American Road Trip – Part 4 – Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon

Monument valley is probably one of the most recognised landscapes in the world. For years it’s been used in movies such as Easy Rider, Forest Gump and pretty much every Wild West movie ever made.
These massive rock formations known as known as ‘buttes’ and ‘mesas’ are the result of millions of years of geological uplift which were then eroded and shaped by wind and water.

We were lucky enough to stay the night inside the valley and got to see the beautiful sunset with a huge moon rising over the valley and then the following day we watched the sunrise above the famous ‘mittens’ rock formations (named so because they look like mittens). I can’t even describe how beautiful it was and this had led me to add it to my list of things to do when you survive. Thing #68 – Watch the sunrise over Monument Valley.

Even though I still have many more things to add to my list before I reach 101 I’m still being quite selective but this is a must for anyone. My only suggestion would be to stay for two nights at the Park. That way you can have one morning for photos and then the next just to take it all in. I sometimes feel like I miss something when seeing these wonderful things because I’m always photographing and filming. I think I need to make more time just to view these things with nothing more than my own eyes. It’s difficult with sunsets and sunrises as they just keep getting better and better!

I also got to run down the Forest Gump Road which unleashed the inner geek in me. Love that film! (I didn’t have time to grow the big beard though).

The mighty Grand Canyon was next up on this road trip of a lifetime and it did not disappoint. This massive canyon is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide! For millions of years the Colorado river has cut through these layers of rocks to form the canyon as it is today.

I don’t think my pictures do the the Grand Canyon justice unfortunately. The place is so big I just didn’t know how to capture it. There was a haze over the valley which also made it hard to see it’s true colours but if you look at the background closely you can see how huge it is.

Jim and I sat and ate our sandwiches on the edge of the canyon today, no cameras or videos just a view and a good chat. I loved it. It was probably the most impressive place I’ve ever eaten my lunch.

Feeling like the luckiest person on the planet at the moment.

Next and final stop are the bright lights of Las Vegas baby!
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