As we traveled from Boulder City to Williams, we crossed over the Hoover Dam. That was really something. It can be a challenge sometimes due to the construction of the new bridge that you see in the pictures. Soon you will be able to by-pass the dam. Then we started to climb. Emily did good going up through the mountains. We saw snow in some of the gullies beside the road that don't get the sun. The scenery again was amazing.
Williams is a small town on old Route 66. It has many hotels and motels just for the tourists going to the Grand Canyon. At this time of year it isn't crowded. Gas was more expensive, I suppose because of being the only town around. We had a nice campground that overlooked a field with a small creek flowing through. There was a family of prairie dogs that lived in the banks of the creek and in the field. We really enjoyed watching them. They were so busy and playful. At one time we saw a hawk come in. Of course the prairie dog look-out was doing his job and they all took cover. We tried to get a picture of the hawk, but he was too far away.
The Grand Canyon was everything you hear people say. I think Tom took over 200 pictures. We walked quite a bit, then took the shuttles from stop to stop. The one route was to be closed the next day to start construction of the new road. It really needs to be replaced. If only for safety reasons. We were lucky that we got to see that part of the canyon. It's hard to find words to describe the beauty. It's just awesome.
After going through the town checking out the stores, we decided to leave the next day. After a bout with a frozen hose, and some really cold nights that we weren't used to, it was time to go get somewhere in lower elevations.
It was on to the one of my favorite places on our trip. The GC was awesome, yes, but Monument Valley was God's Country. I just fell in love with the place. So many old westerns were filled there. Where ever you go , you can buy John Wayne stuff. You can get toilet paper with his picture on it. It says on the outside, "It's rough, it's tough, and doesn't take crap from anyone". We laughed at that one. They have those life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the Duke all over the place. I hope the pictures we took give you an idea of the beauty there. We paid $10 to drive through the Valley. The road was pretty rough, but well worth the time and the money. It is a 17 mile drive, and takes as long as you want it to. We stopped and had the lunch we took with us. The Navajo Nation evidently doesn't allow cell phone towers. we had no service while we were in the campground or the Valley. For about 3 days we were out of touch. The campground was fabulous. We were surrounded by huge red rock cliffs, and could look out our windows at the monuments, or just sit outside with that gorgeous view. We will return to that wonderful place. It truly is God's Country. That's the only explanation I'll accept for a place such as this.
Enough for this post. I know I have to catch up. Being without service and traveling for 3 days, I'm behind a little. We have done a lot in the past 2 weeks. What a good time we are having being tourists.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tnank101/GrandCanyonMonumentValley
Williams is a small town on old Route 66. It has many hotels and motels just for the tourists going to the Grand Canyon. At this time of year it isn't crowded. Gas was more expensive, I suppose because of being the only town around. We had a nice campground that overlooked a field with a small creek flowing through. There was a family of prairie dogs that lived in the banks of the creek and in the field. We really enjoyed watching them. They were so busy and playful. At one time we saw a hawk come in. Of course the prairie dog look-out was doing his job and they all took cover. We tried to get a picture of the hawk, but he was too far away.
The Grand Canyon was everything you hear people say. I think Tom took over 200 pictures. We walked quite a bit, then took the shuttles from stop to stop. The one route was to be closed the next day to start construction of the new road. It really needs to be replaced. If only for safety reasons. We were lucky that we got to see that part of the canyon. It's hard to find words to describe the beauty. It's just awesome.
After going through the town checking out the stores, we decided to leave the next day. After a bout with a frozen hose, and some really cold nights that we weren't used to, it was time to go get somewhere in lower elevations.
It was on to the one of my favorite places on our trip. The GC was awesome, yes, but Monument Valley was God's Country. I just fell in love with the place. So many old westerns were filled there. Where ever you go , you can buy John Wayne stuff. You can get toilet paper with his picture on it. It says on the outside, "It's rough, it's tough, and doesn't take crap from anyone". We laughed at that one. They have those life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the Duke all over the place. I hope the pictures we took give you an idea of the beauty there. We paid $10 to drive through the Valley. The road was pretty rough, but well worth the time and the money. It is a 17 mile drive, and takes as long as you want it to. We stopped and had the lunch we took with us. The Navajo Nation evidently doesn't allow cell phone towers. we had no service while we were in the campground or the Valley. For about 3 days we were out of touch. The campground was fabulous. We were surrounded by huge red rock cliffs, and could look out our windows at the monuments, or just sit outside with that gorgeous view. We will return to that wonderful place. It truly is God's Country. That's the only explanation I'll accept for a place such as this.
Enough for this post. I know I have to catch up. Being without service and traveling for 3 days, I'm behind a little. We have done a lot in the past 2 weeks. What a good time we are having being tourists.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tnank101/GrandCanyonMonumentValley
No comments:
Post a Comment