GOULDING'S CAMP PARK, Monument Valley, UT: RV Park Review

RV PARK REVIEW:

Wed. 10/23 - Sun. 11/3/13 (12 days) 

Goulding's Campground, Monument Valley, UT

Site#40   Price: $43./night (with Good Sam discount)

Our rating 4 out of 5

Sites: Mostly pull thrus. Sites are tiered up a slope, with railroad ties separating sites. Decent amount of space between sites. Sites are gravel with a firepit at some and a picnic table. Many also have a small shade tree.

Hook ups: FHU (50amp), also no hookup tent camping. 

Bathrooms: Didn't check, but they close during summer at 7pm and do not open until 8am. Nov. 1, they started closing at 5pm, closed all night until 8am.

Laundry has the same hours as the bathrooms. Nice laundry, just a little expensive.

Pets: Allowed, but beware, there are a number of loose reservation dogs & cats around. They look to be fed, but many females seem to have puppies or just finished weaning. Very sad. The dogs are very friendly. We ended up taking in loner that hung around us and just starving for attention. We will get her vaccines done and get her spayed and adopt her out. One less dog to have more puppies.

Dina, our reservation dog we are taking with us.

Sweet pitty mix only about 7-9 mths old.

Another sweet dog.

WiFi:: Free. Most times pretty good. Sometimes from around 5-10pm it slowed down or cut off.

Verizon Internet: Very slow

Sprint Internet: No service

Satellite: Plenty of open sky.

Verizon cell: Worked on Roam

AT&T cell: Worked on Roam

Book Exchange:. I think they charged for used books.

Activities: Guided tours through Monument Valley for a price.

Mail delivery accepted: ?

Area/Town/Sights: Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, Navajo life, jewelry.

We really enjoyed our time here. The view was magnificent. The campground in late Oct/early Nov. was mostly empty. What a joy to just sit outside surrounded by huge rocks protecting our little area.

Misc: They have garbage cans conveniently located throughout. They are emptied daily. So much nicer than dumpsters. Also security drives through (too fast) quite a few times per day.

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Mon. 11/4/13 (overnight)

USA RV Park, Gallup, NM

Our Rating 3.5 out of 5

Site#28   Price: $32./night

Decent park, with long sites, but piggy back (common hookups), so too close together for my taste

There is a small gravel dog enclosure mainly used for potty, not playing. There is plenty of area to walk the dogs, but be careful of goat's head thorns (or puncture vine) that get caught in dogs' paws. They are everywhere, especially along the side dirt road.

Park seems clean with garbage cans throughout instead of a dumpster.

Chillaxin

Wed. 10/23 - Tue. 10/29/13 (1 week) 

Goulding's Campground, Monument Valley, UT
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RV LIFE:
Nothing much going on. We've seen what there is to see here, so now we just "chill" and relax (chillax), enjoy the beautiful park and serenity.
Scott & I do a lot of reading. Scott more than I do. He will spend hours and hours reading. I do 30 minutes here and there unless it's a really good book. Then I'll also read for a couple of hours at a time.
Here in Navajo Nation, there is an author they honor because he represented the area pretty accurately in his books. He writes fiction but based on some real history and real local characters, one of which is police officer, Jim Chee. I met Jim's wife today while looking over some jewelry for purchase. She showed me photos of her husband, then and now. He is now retired. Scott got chills when he realized he was talking to someone who the books are based on. Oh, the author? Tony Hillerman. I'll be reading his first book and see if I enjoy them now that I've been to the area.
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SIGHTS:
A tidbit I found out after my previous post...
**Update: I wrote the Thelma & Louise comment BEFORE I found out that Goosenecks State Park IS where they filmed the cliff scene! How cool!!!!! Yep, I mentioned Devin re-enacting the scene. I visited the museum at the Goulding's Lodge where there was a room about all the movies filmed here. Thelma & Louise was a surprise.

We took a short hike onto the rocks right next to the campground. Rez dog led the way for us. My ankle has been giving me trouble again. I'll be going to a doctor soon to check it out. Up the rocks, down the rocks we all go. I am very slow because of my ankle. Rez dog led us to Goulding's Arch.

