movin' on... Arizona here we come

Friday we toured Canyon de Chelly (d shay) National Monument - we actually stayed at a free campground on the grounds. Doesn't that just rock?!

Canyon de Chelly is known, not so much for the beautiful scenery, which is great, but more for... c'mon... guess... yep, ancient dwellings. In this first picture, look to the right of the white spot (which is a truck, btw). You can just make out the dwellings.

This next picture is a closeup. To the right you see the dwellings, and if you look really carefully, to the left are petroglyphs. Cool.

Same type of scenario below. Mid left'ish in the picture you can pretty easily see the cliff dwellings, which are shown more closeup in the following picture. This grouping is interesting because the center section was definitely built by the Anasazi's, while both end sections were built later by others. The styling and workmanship is completely different.

Does anyone remember this "where in the world is..." Greg Miller? Look carefully. You might see him. But then again, maybe not. This picture really gives perspective to the magnitude of the canyon.

Yep, this is me, spread eagle. {giggle} Each of my limbs is in a different state. Looks like my right arm is in Utah, my left arm is in Colorado, my left leg is in New Mexico, and my right leg is in Arizona. This is the only spot in the U.S. where four states all touch.

Oh, and btw, I got another "fix" for fry bread here. And I think it was the best yet!

Yes, the rock lover in me thinks the next picture is amazing! Look at the greyish hills in the background. Notice the dark reddish swirls? Those are not vegetation or anything. The rock is actually swirled like that, grey and dark red. Normally when you see different colors in a mountain or cliff or whatever, it's straight lines. Maybe not horizontal, but still straight. Not here, it was like the layers flowed together.

And the finale to our day - Monument Valley. What is more appropriate to being "out west"? (this landscape is in probably hundreds of old western movies) And what is more appropriate for biking? (did anyone else watch "Easy Rider" - a motorcycle movie?)