Monument Valley

Our fun ended suddenly in Monument Valley. We parked the RV at the historic Goulding Trading Post and RV Park and went for an afternoon drive to Mexican Hat. We picked up a Navajo hitch hiker and learned a lot about the area on our way to his house near Mexican Hat. Most of the rock formations in the valley are visible from the highway, US163. Rudy, our new Navajo friend, pointed out many of the formations and told us a bit about each. And, even he was excited when pointing out to us the place that Forrest Gump ended his long-distance run. :-)

After stopping for drinks in Mexican Hat and a sunset, self-guided tour through the Navajo Nation Monument Valley Tribal Park, we returned to find messages from my doctor. Results from the stress test I had taken before leaving were not perfect. It was late. He left his home number and that scared the crap out of Jane. She was sure it was bad news.

Since it was too late to return the call and poor connection on the cell phone, we waited until morning to contact the doctor. At least Jane did. I made a dawn return to Monument Valley. Jane called my (our) doctor and got the results. It was bad news. He said that if we chose to continue the trip that I should take it VERY easy. We made plans to continue the trip with no hiking and drive-by only photography. But, the next morning we decided it would be best to get this fixed. I'll be seeing the specialist next week for a procedure to improve blood flow. However, I did get the pictures I wanted before we departed. They are very cliche, but they are my cliche. :-) It was disappointing to walk into a gift shop and see post cards of all the photos I just took. LOL

Here's the cliche stuff:

This image is a Hogan. Hogans are typical Navajo dwellings. These are at the Tribal Park Visitor Centor. They are used for hogan life demonstrations for tourist. They are predominant however, throughout the Navajo Nation Reservation. I think that every house or mobile home within the reservation has a hogan beside it. I think they are religious as well as cultural. I know that the door always faces eastward to allow access for the spirits.

The image on the right was taken when Jane and I made our afternoon self-guided tour through the Tribal Park. It rained on us, leaving the dark clouds over a beautifully lit formation with the rainbow as a bonus. I have several of these, each of a different rock.

I nearly overslept the next morning. The sun was up before I made it to the park. This silhouette was taken from the parking lot of the Goulding Grocery Store. I had to stop twice more for "once in a lifetime" images; all available on postcards, of course. :-(

By the way, the lens flare was intentional -- the perfect touch to my "once in a lifetime" image. :-)

Most of the flare is illiminated from this silhouette, the one to the right. There is enough however, to separate the main subject from the harder foreground silhouette, a real-life hogan between the subject and my position. I think this may be my least cliche image in the set.

On this silhouette to the left, I used a slightly different flare technique to get the star effect of the sun peeking around the large butte. It worked but isn't as effective as it would have been on a smaller object. The large butte overwhelms the small fingers of the star. :-(

And finally, I was so excited to find the image of the dead tree to enhance this Monument Valley image in the soft, red morning light. You guessed it. It's on a postcard in the Goulding Gift Shop. :-)

As usual, you can see an enlarged image by clicking on the thumbnail.

For the family ... we're camped in Amarillo tonight. We'll be home Sunday and I will talk to the specialist on Monday or Tuesday. My family doctor said I would probably remain overnight after the procedure.

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