First of all as a note on our stay in Monument Valley: Each and every Navajo that we spoke to at any length talked about the benefits of education of their young people and how they push higher education for them. Very impressive. We were surprised at the number of rental RV's we saw...at least 60%25 that we saw in this area were rental, and the number of them that we saw was astonishing. Also, the number of folks traveling in our beautiful south west from other countries was impressive. We could walk around the campground and it was like a mini United Nations with all the languages and accents. They have to be a huge blessing for the economy out here. All that we talked to were very friendly and happy to be visiting our country.

We pulled out of camp at 8:30 with the temperature already at 70 degrees . There were very high thin clouds...a beautiful sunny day. What John thought was the highlight of his day (stay tuned to find out why that was NOT the case!!) was our stop at Mile Marker 13 heading towards Mexican Hat, Utah. This was the spot where, in the movie "Forrest Gump", Forrest suddenly stopped, said he had run as far as he needed to, and turned around. That scene was filmed at this point and Tom Hanks was actually there, not superimposed in a studio. There was a huge number of people there, standing in the road, blocking the small amount of traffic, and taking pictures all over the place! What fun! We joined into the spirit of revelry...John actually thought that meant HE could turn around and head home...boy was HE wrong!!

The scenery was most interesting as we traveled on from that point...lots of steep grades--10 %25 and 8%25 for many miles. We came through Mexican Hat where we saw Mexican Hat Rock which was by far the most interesting thing there! Our road wended its way through canyon lands and we saw so many stunning views and are so sorry we can share only a minuscule few . Driving through Bluff City, Utah, we took a shot of the rocky outcrop named Navajo Twins. From there we pulled up onto the high desert environment of  White Mesa. The vegetation there was low and dry looking. The road was excellent and very smooth riding which The Big Muf appreciated very much. At this point we were in the Mountain Ute Nation reservation.

At 10:55 we turned on to Utah Highway 95, heading now in the general direction of Capital Reef National Park. We have never been to that park, and we have never traveled on this road which was a big high point for us! Untraveled or explored territory! Yay for us!! It turned out that this particular road was the major highlight of the day after all, much eclipsing our fun stop at Forrest Gump's famous turn around spot. Before the day was over, we actually drove over 125 miles on a road with NO FACILITIES OR SERVICES!!! We have been on roads in Alaska with more on them than that. This is not being disparaging--we were just amazed, especially since the drive turned out to be the most beautiful and with the most astounding scenery that we think we have ever driven on period ...and we have been in all fifty states and in most of Canada. Can't say enough about it...but I will try to share with pictures and videos.

Not too long after we got on Hwy 95 we pulled off and drove into Natural Bridges National Monument taking Pat M's advice on keeping our eyes open for wonders. This was a real treat as we tooled along the 9 mile loop road. This park contains three magnificent bridges sculpted from stone by water. Millions of years ago these sandstones were deposited and then slowly uplifted as part of the Colorado Plateau. Erosion gradually formed today's canyons and landscapes. Natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water. Arches are formed by other erosional forces--mainly frost action and seeping moisture--that also enlarge natural bridges once stream erosion forms them. (That is now the end of your geology lesson for the day!!)

We enjoyed our drive through the park. There were not too many other folks there so it was like a private park tour . By the way, we did see the extremely rare and unusual "Pay Phone'us". It was even in working order! We had not spied one of these things in years and had thought that they were extinct! You just never know what you will see when you keep your eyes open for wonders! Thanks Pat!

The park was totally different from any landscape we have ever seen...it is a huge area crisscrossed by many sandstone canyons. The ground that we looked down on was rock, striated I am sure by wind blowing the ever present sand along it. Very surreal. We also met a couple, Eileen and Bob, who were making a tour with their RR Speeder which was an old RR (quite small) car that the railroads used to use to check the tracks. The RR's no longer use this particular piece of equipment, so many folks have been buying them up, and there are actually clubs that travel all over the place riding on both active and inactive tracks. If they go on an active track they have to be certified and a regular employee of a RR has to be with the group . Learn something new everyday I guess.

From Natural Bridges we continued on our journey driving through amazing ares of buttes, mesas, and canyons. We saw a most impressive rock formation on our way labeled "Jacob's Chair" and immediately thought of our friend Jacob A.

Now if you had asked us this morning if we had an excellent feel for south eastern Utah, we would have answered with a resounding, YES!" Well, we could not have been more wrong. Highway 95 was ten times better a road than we had expected and ten times prettier! It is rated by the state of Utah as a Scenic Byway, and that was a VAST understatement. We really don't understand why almost all of the area that this road drives through is not a National Park. Really. If you ever get the chance to travel it, do not pass Go, and do not collect $200! It is that good. Lora, you have to add this to your bucket list. We finally were just about on sensory overload and I quit taking pictures as there truly was just no way to do the area justice. 

Where we have been today would make Monument Valley look like downtown NYC as far as the number of people we saw and the lack of facilities and houses. As I stated above, we have never been on a road further from ANY facilities or more beautiful.

At 4:20 we pulled into Duke's Slickrock Grill and Campground. Really, that is it's name! The site is level, the electric is good, we have some very good scenery, and I will make a determination on the quality of WIFI when I try to post this blog. Again, if there isn't enough juice to get out the pictures and videos, I will try them at a later date and then send out a notice again. Keep your fingers crossed!

We drove 125 miles today on a new to us road with NO services. We drove 207 miles total.