Photo taken from the net. We didn't bring our camera.

I really like it here. Since it's off season, there are only 4 or 5 other RV's in the campground. Sometimes overnight, there may be more.

View from our campsite at sunset. The sinking sun puts a glow on the monuments.

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PETS:
Reservation Dog Saga continues...
Our Rez dog has spent 5 days and nights with us. Much, much progress has been made. I've been posting on Facebook for immediate satisfaction when there isn't enough to blog about.
It's about time to decide on a name. We originally thought of Dineh spoken like Renee, which really is not the correct Navajo pronunciation. But the name just didn't flow anyway for us. So then we came up with three choices...
Dina, our version of Dineh, but pronounced like Tina.
GiGi, for Golden Girl.
Genni for Generic Dog.

When I wasn't thinking, I just called her Dina, so that flows.

Now for her actual progress. I'm still sleeping in the living room on the easy chair. I still get a better night's sleep than Scott. He doesn't sleep very well, which is normal for him. One night Dina slept in my lap. Other nights, she switches from a dog bed to Scott's or really Devin's easy chair. Thankfully, uneventful nights.
Dina is in no rush to go out in the morning. My usual time I get up is anywhere from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Since sleeping on the easy chair I have been sleeping until 9 a.m. and one morning it was almost TEN A.M. before I woke up.
Morning routine is I take all three dogs out on a leash. Dina has gotten used to the leash, although still doesn't like it. She accepts the leash, but while she's on it, she stays very close to me and sometimes tries to walk in between my legs. We usually go down the little canyon and let her loose to do her business. We are keeping a collar on her all the time now. She will not do her business while on the leash. Something she'll HAVE to do once we leave here.
After our walk, I feed them all breakfast. Lyla and Devin first, and then Dina. She is pretty good about waiting and if she tries to go to our other dogs' dishes, we just give her an "eh, eh" and she leaves it be. She eats well and still no signs of food aggression.
We've given her a dewormer, since we know she has tapeworms and flatworms. We've also put on Advantage flea treatment, just in case.
Devin has not been eating much. We think he is trying to figure out the pecking order. None of our dogs are alpha and Devin has been spending most of his time in the bedroom where Dina is not allowed...yet.
We put Dina in the truck yesterday, with our own two dogs. All good. We turned on the engine. All good. We decide to take a short drive. I'm waiting to have a panicked crazy dog bouncing everywhere. Nope, Dina is very, very sweet. She just quivered and kept in physical contact with me while looking out the front window. Eventually, she turned around and looked out the side window which seems to be not as stressful. Overall, she did very good. Another hurdle completed.
Today, I gave her a bath in our little RV shower. Quite a tight squeeze, but the deed has been done. Again, I wondered how she would react. I keep waiting for her to have enough and growl or bite. But no, not Darling Dina. She just again quivered, jumped on the built in shower seat and put her front legs on my shoulders. Well, that works. After the shower, I rubbed her all over with a big soft towel. I think all dogs love that part. Her butt wiggled and her tail wagged while I rubbed her all over. Check bath off the list.
And today, we had a socialization breakthrough. Devin and Dina started playing today. The RV was rocking and shaking with the dogs wrestling, playing tug of war and bouncing off the walls. They also bounced against the table our Parrot, Swayze is on. Swayze would yell, "Devin", just like I do. Our dogs don't pay attention, but Dina stopped and looked at our Parrot, then started playing again. I watched them carefully for any signs other than playing. Not a one. Like I keep saying, Darling Dina is a sweet, sweet dog.
That is another thing Dina has easily adjusted to. She pays no heed to our Parrot, Swayze.
We are still training her to wait at the door, which has been the most difficult task so far. But, even with this, she is making progress. When the door opens, she doesn't immediately run to the door to dash out anymore. But when she does get to the door, she has to learn to wait. Patience, repetition, and consistency. We let our dogs out first and make her wait, wait, wait, wait, until she relaxes. As soon as she stops trying to get out, we say "ok" and let her out.
So, a lot of progress. Enough that we can feel comfortable traveling with her. What is she going to think when we're at a new location and we open the RV in the morning and it's not her only area she's ever known?!
We've already got a vet appointment set up for her when we get near Albuquerque next week.
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CRAFTS:
I haven't been doing much crafting. I really don't know where the time goes, but crafting just hasn't been part of my day.

