Day 5: Monument Valley
If you would like to start this trip report from the beginning, you can do that here.
Today started with one last breakfast in the El Tovar dining room. After breakfast, they checked out of the Thunderbird Lodge to leave the Grand Canyon and hit the road towards Monument Valley.
They took in one last view of the Grand Canyon:
The drive, without stops, is about 3 hours. They made at least 1 bathroom stop and also stopped at the Moenkopi Dinosaur Tracks near Tuba City, AZ. This site is located in the Navajo Nation and is a source of income for them.
This site is quite rustic and consists of some fossilized dinosaur tracks. Navajo guides are available for tours and history lessons.
Next they continued the drive until they crossed over into Utah and arrived at their next hotel, Goulding’s Lodge at Monument Valley. The scenery as they neared Monument Valley was incredible!
The accommodations at Goulding’s Lodge consists of small individual houses.
Once settled in at the Lodge, they had a group lunch at the hotel at the Stagecoach Restaurant. They had a section of the restaurant reserved for their group, and they ordered off the menu.
After lunch, they had a small amount of time to check out the grounds of the Lodge. There were some good photo ops, as well as a structure whose exterior was used in the filming of a John Wayne movie.
Next, it was time for their Monument Valley excursion. Because of all of the dust and the open air vehicles, the guides had passed out bandanas the day before. The whole group fit into two vehicles, and they picked them up from the Lodge.
They made several stops during the tour (I may not get these in chronological order). One of the stops was for a great photo op at a place called John Ford’s Point:
They also stopped at Big Hogan:
They also stopped at Moccasin Arch:
Another stop was to look at some authentic Navajo hogans:
More pictures from the drive:
After the tour, they were dropped off at the Lodge and had some “on your own time”. They decided to shower and rest in their room.
Tonight was the “Navajo Cookout Dinner and Storytelling”. The same vehicles from the earlier excursion drove them from the Lodge to the campfire site. There, they learned how to make traditional Navajo fry bread.
Dinner was a buffet with the option of Navajo tacos or burgers:
There were some rocks nearby that my daughter enjoyed climbing:
After dinner, it was time for the campfire. Everyone gathered around the fire to listen to three Navajo tribe members sing and play instruments.
They also had the group joined them for a native dance:
After dinner it was back to the Lodge to go to bed.
Up next: Day 6 – Moab
Arizona is such a beautiful place. I’ve driven through there when driving home to California for Christmas.
Is there any ABD trip you’d want to try, whether with the girls or just your husband? The ones I’d love to do are Japan, with a Tokyo Disney extension, China, Australia, England and France, Germany, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, Alaska, Canadian Rockies and Southern Cali. The Escapes would also be nice to do.