Day 42 Sunday September 21, 2025
We only have about 45 miles to travel today. We will be in Monument Valley Utah at the KOA campground which is about 2 miles from the Arizona/Utah border.
The views on the drive were absolutely amazing. Every where we go the views are different than what we have already seen and beyond my vocabulary to describe. I can understand why the area is called Monument Valley because about the best way I can describe what we are seeing is massive red sandstone rock that does look like giant monuments hundreds of feet tall.
We had to cross the San Juan River by making a hard left 90 degrees turn onto a bridge that looked like it was narrower than what it should have been. If anyone was to miss the turn they would have ended up right in the parking lot of a business located in the turn.
There was a scene in the movie Forest Gump shot just a few miles from our campground. It is near the end of the movie where he stops running on the highway and decides he is tired of running and wants to go home. There is a very long road behind him going up to some of the red rock hills. There is a roadside marker indicating the location and it has become a tourist attraction. There are some pullouts at the location and people get out to take photos and some lay down in the center of the road to get photos. Our Wagonmasters said when they came through this morning there were six people lying in the road. We only saw some walking across the road when we drove through.
We had to be out of the campground in Bluff at 11 this morning and our checkin here at the KOA is at 1pm and the drive is only about 50 minutes so we drove past the campground and stopped at the Navajo Nation Visitor Center, unhooked the Jeep and waited a few minutes for Sean and Lorraine to pull in. Then we all rode over to Goulding’s Stagecoach Dining Room for Lunch.
After lunch we got the motorhome and drove back to the KOA and setup in site 6. We will be here 2 nights. It will be in the low 80’s today which is the hottest weather we have had in a few days. But it is a dry heat but hot is still hot you just don’t sweat as much and your lips and skin get very dry.
We drove to Gooseneck State Park at 6pm after it cooled off some and the sun wasn’t so bright. The bright sun usually is not good for taking photos. The parking lot sits 1,000 feet above the San Juan River. The view looks down to the river and it looks a lot like Horseshoe Bend in Page Arizona looking down on the Colorado River where we were several days ago. Thankfully there was a barrier in some places where we could safely stand to look over the edge. We both get the “willies” in places like this.
While we were there a car pulled up and a man and a young girl, probably 16-17 years old. She walked right out to the edge and set down with her legs hanging over the edge. One slip and she would have fell 1,000 feet onto rock. Very stupid in my opinion.
We got some nice sunset photos on the way back to the campground and some more at the campground. The first good sunset photos we have been able to get on this trip. It was nice setting outside after sunset in the much cooler temperature.
Day 43 Monday September 22, 2025
Wow, what a day we have had. Fantasy had us scheduled for a tour into Monument Valley today. Everyone met at Monument Valley Tribal Park to board our tour vehicles which were pickup trucks with 3 rows of padded open air seats, with each seat holding 5 adults.
We had been warned that it would be a rough dusty ride and it was recommended we wear a mask. Lena and I just couldn’t bear to wear the two left over COVID mask we had in the motorhome so we went into the gift shop as did several others in our group and purchased two large bandannas.
The weather couldn’t have been better if we had ordered it. Cooler than yesterday and overcast which really helps when taken photos. It took four trucks to carry all of us. The warnings were correct it was a rough ride but not as dusty as we expected. Our Navajo driver/guide didn’t ride close to the truck ahead of us so I think that was a big help. The “roads” were not paved, just a few places had been graded and gravel spread but mostly it was sandy and rocky and very bumpy.
The views were amazing. Our driver/guide made several stops for us to take photos and on some of the stops we got down from the trucks and had a chance to walk up to the rocks and take photos. He gave us the names of several of the massive rock formations.
There were a few houses scattered about in the canyon where some of the Navajo lived. There were some horses roaming around also. At one stop he made a group photo for us with the Wagonmaster’s phone.
He explained what a Hogan was and also a sweat lodge. A Hogan is a traditional Navajo home. The sweat lodge is much smaller and they build a small fire outside the entrance so the heat will go inside and then they go inside and take their clothes off and sweat. Sounds like a version of a sauna. Both are basic round with a frame of small wooden logs and then covered in thick mud that dries to a very hard surface. He said the thick walls make the hogan easy to heat and it stays cool in the summer.
At one stop we were invited inside a fairly large Hogan and there was a Navajo lady inside. See explained a little about their history and about the crafts like jewelry and blankets that she weaves. She talked a little about how badly the Native Americans were treated in the past and how their native land was taken from them. She seemed very sad when she was explaining this. She said even now some of their people are victims of human trafficking. One of the ladies in our group asked her did she have any children and she said she did have. The lady asked her what happened to her children and she said she couldn’t talk about it.
At one stop our driver/guide sang a song in the Navajo language and then the other 3 driver/guides sang a song and one played a hand drum.
