Our next move getting us closer to Moab was across the state line into Utah.  With the exception of our trip down to Mexico, we have been in Arizona since early January. Which seems kinda weird for us, but shows me that we’re following through with our plan to travel less miles this year.

Our drive north took us through the Hopi Reservation where we have been before and through the Navajo Nation. The drive was amazingly beautiful especially when we got to all of the red-rock monoliths in Monument Valley. Here are some drive-by shots:

Tom picked us a great location at Gooseneck State Park which is on a bluff overlooking  a horseshoe shaped bend in the San Juan River.

Our view from the edge of the campgrounds.
Top view from google earth.

 It was really nice because we reunited with our friends Ted and Jan who pulled in right before us.

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The arrow is pointing to where we were all parked. Right on the edge!

The next day another Xscaper couple on their way to Moab pulled in, so it was nice to meet up with Don and Erin again as well.

We planned a group outing to the nearby Natural Bridges National Monument. Ted had the only vehicle we could all fit in, so he drove us all in his dually up this steep and windy dirt road.

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The little road on the middle left of the picture is where we started – we drove our way up to the top shown on the right of the picture.
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Here is how the road looks from Google Earth. Moki Dugway is an overlook.

The monument  was at the top of a plateau and there were several places with overlooks. The views were awesome even though it was a cloudy day.IMG_2992

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Can you spot the bridge in the center of the picture?

The bridges were formed by water erosion (which makes them different from arches)    So the best viewing was from the bottom of the canyon.

There is also a hike along the canyon floor, but that will have to be another day.  It goes past all three bridges there and you can go into the “cliff” dwellings that we spied from this overlook:

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Do you see the ruins at the bottom under the rock overhang?

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I believe this is the second bridge on the drive through the park.

We all hiked down to the third bridge (I didn’t make note of the names) and had fun waling around and posing for pictures.

IMG_2067On the drive back we stopped at a spectacular viewing location before driving into that side of the canyon to go through Valley of the Gods.

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Another view of the roadway down.

There were hoodoos and rock formations everywhere and we had fun calling out what we saw in the shapes.

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We all agreed that the top of this one looked like a choo-choo train. Do you see it?

Our drive came out at the entrance to Valley of the Gods where we ran into another group of Xscapers on their way to Moab!

Our three-rig group disbanded for a couple of nights preceding the convergence. We would have liked to stay at Gooseneck but there was no internet service – and that’s just unacceptable these days.

There was a nice town on the pass into Moab that had great service, but I wasn’t ready to camp somewhere with snow on the ground, so we drove through and down into the valley. Which put us at a really nice BLM campground (paid site with no services) just a few miles away from our destination.IMG_2127

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The view out of our front windshield!

Today we are leaving that site and it happens to be the date of our two year nomad-iversary. Time has flown by, yet it seems we’ve been doing this much longer.

Now it’s down to the business of some heavy socializing. Tom has been over-the-top excited about this for days. It will be great fun to re-connect and to meet many more fellow nomads.

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Our home for the next three weeks – on an abandoned airstrip in Moab, Utah.
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Looking towards the other direction – and at the big tent where the gatherings will take place.

Happy Travels,

Peace & Love, Joy

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