse of Monument Valley in the distance

As we approached we turned up at the booths where you have to pay the locals (Native Americans) an entrance fee. Monument Valley isn't a national park so your annual pass doesn't cover it.

I think the entrance fee was $20 per car. We paid the fee and drove towards our hotel.

The View Hotel is where we had booked for the night and this is the only accommodation in the area. You have to book direct with the hotel which we had done about 9 month previous

The hotel doesn't look much from the outside but I knew the view from our room was going to be stunning.

Our room was ready for us when we arrived and we were on the ground floor. We unloaded the luggage from our car and headed to our room.

When we went into the room the patio curtains were closed to keep the room cool. We went straight over and opened them and OMG... WOW WOW WOW. Words just can't describe the view in front of you

It was breathtaking and I couldn't believe we were actually here.

DH noticed on the ground below our balcony (about 6 feet away) was a Road runner bird with a lizard in it's beak. It wasn't fazed by us at all and it just stood there for a few minutes. We managed to get some pics

DS wanted to stay in the room to charge his phone up a bit and to make use of the wifi so me and DH went for a wander around the hotel. It was really nice and we were happy we'd made the choice to stay here.

We also popped into the restaurant to check out the menu. Again we were happy with the food offerings and the prices too

A view of the rooms and balconies from the restaurant. Our balcony was on the ground floor around the middle of the block

We went back to the room to see if Scott wanted to come with us to do the 10 mile loop. He wasn't keen as he was now comfortable in the room chilling and the thought of another 10 miles in the car didn't appeal to him.

You can do the 10 mile drive in your own vehicle or go on one of the tours. We decided to do it in our own car. We had saw the 'tour busses' and really didn't fancy it. They are all opened with rows of seats and I thought it looked very uncomfortable.

I'm so glad we chose to go in our own car. This has to be the bumpiest road I have ever been on in my entire life and the dust flies everywhere. We looked at those poor people on the tours and actually felt sorry for them. We could take our time with the pot holes but the tour busses were flying past us with the passengers bouncing up and down with dust all over them - yuk!

Another thing with taking your own car is you can stop where you want. The tours didn't seem to stop at the same view points as us.

But anyway ... we were happy doing our own thing and we stopped off at loads of places for photo's.

I'll let the photo's talk for themselves...

There is so many places to stop for photo opportunities , you really are spoilt for choice

The sun was starting to go down now so we decided to head back to the hotel. The 10 mile loop starts at the entrance to the hotel and is basically 5 miles each way.

On the way back we stopped at the 'Mittens' to get some close up pics. You have East and West mittens

We got back to our room to find Scott on the balcony playing around with is phone.

He was also taking in the amazing view

It was now gone 8pm and we decided to head for dinner. We got seated at the window and we sat and watched the sun going down. As the sun was going down a storm began to brew. The wind really got up and there was lightening in the distance which was followed by thunder.

The sky got very dark and cloudy and it was quite eerie but still stunning

I wasn't too hungry. The heat was still affecting me so I just wanted something light to eat. I opted for the soup and salad bar. DS just wanted nacho's (he loves Nacho's) and DH went for the stew which was just like a thick broth soup. But he said it was really nice and also filling

We headed back to the room and sat on the balcony watching the storm coming in. There was still lots of lightening in the distance but it didn't rain.

As we were sitting taking it all in DH noticed something move on the wall above my head. He got out his phone and put the light on and low and behold it was a scorpion! I was outta there in a flash

I wouldn't go back out on the balcony again as I didn't know what else we'd find.

It was bed time by now anyway so it didn't ruin the night. I must admit I didn't get much sleep though as kept checking the room in case anything got in.

Luckily it didn't .

Tomorrow we hit the road again and this time we're heading to Grand Canyon Village

[Melbatb]

Again wow! What another fabulous day! Well apart from that last creepy crawlie

[kateh134]

Just wow! Amazing scenery.

[1972]

This brings back fantastic memories of our trip 2 years ago.

I didn't know about horseshoe bend though - a stop for a future trip maybe!

Off to read al, of your trip report now.

[Twiggy1953]

We stayed at the View last year - amazing experience. Every time we see Monument Valley on the television now in films we all shout "been there". Sad I know. I did Horseshoe Bend as well. There was a girl in a full white wedding dress posing right on the edge for photos😱. A few years ago there was a scorpion right outside our door at Furnace Creek in Death Valley. I sat up most of the night with a torch in my hand - just in case it had friends.😳

[Tom Morrow]

I didn't realise you were doing a full on road trip Marion - going to read this from the start xxx Jacqui

[landandword17]

Absolutely loving your trip so far. Already planning our 2018 itinerary 😳

[Disney Wishing]

More amazing photos from Zion and Monument Valley. The View hotel has been on my bucket list for a while. One day i'll make it there.

[abiknox]

What a stunning day, so many spectacular views. You're coping really well with the heat too.

Love the mittens, cute. Not too keen on that scorpion though! Shudder.