Off to New Mexico we go

It's 8:45 am and we are headed to New Mexico. It was a nice stay here in Monument Valley. We have a good amount of red dirt that I'm quite sure will probably make it all the way back to Ohio! The rock formations are amazing and the colors vibrant. It is hot here reaching well into the 90's each day. We went thru part of Monument Valley yesterday. I'm not sure the boys appreciated the beauty of the monuments but they went, they saw, we left. Next to the campground are huge rocks to climb, and climb they did - for hours each day! These are the same rocks that Stephanie, Amanda and Brandon climbed years ago. Pretty cool! We stopped at a few of the roadside stands where the Native Americans sell jewelry and pottery. We spoke with a few of the people selling items and asked about how and where they lived. One fella, Bert, told us he lived on the reservation and had all his life except for a tour he did in Iraq with the US Army. He said his Grandfather was one of the "code talkers" with the Marines in WWII. We pulled the boys around so they could hear what he was saying as he spoke about living out here without running water and how they had to haul the water back to their property. They ran generators for electricity and that yes, he did have a dvd player. He said he liked the heat and if you want to know what hot is you should experience Iraq as it is 140 degrees! I think seeing how they live here and the poverty level made an impression on these kids, at least for a few moments. It isn't unusual to see wild horses, cows or dogs from the road. We actually came upon a Female dog and 4 pups crossing the road at one point. Where we stayed was a place called Goulding which is named after a couple, Harry and Mike (Mike being the wife) Goulding. They came out here and traded with the Indians and established a Trading Post. Eventually they had the idea to approach Hollywood to use Monument Valley for a movie set. Director John Ford made many movies here and John Wayne starred in most of them. Behind the trading post they have a museum with some of the items from that time period as well as some movies playing with the monuments in the background. In a lot of the movies Ford would use Native Americans from here to play roles as needed. It's pretty cool to know you are standing where those movies took place! Other movies have been made here such as Back to Future III, The Eiger Connection, Thelma and Louise, Vacation with Chevy Chase and more. It will be nice to watch these movies with a whole new appreciation of where they were filmed.
We are going to Four Corners Monument which is where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado all come together. Should be a nice photo opportunity to add to our collection. I'll work on the video of Monument Valley while driving this afternoon and hopefully get it posted tonight.
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