The birthday boy pointing the way!
Dear Family & Friends,
Today we left Blanding, UT and I honestly didn’t expect much. I figured we just had to cover miles over desert to get home.
Thankfully I was wrong. We spent the day on back roads wandering back and forth between Utah and Arizona. We passed through the amazing Monument Valley and saw such dramatic land scapes. I really expected to see dinosaurs.
From what you can see it looks like the entire area was at one time a sea and over millions of years it eroded into geographic monuments to time.
We rode for about 2 hours and then we were ready for breakfast except we were in the middle of a vast valley with no sight of civilization. I jokingly asked Brian to find us a cafe for breakfast soon and we both laughed. The joke was on us because in a few miles we passed over a ridge and there was a large resort hotel/ restaurant in the middle of no where.
It turns out many movies are filmed out there and that is where the crews stay. Also tourists that want to explore Monument Valley stay there.
I could easily see the next Jurassic Park being filmed there. I am sure the ghosts of dinosaurs still roam there.
One place we stopped to take pictures was the exact spot where Forrest Gump was filmed running across the country.
Utah is a vast state and I would bet 99.9% of the state is vacant land. Where we were there were a few Indian settlements but it takes a hardy sole to survive out there.
Tonight we made it to St. George, Utah and it is Brian’s birthday so we out for a steak dinner. The place is a local well known restaurant and it did not disappoint. We both had the ribeye steak and it was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. A couple of more days and back on the diet..
A few more days and we should be home. What a great adventure. Close to 4000 miles of great riding!
Jason
Spectacular Monument Valley
Amazing views everywhere you look.
Some very lonely roads.. I am so glad our BMW. motorcycles are reliable!! A break down here would definitely be bad news
I could easily imagine this area being a sea at one time filled with wild pre-historic creatures!
Hi from Monument Valley. :)
This was the road you see in Forest Gump in the scene where he is running across the country.
Our fearless leader pointing the way. I think I had just asked him where a restaurant was since we hadn't had breakfast and he joking pointed over those hills. Ironically there was one there!
Amazingly out in the middle of no where ( I use that a lot to describe the entire state!) we found this restaurant tucked away in a giant rock cliff.
We stopped to view the Colorado River in this giant gorge.
That is the top of a huge dam with a lake on one side and the river on the other.
This was a long stairways down to the viewing area. It is just a hand rail place along these naturally occurring grooves. I wouldn't really call them steps.
That large twenty foot formation is petrified dinosaur poop.. ;)
A few minute after I took this shot a young man climbed over the railing and walked to the very edge then sat down so he could slide out further. At that point I walked away. I couldn't watch.
Traffic was stopped in both directions to let this SUPER WIDE load pass by!
BRIAN' BIRTHDAY DINNER!
French Onion soup covered in cheese.
A 16oz Ribeye steak with a butter wine sauce that was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten.
We both had the same dinner.
Only Brian had desert with a candle.
The look on his face screams "I hope Bev doesn't see this!". ;)
As we walked home after dinner we passed by this business. I am not sure what they are selling but I thought Utah was a conservative Morman state???
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