Mark: WOW! Day four was one for the books. We started the day in Cortez, Colorado and took a short drive to Four Corners Tribal Park. This monument was just what you would expect, an elaborate marker in the middle of, well, four states. We took the photos everyone takes and the girls did some souvenir shopping. 30 minutes was plenty of time for our visit. All in all this was pretty cool, and we were glad we stopped.
Our next stop was Monument Valley Tribal Park. This park has been the backdrop for hundreds of movies and commercials. Upon entering, the clerk at the entry station stated the loop drive through the park was rough and would take about 1.5 hours to drive the 17-mile loop. I knew this from the reviews so we proceeded to the visitor center to shop for more souvenirs - I think we'll need to start shipping things home or we'll soon run out of room in our luggage. After shopping we started the loop drive through the park. This is where the WOW comment comes from. Saying the drive was rough was a massive understatement. This was by far the worst road I've ever travelled. Extremely bumpy, uneven, soft sand, and deep washboarding. It was slow going and nerve-racking but we made it through with three huge sighs of relief. Despite these obstacles, Monument Valley was a beautiful park with tall redrock stone structures, bright blue skies, and 80 degree temps. If I had to do it again I would have paid for the tour and saved the wear and tear on the rental car.
We had two more stops which were both quick overlooks. First was Goosenecks State Park in Utah. This was easy to get to and had an amazing view of a tight bend in the San Juan River 1000 feet below the overlook. Not much else to do here as the park is very small. Our last stop, Muley Point was only five miles away as the crow flies but took about 50 minutes to get to. About halfway through the 16 mile drive we neared a massive cliff. Alli and I were trying to decide if the road was going around to the left or right. Neither. Hidden from view was a gravel road that zig-zagged up the cliff. What a drive, tremendous views at every turn. What we didn't know was the last five miles was just as rough as the road at Monument Valley. The washboarding was even deeper and required us to drive about 2 MPH in some places. The view at the end was breathtaking with a nice cool breeze as well. The photo shows Alli straddling a one-foot gap in the rock which funneled the breeze out the top where Alli stated it was quite refreshing on her lady parts. Five miles back on the rough gravel road and then more sighs of relief as we arrived at the pavement. Another 1.5 hours to our hotel in Monticello which was nicer than we expected. Pizza tonight!
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