I am working on a hat and scarf set to use up some wool/acrylic yarn I was given.  I really like the cable type ribbing on the bottom.










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LIFE HACK:

Alternative to Zoloft

Wed. 10/23 - Tue. 10/29/13 (1 week) 

Goulding's Campground, Monument Valley, UT
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"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."
-Ben Williams
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SIGHTS:
Goosenecks State Park, San Juan, UT
We first heard about Goosenecks from Wheeling It. They posted about boondocking here. We decided to check it out. We have yet to boondock on public lands. I personally would not feel comfortable camping here. It has beautiful views, but we are on a 300' neck/peninsula of land that is surrounded by 1000' cliffs. I would not feel comfortable tying Devin outside in the morning. Although he has yet to get loose from the tie out, I would not want it to happen here. Devin is so goofy, he'd probably run and not realize the cliff is there and dog overboard! Plus it can be VERY windy. I don't think I could handle the RV shaking only 20' from the cliff! But, if you do not have those concerns, this is a beautiful boondock site. 360° views.

Some areas have picnic tables and rock fire rings.

I don't want Devin re-enacting Thelma & Louise off this cliff.

**Update: I wrote the Thelma & Louise comment BEFORE I found out that Goosenecks State Park IS where they filmed the cliff scene! How cool!!!!!

Your view if you get close enough to the edge.

Fascinating how the San Juan river had etched it's path.

Mexican Hat, UT
Not much to say about this. You can see the rock formation the town is named after, from the road. But there was a geocache here, so Scott just had to find it.

Gives you an idea of the massive size.

Looks like a Mexican Hat? I think so.

The top rock is 60 feet round

Who needs to go to the Painted Desert when you can see it right here!

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PETS:
Reservation Dog Saga continues...
A blog follower commented, "I hope some little Indian (excuse me....Native American) kid isn't wondering where his dog went! 
Seriously, she'll have a wonderful home with you, but it won't be an easy transition for her and/or you!   This will surely cure your blues...you won't have time to cry in your beer!    I hope she will become a playmate for sweet Devin. I look forward to further installments!"

Well, this surely is taking my mind off of me, Me, ME! This is probably what I needed (or pine trees). I can now understand empty nest syndrome. I need a job to do. GG aka Dineh will keep me busy.
Scott also mentioned she may sort of be someone's dog. Too bad! I have no tolerance for an unaltered dog that is loose. If she had tags, didn't have nipples drooping to her knees (meaning she's had puppies), and didn't so willingly spend the night under our RV and all day, maybe I'd let her stay. The convincing factor for Scott (besides Dineh's sweet personality), was that we are saving many other dogs from being born into homelessness, by taking this one dog in and spaying her.
Dineh spent the night inside and I spent the night in an easy chair. An uneventful night for both of us, thank goodness. I woke up on my own at 8 a.m. Dineh was still sleeping on the dog bed, no accidents in the RV. I am lucky that I can sleep pretty much anywhere. I think I learned that from 10 years on the midnight shift. I could take a 15 minute power nap sitting right where I worked, so as not to waste time going to the lunch room.
I took our dogs for a morning walk and Dineh dashed outside. We'll have to work on that. She kept her eye on us during the whole walk, keeping no more that a 75 foot distance between us. With a little coaxing, she came back into the RV and had breakfast. For now, she shows no food aggression, but that could be she is still unsure of herself. We'll have to watch for signs of possessiveness in not only food, toys, but us also. She does butt in when we are giving our own dogs too much attention...in her opinion.
She play bowed to Devin this morning, but Devin is such a goof, he doesn't know gentle and scared her.
So, what's up with the name Dineh? GG (Goldie Girl) is so much easier, but uninteresting. Scott is usually non creative when it comes to naming pets. So I was very surprised when I gave him the two options of names for our "res" girl. Scott's eyes lit up and he said he was thinking Dineh also. So Dineh it is.
Dineh is pronounced like din-EH, or rhymes with Renee. It is really spelled without the "H", but I thought she would end up being called Dine, like eating. Diné is the correct spelling. Never heard of that name? It means "of the people". Navajo means "of the fields". The Navajo nation is trying to have their name changed to Diné instead of Navajo. The name Navajo was given to them by the white people, as to Dineh is an Indian..oops Native American name. All this political correctness, ugh! Remember this, if we have to be politically correct, then I am a middle aged, full figured, Caucasian European-American woman. Oh hell, tell it like it is...I'm an old, frumpy and fat, ghost white, Jersey, trailer trash chick. Back on subject again. Here's a link about the Diné. It's written from his personal experience. Interesting and fun read. And for my Dad, you may find the above website interesting. He is a born-again Christian and talks about his faith here.
We have a collar on Dineh today. She is not happy. She's not fighting it, but her tail is once again down between her legs and she quivers once in a while. Baby steps. Just let her wear the collar inside around us and get lots of love and food.
So Divine Dineh has renewed my soul and also given me something to post about. Thank you GG, oops Dineh.
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LIFE HACK:

