Travel to Bluff and Valley of the Gods

Sunday, October 20
(we've had no internet for a few days so I'm behind in the blog posts)

Moving day! we left Thompson Springs and head south down Hwy 191 toward Moab. There was a continual stream of cars trucks and RV's heading north. I guess the weekend in Moab was over. Sure glad we were heading south. Traffic was very light.

As we climbed higher into the San Juan Abojo Mountains and the town of Monticello we started to see snow on the side of the road, the bushes and cars. Thankfully the temperature was well above freezing and the road was bare. I thought we left this nonsense back in Alberta!

We arrived in Bluff and the Cottonwood RV Park early afternoon so after setting up we headed out of town to the Valley of the Gods. The road was in decent shape except for a few rough spots. This is BLM land and a number of RV's were making use of the numerous side roads to camp.

Pretty nice RV park. Lots of Cottonwood trees and plenty of space.

We're happy with this site.

The road southeast to Valley of the Gods

Monument Valley in the distance.

Beautiful country. Very colorful.

A 17 mile road through the valley.

Quite a few boondockers.

What a beautiful drive! So many shapes in the stone. Everyone will see something different but here were some of our favorites.

Seven Sailors

They call it Battleship Rock. I'm seeing a Spanish Galleon without the masts.

Sitting Hen

Not sure about this one. It might be Rooster Rock......but I don't see it.

DeGaulle and his men.

Not a bad road. Passable by cars and SUV's. Not busy.

Castle Butte.

Balanced Rock.

Nearly at the end. See that cliff ahead? Well, stay tuned. We're gonna climb that......with the truck of course!

After meeting up with Hwy 261 we headed south a short way and turned toward Goosenecks State Park. For $5 entry fee you can spend time gazing down a thousand feet to the San Juan River as it snakes back and forth on it's way toward Lake Powell.

Only about 1000 feet down to the River.

Even with my widest angle lens I still can't get the fourth leg of the River into the frame.

The beautiful Navajo Tapestry. 

We headed back to Bluff to refuel truck and ourselves. At least our dinner cost less than the trucks! Diesel was $3.44/gallon. The most expensive we have seen since entering the US.

The sunset glow on the rocks behind the campground. The San Juan River runs just below it.

Tomorrow, Monday, we head to Monument Valley. Another place we have never seen.

.....and that was Our View From Here!