We returned to Phoenix after our trip to Cancun, spent the night in our RV that was parked in the vacant lot next to my brother’s house.
Next morning, I headed to do some laundry while Deane was getting the RV
ready. As I came back with the
last load, Deane informed me the slide would not come in, it was stuck in the out position.....AGAIN. To say frustration was the word of the
day would be an understatement.
First off, we called Alfateers
and they were surprised to say the least.
Gave Deane some suggestions and out he went. He crawled up into the basement, wrench in
hand, putting his body in unnatural positions to try and torque the slide out manually.
After an hour, Deane was more than frustrated. He needed to have
a 1/2inch ratchet which we did not have, so off to Lowe’s I went. By the time I got back he had the slide
in. HOW DID HE DO IT SO QUICKLY???? Well......., at the rally one of the things the Alfateers
told us to do when we were parked for any length of time, was turn off the
main switch for the electrical systems. Sooooooo,
we followed their advice and since it was the first time we'd flipped that
switch, we had forgotten. While I was at Lowes, he realized the switch was off and when he turned it on, the slide slid
right in! PHEW!!!
Finally on the road around 11am and headed north to Winslow Az. Arrived in Winslow about 4pm and headed out to find the 'Standing on the
Corner park' so we could stand on the corner and say we had been there. Winslow is a sad little town since Route 66 by-passed the town and became Interstate
40.
There was not much more to see after we took the pictures we wanted, and
opted to go about 20 miles west to the Meteor Crater and spend the night at the Meteor RV Park. http://www.meteorcrater.com/ so we could tour it the next day.
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| Meteor Crater |
This is one BIG hole! About 60,000 years ago, a meteor hit earth here in the Arizona desert. It is not the largest meteor hit this planet has received, but it is the best
preserved. It is almost a mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference, and 550ft deep. Because this crater is so well preserved, NASA has used it when training our astronauts.
After lunch back in the RV, we headed north to our next destination,
Monument Valley. The literature calls
this place the 8th wonder of the world, and we have to agree it is
pretty amazing. The valley is all part
of the Navajo Indian reservation.
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| Monuments in Monument Valley |
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| Hidden Arch, above our RV site |
We stayed at the only RV resort in Monument Valley, Goulding's , and it is part of a hotel. The couple who built this place was responsible for getting Hollywood to shoot movies here. Many of John Waynes first movies were filmed here (along with other cowboy movies) and the place has a museum in his honor. John Wayne is one of Deane's favorites. I think he has seen every movie and knows all the dialogues. Because this area is all part of the Navajo Nation, there are only a couple of hiking trails. We did two small hikes, one where the trail head was in the RV park and led to the 'Hidden Arch". The second hike was up a short gorge.
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| skull arch |
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| Cliff dwelling |
To tour this valley, we opted for an all-day jeep/truck
tour. Took us into Mystery Valley where we saw a number of cliff dwellings where
the Anasazi Indians lived back around 1100 a.d., and of course the famed Monument Valley.
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| petroglyph |
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| The Mittens |
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Horses roam wild in the valley Blocking
our tour van |
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Deane taking a picture of
Wedding Ring Arch |
As you can see from the pictures, there is a lot of red dirt. The wind blows a lot and everything is generally covered in this red dust. After our tour, my hair was so thick with the dust, I could not run my fingers through it. A shower was the first thing on the agenda when we got home and the water ran red!
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| 800 year old ruins |
Another trip we did on our own was a 200 mile loop East to a Pueblo community some 800 years old called Hovenweep National Monument. It is part of the Canyon of the Ancients that covers an area from SW Colorado to Utah.
These ruins are impressive to see them still standing, allowing us to have a glimpse into the life early inhabitants of this area.
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| Collard Lizard who posed for us |
While we were walking the trail to view all of the ruins, we came across this beautiful blue Collared lizard who stopped to look at us and let us take his picture.
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| Mexican Hat Rock |
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| San Juan River Gooseneck |
Along the way to Hovenweep, we visited some other unique sites. One was Mexican Hat Rock. You have to wonder just how that top rock stays up there. We also stopped at Goosenecks State Park, where the San Juan River does a double horseshoe bend.
Our last stop of the day was at Four Corners..... where the corners of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet. Deane stood in Arizona and Utah,and I was in New Mexico and Colorado..... now that is a long distance relationship! We later learned that this 'spot' is not accurate. When the spot was originally designated, it was done using surveyor tools. Today, with the accuracy of GPS, the correct Four Corners, is about 6 miles away. LOL
Last night in Monument Valley, we flew kites. During the 5 days we have been here, the wind had blown every day. The day we decide to try and fly the kites, the wind dies! Was like this in Arizona too. But we did get enough wind gusts to get the kite up and get some great pictures.
We returned to Phoenix after our trip to Cancun, spent the night in our RV that was parked in the vacant lot next to my brother’s house.
Next morning, I headed to do some laundry while Deane was getting the RV
ready. As I came back with the
last load, Deane informed me the slide would not come in, it was stuck in the out position.....AGAIN. To say frustration was the word of the
day would be an understatement. 
Finally on the road around 11am and headed north to Winslow Az. Arrived in Winslow about 4pm and headed out to find the 'Standing on the
Corner park' so we could stand on the corner and say we had been there. Winslow is a sad little town since Route 66 by-passed the town and became Interstate
40. 
This is one BIG hole! About 60,000 years ago, a meteor hit earth here in the Arizona desert. It is not the largest meteor hit this planet has received, but it is the best
preserved. It is almost a mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference, and 550ft deep. Because this crater is so well preserved, NASA has used it when training our astronauts. 
We stayed at the only RV resort in Monument Valley, Goulding's , and it is part of a hotel. The couple who built this place was responsible for getting Hollywood to shoot movies here. Many of John Waynes first movies were filmed here (along with other cowboy movies) and the place has a museum in his honor. John Wayne is one of Deane's favorites. I think he has seen every movie and knows all the dialogues. Because this area is all part of the Navajo Nation, there are only a couple of hiking trails. We did two small hikes, one where the trail head was in the RV park and led to the 'Hidden Arch". The second hike was up a short gorge. 
Last night in Monument Valley, we flew kites. During the 5 days we have been here, the wind had blown every day. The day we decide to try and fly the kites, the wind dies! Was like this in Arizona too. But we did get enough wind gusts to get the kite up and get some great pictures.