Hook, Line and Sinker.

Wed. 10/23 - Tue. 10/29/13 (1 week) 

Goulding's Campground, Monument Valley, UT
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Let the photos speak.

 

On our 25 mile drive back from sight seeing, I finally said, "So, are we going to find a home for the reservation dog?". Scott's answer, "I was thinking about asking you the same thing."
Wow! I did not expect that answer! When we arrived home, GG was waiting for us.
Now for the next steps.
Collar & Leash
Test how she rides in the truck
See how she reacts inside the RV
Will our dogs leave her be?

She is afraid of the sound of our diesel engine, so after turning off the engine, I got in the back seat and invited her in. After a couple of mediocre attempts, she did jump up into the back seat and seemed very comfortable. Good so far.
Put some food out for her and while she is distracted eating, I'll slip a collar & leash on her. So far so good. UH OH! As soon as she realized there was something around her neck she FREAKED! And tried to run way and SCREAMED when she couldn't get away. We had a safety collar on her, so it did eventually pull apart and free her. She ran a couple of sites down. I was able to coax her back. Again she is eating and I put a slip lead on her and she immediately FREAKS and twists like a trapped gator. I let her go and she runs off with the lead on her. Now I'm worried, because if she's running around with that slip lead on, she could easily get caught on something and strangle. I find her across the park and she is afraid to come to me. After much coaxing, this sweet girl creeps over to me. I take the slip lead off and she immediately starts acting like a puppy! Prancing around and trying to play with me. Well, this will be quite a hurdle to get over. Unfortunately, she wouldn't follow me back to the RV. It is super windy and nasty out. The dust is blowing all over and getting in our eyes and up our noses, etc. Scott goes out with Lyla to try to find our "res girl". Now I know he's hooked.  When he returns, GG is with him. He sits outside on the ground in this nasty weather and pets her for about 20 minutes to gain her trust again. Now he comes into the RV and calls her in. She slowly comes inside. We keep the door open so she doesn't feel trapped. Scott sits on the floor by the door and pets her, then lets her go outside. Calls her back in, and lets her out again. This goes on for about an hour. She finally ventures further into the RV. Scott closes the door and so far so good.
She is now sleeping on a dog bed, Devin has already learned to leave her be. I will be sleeping in the living room in my easy chair to keep her company and make sure she doesn't get into trouble. I'm sure she is not house trained, so I'm glad we took out the carpet for vinyl/fiberglass flooring. Easy clean up.
Now if you're not convinced Scott is committed, he said that we should extend our stay here until she gets used to being a house dog and can deal with the collar and leash.
Yep, Scott is caught...hook, line, and sinker.

Together but Separate (Stolen Title)

RV LIFE:
I am a thief! I don't have much to post about, so decided to "steal" from Sue's blog post Beluga's Excellent Adventure, "After dinner we'll enjoy our evening together, in separate rooms....The NHRA Drag Races from Las Vegas, the second last race of the season, will be on in the living room and the PBS series "The Paradise" will be showing in the bedroom.    I wonder which program  dogs will choose to watch?    My guess is that they will snuggle with me on the bed.....
Its so nice to do exactly as we please and still will be just steps away from each other."

