05/16/09 - We decided that Monument Valley, the main advertised attraction of the area would be our first stop so we heads that direction on our first ride. On the way down we went through the town of Mexican Hat which get's it's name from this little rock formation. As with all these rock pictures you'll enjoy them a lot more if you click on them and blow them up.

A note on the pictures - I take the pictures at 3872x2592, but at that size they're 4.32mb - so I reduce them to 800x568 before I upload them which cuts them down to 285kb which is a little more reasonable for the web - then I reduce that down to 400x266 for the web page. They do lose a little in the transition, but much of this is so beautiful that it can stand to lose a little without losingit's impact :)

05/16/09 - So here's Monument Valley. we talked about going down and take the dirt road through the valley, but it was a warm dusty day and there were a LOT of tourist - the buses seemed to never end and so there were a lot of the tour trucks running the road and kicking up dust - so we decided to pass on it this trip. Maybe next time, and we'll do it middle of the week when it's not quite so crowded.

We went across from Monument Valley to Gouldings for lunch and decided that we won't make that mistake again. Places that are set up to handle tour buses base their business on one timers - the quality and the service both left a little to be desired. They did have an interesting museum there and it's definitely worth a visit.

05/16/09 - here's the last one of Monument Valley. This was taken from the edge of the parking lot up by the visitors center which was closed for remodeling. That was a bummer for us as one of the things that we most enjoy about visiting these sites is the visitors centers where they almost always have a little museum and often a small theatre where they show you a short on the history of the site and explain how it came into being.

This ones on the list for a return visit :)

05/17/09 - Our first stop on the ride today was Mule Canyon Ruins, that we saw the sign for and decided to stop in and check out. As we stood reading the sign about the ruins I picked up a hitch hiker. Cute little guy missing his tail and I guess he figured if he was with me the birds would leave him alone :))

We got him back onto the ground and he scurried off into the underbrush while we continued the tour of the place. It was interesting and the skill of the indians in constructing houses and towers always impresses me.

05/17/09 - I call this one hold your breath - it's perched on the side of the road and you ride right under it. "STAY!" I commanded in my best dog training voice and I'm glad to report that he obeyed :))

05/17/09 - Natural Bridges National Monument

Actually we ended up at this one by accident. We started out to do a loop ride around the area, US191>UT95>UT261>US163, and when we got to the turn at the 95/261 junction there was a sign for Natural Bridges - 7 mi. So off we went. That's the bridge where the arch is with all the trees in it. Click the picture below to really see through the arch.

05/17/09 - From Natural Bridges we continued our trip around the loop and headed down UT261. We'd ridden quite a ways when we came upon this sign - "Alright, now that's my kind of road!" I thought to myself. So here's a couple shots of the down of the Moki Dugway.

Here's another sign just before hitting the dirt road -

This first shot is near the top just past the pull out, which was full of people so I just passed it up (it was Sunday so all the weekenders were out). That's my mirror with Sheila's hand in it in the bottom left corner and all you see is the view looking out. There's nothing but DROP next to us as this road runs right down the face of the mountain.

If you'd like to see the whole road here's a PDF map of the road - 1100 feet down in 3 miles.

The road down -

The bottom of the hill - now you know where the pattern on in blankets come from.

05/19/09 - Here's a shot from my morning walk - it's down the side of the highway, but it's a wide shoulder and there's not a lot of traffic. As you can see there's not much to look at as I walk - it's very sad. Are you crying at how sad it is?? If that didn't get the tears flowing check these -

05/19/09 - We had done 2 of the bridges at Natural Bridges (it's was a real accomplishment for Sheila to do the walk up and down to one of them) and I wanted to do the Moki Dugway going up as well as down, so we headed out to reverse our loop today.

This first shot is starting up the Moki Dugway. The one below is from the top looking down at the road and then a Valley of the Gods from the scenic viewpoint.

5/19/09 - continuing on up the UT261this one just appeared in the sky. I pointed it out to Sheila and she captured it for me - now you have to bear in mind that we both have very active imaginations. With that said - do you see it???

Click it and blow it up and it's easier to see - got it not??

Did you get it? If not click me for the answer :))

5/19/09 - Back at natural bridges we stopped at the picnic area for our lunch - after the last resturant we decided to go back to picnics, we both like doing them on our rides anyway :)) Better food, we can eat whenever we want and the price is right. Then it was off to see the bridges.

Our first stop was at Horsecollar Ruin Overlook. We ventured out onto the rocks but one look at the trail and we know it was a little more than we were up to. So I took a couple pictures and we figured we'd try the other one we hadn't seen yet -

See those dark clouds in the top left? They moved in fast and so we headed for home. Got a little damp before we put on the leathers, but once we were prepared the rain dried up and we had a nice ride home.

5/20/09 - it looked like a promising day and I wanted to do the Valley Of The Gods ride. 16 miles, all dirt/gravel road, through what I hoped was going to be some beautiful formations. Below are the shots for the day - I'll let you be the judge.

Shade was at a premium out here but we found a little for our picnic :))

I call this one Man On A Rock - might also call this one ET as there's a good resemblance either way.