We also learned to look at
places before we go in to find out if we feel comfortable with the
Covid prevention steps inside.
Utah
to me is where all the great National Parks are clustered. Zion,
Bryce Canyon, Arches and many more are in the south and east of the
state. We have visited lots of them and got burned out with the
crowds of tourists.
We
have to travel North to get to South Dakota and decided to travel up
the far eastern side of Utah in the area known as The Four Corners.
It's name comes from the point where 4 states touch. I think this is
the only place in the US that this happens.
We
picked the small town of Blanding, because it is between Monument Valley
and Valley of the Gods, two magnificent geological areas. It is also
in an area where the ancient tribes lived and their traces are still
here.
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| Pueblo ruins in Blanding |
Right
in Blanding is a Pueblo ruin that dates back perhaps 2000 years. We
learned that the pueblos are built on high ground that allows distant
views across the landscape which adds to their beauty today.
 |
| Twin Rocks in Bluff UT |
 |
| Bluff Fort |
 |
| Tools of the pioneers |
Down
the road in Bluff we explored the fort built by the Mormons then the
petroglyphs in the cliffs at Sand Island nearby.
We
had wanted to explore Monument Valley in depth but it is on the
Navajo Nation property and they have closed it due to covid.
Instead
we visited Natural Bridges NP on our way to an area called Valley of
the Gods.
 |
| Hard to see the rock art but when you see it it suddenly appears everywhere |
Access,
we read in the brochures, was possible to vehicles with high ground
clearance. Clearly the Miata being a sports car didn’t fit that
description, but we figured if it got too bad we could turn around.
 |
| Gravel roads down to Valley Of The Gods |
 |
| Amazing geological formatios |
 |
| Huge formations |
It
was quite exciting in that the road was 28 miles of dirt and rocks
but we only ground the bottom of the car once and the Miata has metal
plates over all the vital parts underneath. We got a few stares from
big SUV’s coming the other way!
 |
| Newspaper Rock North of Blanding has very clear Petroglyphs |
 |
| Natural Bridge NM also Near Blanding |
It
really was worth the time though and the scenery was incredible.
As
we had a week we did some exploring in depth and then moved on to
Vernal
Utah where we have been before and like. LINK
Vernal
was one of early full-timing stops way back in 2015 when we towing the
Fiesta with the Rexhall.
We stopped at the same CG Fossil Valley RV
Park. It was very quiet when we arrived and the manager welcomed us
with open arms, showing us the sites we could get a satellite signal
at (Tall trees being a problem). He also told us about some local
events.
 |
| The friendly RV Park Owner |
 |
| Sheep Canyon |
The local theater group were performing South Pacific at an
outdoor venue which sounded intriguing. We do enjoy theater and this
sounded like we could enjoy it in safety as they had seats well
separated from other theater goers and it was open air.
 |
| The Miata at the Car Show |
 |
| Some sketches I did |
The
other event was a car show that was free to enter and included dinner
and a free T Shirt! Heck we would even wash the Miata for that! We
had a great drive around Sheep Canyon and the geological scenic loop
before arriving at the show. There were tons of cars of all kinds and
I sat and sketched some. Kids were seemingly fascinated by a car with
no roof and I had a lot of fun demonstrating how the soft top went up
and down.
 |
| The free T Shirt |
Vernal
is a small town but has a great atmosphere. The Heritage center was
open an interesting but more importantly so where the THREE breweries! There is a
nice Elks Lodge too and they had a dart board so Barbara and I
enjoyed a couple of games after a nice chicken dinner there.
The
CG owner mentioned the business next door who makes vinyl
signs. One of the things I have been meaning to do is get some new
Monaco insignia's made to replaced the ones on the coach that have
missing letters. After an hour or two getting the fonts right they
had them printed and with a mere 4 hours of work removing all the
glue left from the old ones, then new insignia were installed! Not
perfect but a lot better than the old ones.
And
suddenly it was time to move on. What a fun couple of weeks this has
been.
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