On the Way to Monument Valley

After seeing the second of four places on our "must see" list of attractions in the Southwest, we left Cortez, CO, and headed west.

Our travels on highway 160 are chronicled below. The day began with overcast skies. Brief, intermitten showers accompanied us for most of the drive.

We had visited Canyon de Chelly (near Chinle, AZ) and then Mesa Verde National Park (near Cortez, CO) and were now headed to Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border.

The clouds

and these electrical towers provided interesting accompaniments and subjects, respectively, for the landscape photos.

Only the movement of a few cattle along the route broke the static quality of the landscape.

The sun broke through the clouds to highlight segments of the landscape as we headed down the highway.

Kate captured this scene with the sun, sky, and terrain all nicely aligned in that instant as we sped past.

We passed the turnoff to The Four Corners Monument--the only spot in the U.S. where four states (UT, CO, NM, and AZ) meet at one point. With the RV in tow, we had to bypass the photo opportunity.

Nearing Kayenta (AZ), the landscape began to take on a reddish cast.

At Kayenta, we headed north on Highway 163.

We were nearing our destination.