Navajo Country

Monday morning we moseyed  over to the Ranch House Grill for some grub.  We were not disappointed.  By the time we finished with breakfast, we knew that we were good until dinner time.  The service was good, the food tasty, and the waitress kept Klep's coffee cup filled with really good coffee.  Yep.  We would go there again if we ever, for some strange reason, end up in Page, Arizona again.

After gassing up the car, we headed toward Utah and arrived at Goulding's Lodge.  This is actually the only privately owned land in the middle of an Navajo Reservation of 60 million acres which covers parts of four states.  The Gouldings came to Monument Valley in 1923 and established a trading post where they originally traded for things like rugs and blankets for staples, Later, when the depression came along, Mr. Goulding headed to Hollywood to try to interest the movie people in coming to the Valley to make films.  He finally got in to see John Ford, convinced him of the beauty of the place, and promised to be able to accommodate a crew in ten days.  Somehow they did, and that was the start of this location being in many of the films mad since then.  This brought money and work to the people here.  Later, the first lodge and restaurant were built.  Many of the old buildings which have been seen in many westerns are still there including the cabin which John Wayne used in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

Klep and I enjoyed the museum and walking around the grounds until we met Larry, the tour guide, and the other tourists for our four o'clock tour of Monument Valley including many off road places that we could not have seen otherwise.  The trip was over three hours, was a little like "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," and was a lot of fun.

Monument Valley is considered a Holy Place by the Navaho's and I can understand why.  The mesas and formations are a deep, deep red from the iron deposits in the soil.  We saw rock formations shaped like huge animals, some arches, some Anasazi ruins, and a Hogan where we watched a Navajo woman card and spin wool by hand.  She also styled a young Italian woman's hair into the Navajo fashion.  The valley stretches for miles and miles with occasionally a house.  The Navajo by tradition do not

After our bouncing around, a quiet dinner at the hotel restaurant, where we enjoyed sampling fried brea, and bed after sunset were both welcome.