We wound up rending a two bedroom apartment... and the apartment was much worse for the wear...
Tom Reese wrote: > A while back, I asked for advice about Monument Valley for a trip I was > planning. For those who might consider a visit down there, I offer the > following: > > There are two campgrounds and neither one is great. The one in the tribal > park is more primitive than the one at Gouldings. We wound up rending a two > bedroom apartment while we were there. It was expensive but we had a kitchen > and saved some money by cooking our own meals. There is a grocery store and > gas station at Gouldings. > > You can see some of the rock formations from the road but there is a lot of > "stuff" intruding into those shots and you'll have to work to get your photos > without having trailers, pick-ups etc in the frame. > > There is a road that winds through the Monument Valley (admission fee). It's > rough...I was on my 600 lb motorcycle and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I > almost got stuck in the sand a couple times and I hit bottom a bunch. The > bike did allow me to stop in places I couldn't have in a car because I could > stop in small spots off the road where a car would block traffic. > > We rode the tour bus through the park later in the afternoon. The bus goes > where cars are not permitted (for good reason - some spots were deep sand > that no car could get through). We took the regular tour bus instead of > hiring a guide for a personal tour. It was cheaper but the bus didn't always > stop where I wanted it to stop. It made me glad I rode through by myself > earlier. > > We took the 4:00 tour bus to take advantage of a lower sun in the sky. We > were there in mid September and the light was pretty good at that time of > day. The tour bus stops were long enough that I had time to walk around and > pick my spots then set up my equipment without feeling rushed. > > Gouldings Lodge has a museum in an old trading post with some interesting > stuff about the Navajos and all the movies that were filmed in Monument > Valley including some artifacts. They show a John Wayne film from Monument > Valley every night in a small theater. > > We had a good time and it was a worthwhile stop on our tour since we were > going through there anyway. I don't know that it's worth a visit by I > definitely recommend it in combination with the National Parks that are > within a day's drive. > > > > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
