May 9-12

In Gallup, NM a Route 66 must stop was the Hotel El Rancho. Since the 1940’s Hotel El Rancho has hosted some of Hollywood’s biggest movie makers and movie stars, including Robert Mitchum, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Suzanne Pleshette and many more. Even today the hotel continues to host movie crews.  Movies filmed in this area: Young Guns, Grapes of Wrath, Escape from Fort Bravo, Hallelujah, Superman and so many more.  Most of your early westerns, especially those directed by John Ford were filmed close by.

The hotel interior looks the same as it did in the 1940’s western deco, solid wood grand staircase only difference now is instead of the Hollywood stars roaming the lobby the walls are covered in their autographed photos.  This was a interesting place to loiter for a while and of course buy a T-shirt.

Our RV Park for the next few nights was run by the Ute Indian Tribe at the base of the Ute Mountains.  They have a casino and RV Park collocated with each other.  After arriving and getting situated we thought we would check out the casino. This is not Vegas baby!  Alcohol and firearms are not permitted on Indian reservation land so there is not a single cocktail waitress to be found.  Instead, there is free flowing coffee and soda. 

 Mesa Veda National Park in southwestern Colorado is a must see.  The preserved cliff dwellings and other archaeological sites of the Ancestral Pueblo people, who lived there from 600 to 1300 AD, with famous structures like Cliff Palace and Balcony House built into the cliffs.  We were so fortunate to score tickets to go on a park ranger guided tour of Cliff Palace.  The tour took us right into the cliff dwellings themselves.  Of course, there are many rules on where you can walk and what not to touch so they can continue to preserve for future generations.  It was absolutely amazing to walk in the footsteps of the Pueblo people.

 

Bucket list item, Four Corners Monument.  Not sure what we expected but we got to stand in four states at one time.  The original marker was erected in 1912 which was a simple cement pad, but since then it has been redone a few times to what it is today. 

Have you ever seen a John Ford western.  John Ford was a defining director of the American Western, famous for his location shooting in Monument Valley. He did iconic films like Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache and more all shot in Monument Valley. 

Now we can say we were there.  We did a 15-mile drive on a unpaved, dirt and gravel road (4x4 required) into the valley, where we were able to see the West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte that all appeared in his films.  Walter was so thrilled to be able to take the truck four wheeling in such a remarkable place, me I needed a bladder belt.

What to our wondering eyes, we found the exact spot where the movie Forest Gump filmed the famous scene of him ending his cross-country run.  You can see parts of Monument Valley in the background.  This stretch of US Route 163 is located in Mexican Hat, UT.

Last day at the Ute Mountain RV Park. We had some household or is it rvhold things to take care of, laundry, washing and vacuum out truck, get Walter a haircut, do some moderate cleaning in rv.  We can’t be on vacation every day, but we did manage to squeeze in a quick tour of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Museum.  Their artifact collection from the Pueblo people was fantastic and so well preserved. 

Until we made this part of the trip we had no idea how many times we would cross the Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona state lines.  The GPS continued to welcome us numerous times to each state.  So much so that I had to stop taking pictures of the Welcome to signs.