The above post from Sue is exactly how Scott & I feel. This is very important if you plan to full time in an RV. I give Carla from Cozy Be Gone much credit for her bravery? naivety? in full timing with hubby in a Casita! They have only started out and I hope their love of each other's company endures.
I think I would be very unhappy if Scott & I couldn't have out separate spaces. Yes, there's sitting outside, but many times the weather or surrounding are no the nicest for a relaxing time outside. Living in a 5th wheel, we are actually in a bi-level. The bad of that is that klutzy Debbie misses a step and messes up her ankle. But the good far outweighs the bad. We have a sense of separation being on another floor. We can use the bedroom as our oasis to have some alone time from the spouse. Scott can use the living area as his "man cave" for computer gaming, while I'm in the bedroom. Surprisingly, the sounds do not drift between rooms even though the door has an open area where the steps are.
I love my husband very much and enjoy his company (most times). But, we are both loners and need our alone time. I need it, Scott enjoys it.
So for any wannabe full time RV'rs, consider whether you will require your own space when choosing an RV to live in.
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PETS:
I knew I have to do it, but when? Enough time to think it over or persuade before leaving. But not too soon to ruin my day if the answer is not what I want to hear. You know what I'm talking about if you've know me or have been following my Facebook page. So I will have "the talk" with Scott tonight. I am waiting until after our day of sightseeing, but my throat has been so tight and I haven't been eating! Can you believe that? The talk is asking Scott if we can save our little Golden Girl.  I can't accept leaving her here to try to befriend other campers and hope they are kind to her and feed her. GG (Golden Girl) has been hanging around our RV for the past two days, never leaving for more than 10 minutes. She follows both Scott & I on our walks. Scott gave in and petted her yesterday and said she was very sweet. He laid down a dog bed for her and she cuddled on it all night and greeted me with her tail wagging this morning. Her whole demeanor has changed. Instead of walking around timid with her tail down, she is now walking, well trotting proud with her tail up and wagging. She even attempted to play with me yesterday. She has also allowed our dogs to sniff her. Of course goofy Devin, was too much for her. He's bouncing around "Wanna play? Huh? Huh? Come on!"
Stay tuned for the outcome. I fear this will be a battle that GG and I may lose.

Monument Valley

Wed. 10/23 - Tue. 10/29/13 (1 week) 

Goulding's Campground, Monument Valley, UT

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RV LIFE:
The internet is oh so slow! I haven't been able to keep up with the blogs I follow. But, it is better than no internet. While I wait for a page or email to come up, I just play Spider Solitaire or read. My norm is to multitask.
It's always a good thing when I want to sit outside all day. That means the temperature is great, the surroundings are nice and I feel comfortable where we are. Yea! Debbie is finally happy...for now.
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PETS:
Here in the Navajo Park, there are quite a few loose dogs around. It always makes me sad. If I were single, I would take at least one in & just deal with it. Scott doesn't want to have anything to do with the dogs. It's not that he doesn't feel bad, but I think he is VERY protective of our own dogs and doesn't want anything passed on to them. I just cannot help but give them a little love and food and water. Luckily, they aren't emaciated, just a little thin. I would think they have their areas where they get fed by someone occasionally. I've met three female dogs. Two of them look barely one year old and have definitely had puppies.  They are all super, super sweet! They first look at you, then kind of put their head down, and wag their tail. I talk to them and put my hand out and they creep over. Once I start petting them, they just can't get enough and follow me around. They leave our dogs alone. No aggression, but no curiosity either.

Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I just finished feeding the golden colored dog and gave her some water. She is now relaxed and sunning by our site in the street. She keeps her eye on me, but stays away from Devin who wants to play so badly with her.
Yesterday, two others stopped by with the same approach. One looks to be a brindle Pit mix, maybe 8 months old and has had a litter.  The other looks to be Cattle Dog mix? But again, they are all very sweet and just want to be petted more than be fed.

