Monument Valley

I have heard of Monument Valley before in NE AZ and SE UT, but no matter what you have heard or seen about it visiting it in person makes all other info pale in comparison.  We were headed to Moab UT about 100 miles past Monument Valley and just happened to take the road through the valley.  It was a narrow two lane road with narrow to no shoulders; at some places the only thing between the road and abyss below was a 6-8 inch thick concrete wall!  Don't know how good it would have been in stopping an RV from taking the plunge!

Most of Monument Valley is Navaho Indian Reservation and there is a visitor center shortly after you enter the valley, but we did not stop because we were not expecting much!  WOW – talk about a major mistake!  As we drove through the valley we were greeted by one monumental natural structure after another.  Many times we were looking a multiple ones on the landscape, all just visually spectacular. 

One of many spires!

A plateau

A basalt wall raising suddenly from the desert floor!

Another massive uplift in the middle of the desert!

This was named Mexican Hat and was near a town of same name!

Remember as you look at these that the pics don't really do it justice!  We will drive back thru Monument Valley at some future point and stop to learn more and see more next time!!  A beautiful place in the beautiful West!  BTW - it was the background in many of the old Western movies since the early days of movie making!  John Wayne loved the area and made a number of movies here!


Always at home no matter where we are!

Ready to Hit the Road Again

We left beautiful Patagonia AZ and moved up to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson to await the arrival of my sister and brother-in-law from FL in their RV.  They are planning on traveling with us some this summer.  Davis-Monthan AFB has a great Famcamp and we enjoy our stays there.  Spots are well spaced and management is consistent in implementing the rules and always friendly and helpful.  No wonder they win awards every year!

Also at Davis-Monthan is a well arranged and maintained air park with warbirds on display from bygone years. I frequently walk through the airpark on my daily walk and enjoy it every time.  Of course seeing warbirds I worked on being classified as "heritage" makes me wonder what I am!!

Whenever I see a B-52 I always send a pic to Frank Beck my AF buddy to verify it is one of his girl friends that he flew.  He always likes to know their status and reports back when and where he flew with her.

#0659 one of Frank's girlfriends

Undergoing some routine maintenance in Mar 2012

I enjoyed visiting with her and updating her on Frank's current location and status when ever we are at Davis Monthan.  In Nov 2011 she was doing great, in March when I first saw her from afar she didn't quite look right, but when I got close I determined she was undergoing some routine maintanance and her tall tail was laying on the ground - no wonder she didn't look "right" from afar.  Her tall distinctive tail was laying on the ground!  How demoralizing can that be

A tailless #0659!!

Well when we returned to Davis-Monthan in late May I found she had been abducted! Gone! All traces of her beautiful body were removed probably by some nefarious crew working under covert conditions.  I reported it to Frank and he took appropriate actions.  We will get to the bottom of this crime!

#0659's former place of honor - even her name has been stripped from the plague!

Here are some of her friends that are mourning her loss, but proudly carry on the tradition of warbirds on display!

F-4 proudly displaying the stars of MIG's she shot down!

F-105, a workhorse over North Vietnam

A-10, the dreaded tank killer of  desert combat

C-130, it just keeps on hauling!

OV-10, a FAC of Vietnam era

So Marla & Al arrived and we spent  a few days wrapping up affairs at Davis-Monthan and we hit the road headed north.  Our first night was going to be in Flagstaff and then on to Moab, UT to see Arches and Canyonland National Parks.

The family caravan formed up behind the Wagon Mistresses, BJ & Marla. 

Always at home, no matter where we are!!

A New RV!

You may have heard we were contemplating a new RV this year!  Well we found one that, while not perfect, has some nice features!  See pic below as BJ was admiring it!  Note it has residential style refrigerator, non-stacked washer and dryer.  And look at the storage space in the china cabinet!  And, have you ever seen such magnificent windows!  Note the comfortable lounge chair and all the prebuilt storage space for other stuff!  And, lots of padding for when we are moving down the road. 

A minor problem is the lack of wheels or motor, steering would be problematic also!

 

Always at home no matter where we are!!