Abbey's Road

Yesterday morning Abbey and I left Navajo Lake State Park and headed for Utah. The wildflowers on the way, near Shiprock, were pretty spectacular. I took the short detour off the highway to see the Four Corners Monument. It was pretty underwhelming but it didn't take too much time. We ate our lunch at Sand Island BLM area. It was pretty hot and not especially scenic but Abbey got to cool off a little in the river. We probably should have waited til we hit the Valley of the Gods. That was pretty amazing. I was thinking of stopping and camping for the night on one of the many pulloffs, but decided to keep moving. I think the length limit for an RV must be 24' because I bottomed out on a few washes. But it was only twice so it didn't hurt much. The road was washboard in a lot of places so it definitely gave the RV a shake test. I think it came through alright but I haven't tried the TV or DVD player yet. Everything else is working and my pack job held up pretty good.

Next was the Moki Dugway, a series of steep, sharp switchbacks on a gravel road up the side of the Cedar Mesa. It climbs 1100 feet in 3 miles. Luckily I ignored the warnings against RVs (see picture) because it was incredible. And, it allowed me to get to Muley Point (down another washboard road) where I wanted to camp for the night ' my first night of boondocking (not camping in a park of some sort.) Now I feel like a real RVer. Muley Point overlooks a place called the Goosenecks of the San Juan River. It sits about 1000 ft. above the river, which is in a canyon complete with many S-turns, hence the name. The view is unbelievable. (OK, I'm running out of adjectives to describe the scenery.) Abbey had fun chasing rabbits and lizards while I checked out the view. I made a nice dinner from leftovers and watched the sun go down over the canyon with a glass of wine. Not a bad way to end the day even if it was a plastic glass. It is so quiet up here except for the wind. At least at night, that is. During the day you can hear a lot of planes overhead, which wouldn't bother me, except that they bother Abbey. We took a nice hike along the canyon rim this morning and the planes were scaring her (they sound too much like thunder to her), but luckily she got distracted enough by more lizards and a rabbit. I don't think she'll ever catch one but she'll never stop trying. The sun was pretty strong, even in the morning, and we hiked about 3 hours. We were both pretty tired so we took a well-deserved nap when we made it back 'home'. The wind really picked up this afternoon. I was planning to cook dinner over a campfire, but I don't think I would have ever gotten it started. I'll have to stink up the RV instead. Abbey's not liking the wind because it shakes the RV a lot. (Are you getting the idea that she's a bit neurotic?) Hopefully, it will die down later so I can get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow is another long drive through Monument Valley and on to Flagstaff.