 Uh oh, she's sleeping on our dog bed I have outside. I know we shouldn't...I found the bed on top of the truck this morning. Scott has the strength to say no.

 There's also two young black cats that are driving Devin to insanity. They like to hang out under our RV, or on our dog bed, popular resting place.

This little girl moans in contentment when you pet her. Oh so, so, so sweet.
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SIGHTS:
Monument Valley is on Navajo Nation Park property, and is impressive. Yes, More red rocks, but different. Goulding's Campground (review when we leave) is very nice. It is situated between 2 buttes (an isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top,similar to but narrower than a mesa). So we get a feeling of coziness wrapped by the huge rock formations. Or maybe claustrophobia to some.

View from left of my picnic table

View from right of my picnic table

There isn't too much to do here unless you want to hike in the sun. We opted to take a paid and guided tour to get the most out of this area.
There are approximately 15 tour companies to choose from. I researched and decided on Sandstone Tours even though Goulding's is walking distance and have their own tour company. I first looked up reviews, then pricing, then amount of info on their website.
We opted for the mid-range tour of 2.5 hours. This not only takes us on the 17 mile scenic dirt road that is open to the public, but also along some back roads that only the touring companies are allowed. I would highly suggest you opt for a tour and let the "experts" do the driving for you. This Monument Valley 17 mile scenic dirt road is VERY rough. We were bounced around in our seats and would not want to put our own vehicle through this terrain. My pedometer said I did 9800 steps and I KNOW I was sitting on my butt all day in a 4 wheel drive truck. The bounces must have given the pedometer a false reading. Of course, if you've got an ATV or a 4 wheel drive that can handle it, then go for it. There were a couple of times that we thought we may not make it up the sandy slope.
Overall, this was an enjoyable, fun and interesting tour. Scott LOVED it. I enjoyed it, but I also had my ever present current book I'm reading handy. There were five people total in our group and they (including Scott) tended to spend more time looking at points of interest than I, so I just returned to the open air truck to read.
The buttes and mesas have many names.

Mittens

Wagon Wheel

Now some photos of our tour. I tried to put a vehicle or person in the photo to give you an idea of the size of these buttes and mesas and arches.

Classic

 Scott likes his arches.

See the size of the person just left of the yellow bush?

Fools

We were told to lay up against this and look up. We would be able to see a rock formation that looked like an eagle. I just had to take a photo. And yes, we did see the eagle.

"The hogan is a sacred home for the Diné (Navajo) people who practice traditional religion. Every family even if they live most of the time in a newer home -- must have the traditional hogan for ceremonies, and to keep themselves in balance.

Hogan home

The Navajos used to make their houses, called hogans, of wooden poles, tree bark and mud. The doorway of each hogan opened to the east so they could get the morning sun as well as good blessings."

Debbie inside Hogan. Beautiful! The wood logs, not me silly!

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BUSINESS REVIEW:

Sandstone Tours, Monument Valley, UT

Our rating 4 out of 5

We opted for the mid-range tour which is 2.5 hours at $65.00 per person.

This tour had decent ratings and was up to $20. cheaper per person than other tour companies.

We ended up being almost 1/2 hour late because of an unexpected homecoming parade in town, with no side streets to detour to. I called to say we would be late and they were great. They would put us on on another tour when we got there. We waited about 7 minutes for our tour guide to arrive. Even though we paid for a Sandstone Tour, we ended up on a Black's tour. So maybe they all work together.

Our guide, Ferguson showing us petroglyphs

Our tour guide was Ferguson. Sweet young man, but not real outgoing. Other reviewers have raved about their tour guide. We sort of had to drag info out of him. Eventually he talked more. He spoke of how he learned about the history of this area from his Grandmother and related some stories. I think we could have had a better guide, but Ferguson was ok.

Definitely worth the money and avoid the wear and tear on your own vehicle on this very rough, rocky not maintained dirt road.

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CRAFTS:

I finished a crochet doily to cover our little lamp shades. Now on to another one.

See the stones? We picked them up in NM last year.

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WHERE WE ARE GOING:

Thursday, 10/31-Sunday, 11/10/13 (11 days) Albequerque area