May 2 Canyon de Chelle to Grand Canyon

Pleasant cold and windy morning but sunny. It is one of those days you are just glad to be alive and travelling. Took IR (Indian Road) 59 north to 160 to 191 to Bluff. Stopped and toured the recreated fort and was reminded of my mom. She was a VA tourism department host for many years and the gentleman who showed us around reminded me of her. From Bluff we backtracked a bit to get to 163 west. We tried the Valley of the Gods Road but recent rain and a lot of mud made us hesitate. I think valor and common sense won this time. Skipping that also meant skipping Moki dugway but we had been told in Bluff that the conditions there were even worse. Next time?

 Turned off of 163 to 261 and then into Gooseneck State park on SR316. What a geological marvel this is! The San Juan River has snaked around in bends like an old fashioned piece of ribbon candy. We walked two miles around the rim of the convoluted canyon. There are free camping spaces there but to reach them you would have to drive over a very sharp rock field. Camping on the rim of that canyon would be awesome but only if you had a tire company truck with you.

route 163 to 160 through Monument Valley which is always interesting. Stopped at a Navaho Cafe for lunch and had their version of a hamburger on frybread. Awful! At Tuba city we took 89 to Cameron AZ and then 64, East Rim Drive, into Grand Canyon National Park.

Gorgeous views, step rise in altitude. We camped for the night in Desert View campground for $6. There are 50 sites and about half of them were full. Took us a while to find one that was wide enough for both slide outs and not hit the juniper trees. Had fun talking to a TC popup couple from Colorado who gave us a few more places to go see. Utter silence with coal black sky and a bazillion stars made a good night.