Oct 23, 2013 - 547km/3,559km – just outside Moab, UT – Blanding – Valley of Gods – Gooseneck/San Juan river – Monument Valley - Kajenta, AZ - Farmington, NM Mom & Pop RV Campground

Having only two Nespresso pods left, we decided to have breakfast in Moab. Lucky us, we found the Jailhouse Café, which offers breakfast and breakfast only. It’s so good “it would be okay if it was your last meal”. The eggs benedict were not quite Shine Café -standard, but still pretty good!

Moab is a quaint little place with lots of cafes and outfitters, a great place to start any kind of outdoor adventure. Stocked up in a real nice pet store, too. Chester was beside himself when he got a new ball, which lasted about an hour before it was destroyed.

Having internet once again, we found out, that Second Chance 42 has been stuck in Portugal for the past three days due to the weather, but they believe they will be able to continue again soon.

On the way to the Valley of Gods, which has similar rock formations as Monument Valley, we had to drive down a 10% steep gravel road, which was a little scary. Once in the Valley of the Gods, we actually had to turn around and track back as our motorhome was too long for the dips in the road.  The drawbacks of travelling in (relative) comfort. We enjoyed a breathtaking view of the San Juan River at the Gooseneck State Reserve, one of the most striking and impressive examples of an entrenched river meander on the North American continent. The San Juan River twists and turns through the meander, flowing a distance of over six miles while advancing only one and one-half miles west towards Lake Powell. It’s the result of over 300 million years of geologic activity.

Gooseneck State Reserve - San Juan River

After Gooseneck State Reserve, we drove through Monument valley and enjoyed some amazing views. But there is not much to explore, you really only drive through that area. We didn’t stop at the Navajo Jewelry stands, of which most were already deserted for the season anyway.

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

After all the breathtaking sceneries of the past few days, leaving Monument Valley and going through the huge Navajo Reservation around Kajenta was quite depressing, miles and miles of nothingness, so we drove on until way past darkness. We spent a total of about 2 hrs in Arizona, that was it.

At 7:30pm we stopped at our first private campground called Mom & Pop’s, where Chester could run in a small, enclosed dog run (how nice!) and where we admired Pop’s homemade tin figurines and outdoor toy train.