On the way back to the meeting place in the park we stopped for lunch out in the canyon. There were large picnic tables there. A Navajo lady and some young Navajo men were there waiting for us. They cooked us Navajo Fry Bread Tacos as we walked through the line. The Fry Bread covered a full size paper plate and then they put on a layer of beans, a layer of lettuce, a layer of cheese, some tomatoes and onions and salsa and there was also honey to drizzle on it if you wanted it. It was very good.
Once everyone stuffed themselves we boarded the trucks and returned to the parking lot where we started. The trip and lunch was about 3 hours. Quite the experience.
We returned to the campground to relax a bit then Lena and I went to the Navajo Nations Visitor Center to tour it. Then we drove up the hill to where we ate lunch yesterday to look at John Wayne’s Cabin. It was used in the movie She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Only the outside of the former potato storage building was actually used for any scenes. The inside scenes were shot in a studio in Hollywood CA. The building inside now looks like the inside as it was shot in the studio in Hollywood but no inside shots were done in this building it is just too small for all the equipment it would take to do the movie shots.
Then we toured the trading post and home of Harry and Leone (“Mike”) the couple that started Gouldings Trading Post back in 1924, which eventually became a lodge, restaurant, campground, grocery store, etc.
We returned to the campground to rest, edit photos and update the Blog before our 7pm travel meeting for our trip tomorrow to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We will be there 4 nights. This will be the last stop on this tour. Then everyone will go their separate ways but I think 14 couples out of 24 from this group will be going to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque NM.
Day 44 Tuesday September 23, 2025
Travel day today. We had breakfast, packed up and pulled out at 10am headed for the Trailer Village RV Park in Grand Canyon Arizona. Yes we will be back in Arizona again. We had a fairly easy drive and some more changing scenery. It actually changed several times along the way today.
We stopped after about 25 miles in the town of Kayenta to tour the small museum dedicated to the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII. The Burger King restaurant and a bank in town sponsors the museum and there was a large dirt parking lot behind Burger King so several of our group stopped to tour the museum.
The Japanese never broke the code which was actually the native Navajo language that was used to send critical messages during the war. I think there were a total of 400 Navajo men in the US military that was used in this manner. The last information I have is there is only two still alive.
Just after we pulled in and got out of the motorhome a law enforcement vehicle and ambulance went by with light and sirens on. Then in a few minutes Bill and Suzanne of our group called Lorraine to tell us about an accident just up the road involving two pickup trucks and a pull behind RV. The RV was not one from our group.
When we passed the accident the fire department was still there but the ambulance had departed. No idea about injuries but the two trucks appeared to hit head on and the RV was upside down.
We showed our National Parks pass at the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park and the attendant told us there was a large RV parking lot just past the entrance where we could park and get the first view of the Grand Canyon so we parked and walked out to the overlook. Wow what a view. There was only one short section that had any railing up to keep people from falling over the edge. There was a tower you can climb to get a better view but we opted out of climbing the tower. We did notice two young oriental ladies right on the edge where there was no railing. One was standing with her back to the edge taking a selfie and the other was sitting on a large rock right on the edge. In my opinion they were either very brave or stupid. I think the latter. The drop to the bottom of the canyon in approximately one mile.
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, approximately 1 mile deep and an average of 10 miles across. The Colorado River runs through the canyon and is approximately 300 feet across. Scientific surveys have found 1,750 species of plants, over 90 species of mammals and over 362 species of birds live in the park.
We got to the campground about 2:30 and set up in site A3. Lorraine and Sean are in site A2 and Lorraine came and told us there was a large elk nearby so Lena and her took my camera and their phones and went on a photo hunt for elk. They found several cow elk and one BIG bull elk. He had a massive set of antlers and they were walking around foraging on acorns and the bull elk was bulging.
The Fantasy team ordered pizza for the group so we gathered up at 6PM. Everyone must have been hungry because in about 30 minutes or so 13 large pizzas were devoured.
It is cool here when the sun goes down. Some of the group were wearing hooded sweatshirts.
Day 45 Wednesday September 24, 2025
We woke up to a nice 55 degrees this morning and the sun shining. We had made plans with Sean and Lorraine and Bill and Suzanne to do some exploring in the park and then have lunch at the Yavapai Tavern near the campground. But things didn’t go exactly as planned.
I took the trash to the trash bins and noticed several cows elks and one bull elk laying down under the trees 3 campsites from ours and some in the line of trees sort of behind our campsite. I kept my distance but took a few photos and returned to the motorhome for breakfast.
