Day 29:  Pretty, oh so pretty: Grand Canyon, AZ to Monument Valley, UT

Yes. A new state. Welcome to Utah!

After a lovely visit from our elk friend last night, what could today bring us?  Such opportunities to see the canyon at sunrise.  Such opportunity to sleep right through sunrise and then be greeted by a semi-cloudy morning.  Happily, Sunnyvale was pretty quiet. The trailer next to us had a very loud furnace that short-cycled. Is seemed like a jet engine was parked next to us. But that did not cost sleep so all good.

Morning walk was over to and along the southern rim stopping many times to take pictures.  Mostly duplicates of pictures I already had.  It was a lovely 6km walk at a good pace.  Walk was slightly longer due to my poor navigation skills on the way back to Sunnyvale.  No elk were seen.  

After breakfast we got packed up, dumped the tanks (thankfully uneventful) and waved goodbye to the crew at Sunnyvale before heading east.  We stopped at many of the other lookouts as we drove along the south rim.  All just stunning.  We had a nice easy lunch in the van at one of the lookouts and did not buy any of the “local” jewelry being hocked.  I put local in quotes cause there is a chance some of the labour is local but unlikely that any materials are local.   We saw a few elk on the drive to the eastern entrance of the park.

Some pictures of the canyon stops.

Our target today was the Monument Valley KOA.  To get there you go through some truly stunning landscapes.  We stopped infrequently but drove along the mostly deserted highway gawking at the beauty.  

Our biggest disappointment came in the town of Cameron.  There was a huge sign for Navaho Tacos at the Cameron Trading Post.  Mrs Milddogs went in but it was pretty crowded and there was a line just to talk to the people in the food area. So we bailed on that.  Too bad.  

Amy has been pretty tuckered.  She did not really want to walk anywhere today.  She got carried a bit at some of the lookouts.  She has done a lot of walking over the last few days.

A significant part of our drive was through the painted desert.  Not the official park, just the desert.  That too was breathtaking. We looked rather than taking pictures. The dashcam may have some footage.

We could see were were approaching monument valley from some distance away.  We arrived at our campground and are very happy with it.  We can see buttes and mesas (I need to google the difference) right from our van.  In hindsight, I should have started a photo series called “photos from the bathroom” that would have included the view from our bathroom windows at the back of the van.

Here are some pictures of the local big rock things

Our cell coverage is pretty poor but we are getting enough through on Verizon with the MIMO antenna.  

Mrs Milddogs did a long tonne of laundry.  I may not smell as badly tomorrow!

For dinner we had leftovers – seems fitting after the disappointment of no Navaho tacos – while we stared at the landscape.  Mrs Milddogs baked some cookies too.

Tomorrow we are going to drive the Monument Valley loop and take our time doing it.  I have attempted to clean the windshield of the van so the dashcam footage is more useful. We  are in the same campsite tomorrow night.  This will be the third time we have been in the site for more than one night.  It’s a technicality as we have been in the same campground a few more times but had to change sites.  

The person next to us is from Ontario.  We have not met yet.  A few doors down are people from Quebec that were also at Sunnyvale last night.

It’s hard to believe some of these landscapes are real.  Again, words are not good enough.  The pictures will also fail to capture the wow.  

I’m thinking I should plan the route home to include all possible Krispy Kreme locations.  I’ve wanted a decent donut since the pandemic began.  Second born child and I even stopped twice at Krispy Kreme near Toronto only to run away from the large crowds.  Since Sonic is ubiquitous, we could have chilli cheese tater tots for the “meal” and Krispy Kreme for desert.  I best start planning.

We have not see a roadrunner being chased by a coyote yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  

That’s all folks!