2010 TOUR BLOG: Monument Valley |
| Gordon White | Tuesday, 21 September, 2010 | ||||||||||||
|
There isn’t an IMAX theatre in the world that beats the spectacular windshield views from a truck camper exploring the West. Our “driving movie” from southern Colorado to the four corners area of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah was as beautiful and cinematic as they come. Two thumbs up. Five stars. A must see. The movie opened with an epic transition from the dusted white Rocky Mountains to the burning browns of red rock country. Anyone who sees this landscape immediately knows; it’s a western partner and you’re in it. The stage is set for the white hat cowboys to ride in and drive the black hat bad boys out of town. Giddy up!  With the roughnecks chased away, we directed our diesel horse into Monument Valley and moseyed up to the Navajo Indian ticket counter. We bought two tickets and a dry camping stable for the night. This is one big screen evening that comes without electric or water. It’s boondockin’ time.
With our horse settled on a butte, we set out on a near high-noon jaunt around a three mile Mitten trail loop. Saddled up with water, we walked into the Utah desert.
A few hundred paces later, we met Alfred. As we took his photograph, it became clear that Alfred was not your typical desert lizard. Obviously he had seen a few cameras before and knew exactly how to work his lizard self in front of the lens. Alfred gave us every mood, every expression, and every pose a lizard in the business can muster. Your royalty check’s in the mail Alfred. Don’t spend it all on one insect this time.
About half way to the Mitten, the persistent sun started to pick a fight with us. So hot. Too hot. To make matters worse, we accidentally dropped our water spilling the precious into the desert sand. So thirsty. Water...  As visions of bones in the sand raced through my mind, I remembered my favorite desert movie. No, not Blazing Saddles. I’m talking about Lawrence of Arabia. Back to our oven mitten march, I removed the sweatshirt tied to my waste and threw it around my head, Arabian style. Peter O’Toole would have been embarrassed, but it worked.  When we got back to our camper, we practically ate a gallon of water. Thirst is a funny thing that you haven’t really experienced until you’re walking for a few miles in the desert without it. Within in minutes, water works it’s magic and you feel better. Water, don’t walk around the desert without it.  That night the rental gang showed up. First one moseyed in. Then another pulled up along side. Soon we were surrounded against the cliff wall by an army of rental Class C’s. If this came to a fight, we were done for. Sure we had the Cummins diesel and four wheel drive, but there were so many of them. It would go down in history as Truck Camper Magazine’s last stand. Truck campers from around the world would visit this site for generations and say, “Remember the Bluff”.
Sunset was hypnotizing. We literally stood outside and watched the vast desert landscape for over an hour. Eventually, the rapidly dropping temperatures brought us back into our camper. Wow. The next morning we awoke to wild horses walking in front of our camper. Between the horses, the Mittens, and the desert sunrise, it was a feast for the senses. After breakfast, we stopped in the visitor's center and then headed West to Page, Arizona.  And the driving movie started up again. Where’s the popcorn?  |
