Monument Valley, UT
Christian November 25th, 2009
The drive to Monument Valley was long and boring. However, when we got closer to it, we started to see the buttes looming in the distance. We paid the entry fee for the park and checked into “The View” hotel. It definitly lived up to its name. Looking out of our balcony, we had the most amazing view of the landscape that defined classic Western Films. It was very cool. We relaxed for a bit, and then headed out to explore the hotel. The hotel was really nice and had sweeping views of the park. We found out that there was a few ways to see the park. One was to complete a hike in the heat around West Mittens Butte, another was on a guided tour in the back of a pickup truck, or you could take your own car on the unpaved self drive loop. Since we spent the extra $22 a day on the extra rental insurance, we figured what the hell and decided on venturing out on the 17 mile loop around the park. At first we were stuck behind a huge truck that for some reason was going under 5 miles per hour. As soon as they turned off to the lookout, us and the line of 5 cars that built up behind the truck sped past. The views when you descended down to the floor were amazing. We made sure we left the lookouts before the truck had passed us again, but luckily they kept up their under 5 miles per hour speed and we were way ahead and had tons of time at each of the lookout points. The road was in bad shape at some points with pot holes in the dirt that could easily break an axle on the PT Cruiser, so we made sure we were on the lookout for them. Monument Valley is so iconic and the viewpoints are truly amazing. We made tons of corny jokes about the “buttes” along the way. One of the things that we noticed along the drive was how terrible foreigners are at driving. They had no idea what they were doing and it was comical at times. At the one view point I stopped hard and sand was piled half way up the front tire, for a minute we thought we were going to be stuck, but luckily we made it out with no troubles. As you go from viewpoint to viewpoint, you begin to notice something in common with them. Each is filled with Native Americans selling trinkets at tables with their 4×4s parked behind them. At least they weren’t pushing you to buy anything, but it did take away from the scenery a bit.
All in all, I think that choosing the self drive was the best decision. The tourists in the back of the pickup trucks were engulfed in sand and dust clouds and bumping around like rag dolls, at least we had some protection from the elements inside the car. As we were ending the self drive loop, the sun was setting and really brought out some amazing colors in the buttes. We stopped for a while and took some photos along with a bunch of other people. We wanted to get back to the hotel before it got dark, so we started back. The last part of the drive is up a steep, sandy, pot hole filled hill. We saw tons of cars struggling up the hill and almost getting stuck. Our solution was to wait for a bit until the hill was clear and push the petal to the metal and hope for the best. The plan was working out great, that is until we had a decisive moment. There was sand that was a couple of feet deep to the left and a pot hole the size of a small crater to the right. Do we get stuck in the sand, or hit the mega pot hole at 20 mph? We opted for the pot hole. I guess it worked out. First the driver side front dropped deep into the abyss with a loud bang, then it was almost like there was a stick of dynamite below us as we bounced up and bottomed out again. It made such a loud terrible noise. We thought for sure the engine fell out or that a couple of the tires popped off. Luckily, neither happened and the car seemed to be okay as we continued up the hill back to the hotel. We parked the car, covered with a thick layer of dirt on it, and hoped it would start in the morning.
That night, we enjoyed the view from our balcony, and drank some of the rum that we had bought on the way to the Grand Canyon. Casey was playing bartender and she made the drinks way to strong. Around 9ish we wandered down to the cafe and bought a couple of sandwiches and brought them back to the room to devour. Both of us passed out. Casey was up not feeling so hot around 3 AM, and woke me up. I am glad that she did. The view of the stars from our room was simply amazing. You could see so many stars twinkling in the black sky. I tried to take some photos, but I was still feeling the rum a bit and they did not come out to well. My mouth was the driest it has ever been, so I made the pilgrimage out to the car to grab the gallon of water and some aspirin for Casey. The water was heavenly as I gulped down 1/3 of the gallon jug. Casey fell asleep a while before me, and I came back in forgetting to shut the balcony door. Luckily not too many bugs or scorpions made it into our room. The next morning, I woke up for sunrise. The colors over the landscape were striking, with the sun rising right behind the buttes.
I went back to snooze for a bit more and when we woke up a bit later, we both felt much better. We spent the morning before the drive to Page, Az sitting out on our balcony and enjoying the view. It was sad to say goodbye to our nice room with the most amazing view, but it was time to be on the move again…
- Southwest USA
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