Three weeks in the West,parts 17, 18 and 19(a.k.a., The End)

We arrived at Navajo National Monument with just enough time to watch the Sun set behind the pink sandstone ridge. Then we had to scoot along because the mosquitoes and flies in the area were very excited to smell us.

We arose the next day, scouted around a bit, and then headed off to what had been our original overnight destination, Monument Valley. Very attentive readers of 22/7 will recall that I spotted those iconic spires from the air last summer.

...and an alternate












1280px version


We just blew by the park, though, because we'd decided to head home after we left the Grand Canyon. Our experiences had been good throughout the journey, we'd seen all that we wanted to see (more than we could have expected, really), but we both wanted to rein in the spending... and I was beginning to have concerns about the seeds we'd sown in the garden just before our departure. My Lady Friend's family was there to tend to it all when we left, but they had since gone on their own vacation. I was trying not to fret about dried out seedlings and rabbits gone wild...

Anyhow, we shot past Monument Valley (the valley floor spotted with green for the first time in my experience), endured some stop-and-start construction zones in eastern Utah, zoomed through western Colorado, and finally arrived in Denver by nightfall. We camped in four-star luxury (compared to our previous sites) at Chatfield State Park, southwest of Denver.

1280px version


The next morning, we wove our way through the rush-hour traffic and began the long haul to Omaha. Surprisingly, we made it all the way across Nebraska in one day, even pushing a few miles into Iowa to punctuate the feat. We camped one last time, and in the morning we began the final leg, which took us past L.T. Organic Farm and Restaurant near West Des Moines.

I want to mention that it was during those last couple of days on the road that I began to notice more and more SURVs. I hadn't driven for four or five years, and I hadn't been in the country for two, so I didn't know that the phenomenon of super-sizing had extended to recreational vehicles. However, there was Joe Citizen, tooling around in something the size of a city bus... often with a jeep or SUV in tow.

I began to photograph as many of these beasts as I could -- a highway safari, if you will -- as we made our way on I-80. It was actually somewhere around Des Moines that I spotted a dealership with scores of these behemoths arranged like... well, the bus lot at Gangnam terminal in Seoul. This definitely seems to be something that Midwesterners are into for their summer excursions (but at these gas prices?).

Myself, I'd take something much more low-key and low-maintenance. But then again, I do like a bit of flair...


Go back to Day 16 or start from the beginning of the series.