Road Trip Day 9 - Bluff Utah to Flagstaff Arizona

Bluff Utah view from Desert Rose Inn

Cabin at Bluff Fort

First thing when I looked out of the window of the room at the Desert Rose Inn, I saw this beautiful view.  I decided to spend a bit of time in Bluff to check out some of the history there. First stop was Bluff Fort.  The fort was built by Mormon settlers after a grueling wagon train trip through what they called the Hole in the Rock Trail.  They literally had to carve the rocks out to get the wagons through to the San Juan River area where they were to settle.  Instead of a six week trip, it took them six months to get there!

The fort has some of the original cabins and a very nice reproduction of other cabins showing how the fort was arranged and how the people lived.  Again, I am so very thankful that I was born into an age of convenience and comfort!  But... there were quilts on the beds!

The next stop there in Bluff was to the Sand Island Petroglyphs.  This is a huge sandstone wall that has petroglyphs from 3000 years ago.  Diana took me there in the evening and I had trouble seeing the drawings on the stone so decided to try in the morning.  I must confess that no matter how hard I try, I cannot see the drawings on this stone.  Sure wish they had used a little more contrast.  Maybe it is my old eyes.

Next stop was Monument Valley.  The drive there was spectacular.  The drivers out there on the desert are crazy, though.  There are some people in cars who are in such a big hurry that they do not care if it is a double solid line, they try to pass anyway.  Lots of very stupid drivers out there.  I remember driving through southern Utah many years ago and thought it was Monument Valley but it was just the beautiful rock formations of the desert.  The actual Monument Valley is located on Indian land and is where John Wayne filmed his western movies.  The fee to see the museum, information center and drive the loop is $20 per car.  I almost turned around but decided I had come this far, I had to do it.

Three Sisters

Oh my!  Again, I thought this would be a quick drive through with lots of photo ops.  It is not a quick drive through!  There is a dirt road that loops through the valley around and among these beautiful rock formations that is about 10 miles long.  It is not a trip for the timid driver or anyone who wants to keep their car clean!

Left mitten

The pictures do not do it justice.
The Indians consider this area to be a sacred place and I can totally see why.  It is amazing!

It was time to head down to Flagstaff to meet my goal of not driving after the sun goes down.  There was absolutely no cellular signal in this area of the country.  Since I rely heavily on my GPS and cell phone to guide me, it was kind of a guess for a while.  My total lack of a sense of direction can be quite a handicap at times.  Well it is not a total lack.  If it feels like I am traveling north, chances are I am really going south.  So I do have a sense of direction - it is just wrong almost all the time!

Anyway, the drive to Flagstaff was about 170 miles through more desert and stupid drivers.  At one point I looked out and saw what I thought was dust being kicked up from a truck out on a dirt road.  Not!  It was a dust storm!  The sand and dust were blowing across the road and it was so thick, I could not see more than 20 yards in front of me.  Hurdling along at 65 mph it was very scary.  This lasted about a mile then it started to rain!  Oh my, is my car ever a mess!

Flagstaff is a beautiful city located at about 7,000' elevation in a Ponderosa Pine forest.  Reminds me a lot of Lake Tahoe area.  By the time I got to my hotel, I was ready for a very big glass of wine!  The Olive Garden was just next door and they have wine!!  All was well!

Another day in the Epic Road Trip Adventure!  And, I got the binding sewn down on the Seven Brothers Log Cabin quilt!  Life is good!

Day 10 will take me to Sedona Arizona just south of Flagstaff and to the Meteor Crater just to the east of town.  Then I will head toward Las Vegas and see what I can find on the way.

Westward ho!