7 March

After the alarm went off at 5:45, I cribbed until 6 and then got up, got ready for breakfast, went down to have that, packed the car and then finally checked out just after 7:40. I headed off south, looking though the town of Moab as I went, as I hadn’t been through before.
South of the town was “The Hole in the Wall”, a house but now a commercial establishment built into (or excavated out from) the sandstone. It is billed as unique, but it wasn’t open as I went past so I didn’t go in to compare it to Coober Pedy.
Going further south I arrived in Blanding. It seemed an innocuous little town and I wasn’t there long, but it stole my heart because in the Visitors Centre I was given a “travellers pack” which included toiletry items and useful things like a rubbish bag. It was great. Then I filled up with petrol – pulled the pump out, filled the car and went and paid at the desk. People who are caring for other people.
About an hour later I arrived at Natural Bridges National Monument. On the way I had seen a distance sign in kilometres so I asked the (new) ranger. She couldn’t answer, but neither could the experienced ranger. I did get good information and went into the park. The bridges were visible from the points and so was an old Indian settlement. The walks were easy and spot on for descriptions. I finally had to leave, but the words of the ranger echoed for me: it’s beautiful and for so much time there are so few here.
I set off on a scenic road south. I had already had a glimpse of the mesas in Monument Valley on my way into the park and saw a few more glimpses on the way down. Parts of the road had been labelled as having a “dangerous gravel surface, winding with switchbacks and very steep grades”. I found it was very similar to mountain country roads, but far better in every aspect including width. It certainly was better than the Western Explorer in Tasmania. Then on the plain the mesas came into view. I stopped to take photos at different places and came across two families stopped and playing ball. Some things remain the same!
When I arrived at Monument Valley, I went straight to the motel (Gouldings) and enquired about accommodation and tours. The room cost was reasonable, so I took it. The tour started out at 2:30 so in the meantime I went to the store and got some rolls and cheese for lunch, and some fruit. I got my room ready and had that, then went down for the tour. It was in raised seats in the back of a large Chevrolet 4WD. The guide and driver, Anna, was a Navaho Indian and gave a good commentary along the way. We stopped at the same points as others driving themselves, but then went into tribal lands and met an older woman who showed how to weave traditional rugs. We looked through traditional housing and saw other features including arches and paintings. Along the way I met a retired couple from Austin TX, a son (about my age) and his father from Chicago and an English family (Adrian, Fran, Rebecca and Tom) from Somerset. By the time we were back at the motel it was 6 and I downloaded my photos and had a drink. After starting the usual computer work, I met Tom (from Chicago) and his father in the theatre where a short DVD on the history of the establishment here and the use of Monument Valley was playing. We had some tea while comparing road safety in our respective countries and had to agree that both have some things right and some things wrong, but no-one has everything right.
We all went to see a John Wayne movie (Stagecoach) which was shot on location here. Now it seemed funny, because it was obvious that the stagecoach was just going in circles (we all recognised the scenery immediately). After an hour I left to finish my computer work and get to sleep.