Finally, famously Monumental

Yes, I'm finishing up my series of Four Corners posts with the area's most famous scenery, that I've hinted at, perhaps rather clumsily, in some previous posts.

We finished up the day we got off the river, after our quick trip to the Goosenecks, with an excursion south for dinner, into Arizona and back to the Navajo Nation. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is the home of the iconic rock features you see above, familiar from so many movies (I knew the ever-helpful Wikipedia would have a listing!).

As you might have gathered from some of my other photos, you can see these unmistakable landmarks for miles around. Here's a sampling of nearby scenery with MV in the distance...

peering over the horizon at Goosenecks State Park

a fellow tourist took this shot for us at Muley Point

...and here's a look from one of the many scenic pull-outs along the road, getting closer to John Ford country...

We didn't really plan it this way, but it turned out that we were at the Park's main lodge (aptly named The View) at an absolutely perfect time: sunset.

the blogger soaks up scenery from a favorite movie

view from The View's soup/salad station

The food was good, too! And the view of the fading sunset on those rocks more than made up for the fact that they don't serve wine, even with food, at any Navajo Nation establishment.

The lodge also has a nice gift shop, with some really gorgeous Navajo jewelry, pottery, and textiles that was lots of fun to ogle, even though buying anything (other than a few souvenirs) was 'way beyond our budget. The whole operation was really top-shelf, with lots of friendly and helpful young Navajo service people around.

The mix of tourists was also interesting. As we had found at Canyon de Chelly, and were to see at the other stops we made over the next few days, there are lots of Europeans drawn to the iconic wide-open spaces of the Four Corners. We're used to Spanish being the second-most common language you hear, but on this trip it was German!

It would be really sweet to spend a night or two here, but you have to plan very far ahead; they fill up regularly a year out. 

That will have to wait for a future trip, as will the guided driving trips that take you really close to those wonderful MV rocks.

What a wonderful part of our wonderful country this is! We thoroughly enjoyed our time here and hope to return some day and catch the many sites that we missed on this go-round.