A Monumental Valley

Monument Valley - the scenery that launched a thousand Westerns.

It's not really a valley (there's no riverbed here) but it is beautiful, if quite packed with tourists.

Monuments? Check! Rustic fencing? Check! Pretend ye-olde-wagon? Check!

We took a jeep tour through the valley (you can self-drive through some of it, but the roads are fairly rough, so you'd want a decent car). There were several photo opportunities / viewpoints where you can stop the car - complete with locals from the reservation selling Navajo crafts (mostly bead pendants, bookmarks and keyfobs).

Yes, that's my father with his tongue out. Sometimes, I'm so proud I could just cry!

At John Ford's point, there's frequently a Navajo man on horseback posing for photographs.

As seen on a thousand postcards

The Navajo tacos at nearby Goulding's Lodge are pretty yummy too (picture a fried flatbread the size of your head, covered in beans, salsa, lettuce, and cheese. I like to pretend the beans mean it's health food).