this morning felt like such a heading west kind of morning. nate and i left before 8 a.m. the sun was just peeking over the horizon, we were loading luggage into the car in a hotel parking lot, and the road was waiting. the only thing throwing me off was that we were heading east instead of west.
today was a longer driving day than the others, but we hit up a few spots. northern arizona is a pretty spectacular looking place to drive, even if the road is a little monotonous. our first stop was monument valley. you know monument valley! it was REALLY cool and i recommend it to everyone. we drove up to the visitors center and drove into the valley a bit. i hope my entrance fees goes toward the “pave the road” fund.



you may know monument valley from john ford/john wayne collaborative movies such as “the searchers.”
 

i called my dad while we were driving though, and he called me a snotnose!

then we hitched it across the bottom of utah through towns like mexican hat. (and hat rock.)

nate got a stuffed goat that became our driving mascot.

we drove the trail of the ancients to cortez, which went through the valley of the gods, some other great rock formations, and general geological wonderments.
as we drove closer to cortez and into colorado, i saw this giant rock thing – kind of like devil’s tower but way more sinister looking. it’s shiprock! we’ll drive past it tomorrow.

then came the big disappointment of the day. the reason nate and i drove to cortez was to see mesa verde. i have wanted to see mesa verde for a long time – since i was a teenager. so after eating lunch and checking in, we headed out there. and because of the super high winds and minimal snow yesterday, the roads were closed unless you had a 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive vehicle. i hoped for a “minnesota driver” exception, but no such luck. all that way to visit the visitors center and that was it 🙁
i did get a pic of the “table” (mesa).

tomorrow before we leave i’m going to call and see if the roads are open. i got the direct number, so here’s hoping the roads are clear and the tour’s quick.
tomorrow is back to phoenix and the last travel day – it’s a big one. 6.5 hours of driving to get back to phoenix. but we’re driving through new mexico, so that makes this a 4-state trip and adds two states to my repertoire!