Westward bound Day 6: Monument Valley

This morning we awoke in sight of the wonders of Monument Valley. The sites you’ve seen as backdrops in countless movies are indeed real and not “green screened” creations of someone’s imagination.  I don’t know how God dreams this stuff up, but it’s spectacular.

The man and horse are real. Click the image for a larger view.

We took a 2.5 hour “basic” tour of the park, which is within the Navajo Nation lands and run by the Navajo tribe. Pretty sure I need to see my chiropracter after that trip because my head was constantly turning quickly, one way and then the next to take in as much as I possibly could. The basic tour was perfect for our schedule, but I could have stayed there much longer than 2.5 hours.  If you go and don’t mind getting your car covered with red dirt, you can drive the park and take your time.  Motorhomes and ATV’s are not permitted, but regular cars, minivans, and most certainly 4wd trucks can handle the route if it hasn’t recently rained.  Considering they only get 15 inches of rain each year, the odds are in your favor. Plan to buy your handmade jewelry, hatchets, rock art and other trinkets within the park. There are several locations where Navajo set up tables with all manner of amazing handcrafted items for your purchase.  The deals here are far better than at the gift shops, but the selection is a little more limited.

One of the most special days of the Run For The Wall was when we stopped in Gallup, NM and the Navajo Nation honored us with songs, dances, and a flag ceremony. I found it interesting God would bring us back to the Navajo Nation, to see their land, and interact more personally with some of their people. I didn’t openly walk around proclaiming Jesus to everyone I met, but I was deliberate about declaring prosperity over the land, increase for these great people, and a Revival among them. I especially had fun talking with the ladies in a gift shop the night we arrived. The Navajo are a great people for whom I know God has a great plan.

We left Monument Valley and made our way to Orem Utah. It was slow going as strong winds nearly had Dad’s 1100cc bike at a standstill.  He had it wide open and was barely holding 60mph.  His small 3.5 gallon tank was hardly enough to get us 75 miles without running dry.  Awesome as God is though, that is exactly the distance between the gas stops on our route.  Coincidence? Nope.

Clicking any of the images below will launch a gallery of all of them.  Be patient when first loading as the images are a bit large.