As we were preparing to get together to leave someone said the elks were moving again at a couple of sites down from us. So we got the camera out and walked a little closer. Several people were taking photos of the cow elk and the bull elk including me. We were at a safe distance from them. I was standing near the rear of a travel trailer watching the elk when all of a sudden I was knocked to the pavement by a different large bull elk that had walked up behind me without my knowledge. Just as he hit me Lorraine and Lena screamed at me to move but it was too late. I hit the pavement and rolled out of the way the best I could and started to stand up when he hit me again and I went down again but I played dead this time. I remember seeing his antlers coming around my upper body but I don’t remember which time but I think it was the second time he knocked me down. There was a lot of screaming and shouting by the bystanders. One of them was videoing when he hit me.
On the video we could see what happened. When he hit me the second time and I played dead Lena and Donna was standing beside Donna’s motorhome near where I was on the pavement and the elk turned toward Lena. She had retrieved my camera off the pavement and when Lena turned to move she tripped and fell on the pavement and Donna fell over her trying to get away. Then Lorraine and some others started blowing the RV horns and the elk turned and walked away. Lena, Donna and I got into Donna’s RV to get away in case he came back. Lorraine came in to check on us.
A security vehicle came by in a few minutes and said he would call 911 but Donna said she was okay, just a scrape mark and Lena said she was okay and I thought I was except for scraped elbows and one knee. I could see a tear in the knee of my jeans. I had decided to wear long jeans and a long sleeve denim shirt this morning. I think that saved a few scrapes.
While the security man was there my left lower leg began to hurt some so I pulled my jeans leg up above my knee and I had a puncture wound about an inch long on the back of my leg just below the knee. I knew that needed to be checked, cleaned and possibly stitches so I okayed the security man to call 911.
Lena, Lorraine and I moved to our motorhome two sites down. Lorraine suggested I put on some shorts and a short sleeve shirt so they could get to the wounds better. The ambulance was soon onsite and they asked me to get inside. They cleaned the scrapes on my elbows and wrapped my leg in gauze, took my vitals and asked lots of questions about my health, etc. A park ranger came in and asked a few questions. The EMTs asked if I wanted them to take me to the clinic or did I want to go in my vehicle. Since I was already in the ambulance and they had me connected to monitoring equipment I chose to ride in the ambulance. Plus I know from experience working on the Rescue Squad for 20 years and family experience you get seen quicker if you arrive by ambulance.
It was only about a 5 minute ride. The EMTs gave the doctor the information they had and then a nurse cleaned my wounds and then Dr Myers asked me lots of questions about my health before he put in 5 stitches in my leg. Then another nurse gave me a tetanus shot with something else in the same shot before she bandaged up my right elbow, left knee and leg.
The Dr gave us instructions on keeping the wound clean, watching for infection and swelling and how to remove the stitches in about 7 days. I checked out and went out to the waiting room where Sean, Lorraine and Nick and Audrey (our Tailgunners) were waiting for me. Sean and Lorraine had taken Lena to the Clinic and was a lot of help to Lena. She had to fill out lots of paperwork.
The emergency crew and the Dr and nurses at the clinic took really good care of me.
We returned to our motorhomes. I apologized to Sean and Lorraine for messing up our plans for the day. But I insisted we still go to lunch as planned and then I would rest my leg the remainder of the day. So we left for lunch about 12:30 and met Bill and Suzanne there. We had a really nice lunch setting out on the terrace. The other two couple of our tour that are from North Carolina were at the table next to us when we came in.
Then we returned to our motorhomes for the afternoon. My leg is sore and a little stiff (partly because of the bandage) and I am being very careful to not put too much weight on it so I don’t mess up the stitches. It will not affect my driving the motorhome because I work the pedals with my right foot.
Not how I had planned to end our tour with Fantasy but very thankful it wasn’t worse. Paul from our group stopped by the motorhome to check on us and shared a video he had of the same two Bull Elk fighting earlier this morning.
While they were fighting one of their antlers broke out a headlight and scratched the hood of the truck of one of the couples in our group. This is the Rutting season and the bull elk are trying to get the attention of the cow elk and maintain control of their harem. And I was in one of the bull elk’s path as he was making his way to where the cow elk were this morning and he used his huge rack of antlers to move me out of his way.
After I got back to the motorhome and had time to think about what happened I was amazed I only got one puncture considering this elk had a huge rack with 10-12 long points. A guardian angle was looking out for Lena, Donna and me. I believe that Lena and Donna falling might have saved them from harm because looking at the video when they fell the elk turn away from them.
My camera took a beating. It is DOA. It will not even turn on. When I got hit and dropped it Lena said she picked it up and that was when she fell she dropped it again.
The Wagonmasters, Doak and Jan came over this afternoon to check on us. They have made contact with the National Parks Service about the situation with all the elk in the campground. They are all over the place in the morning and by mid afternoon they are out again. The females (cows) are eating acorns and the Bulls (males) are wanting something other than acorns because it is the Rut season so they are following the cows around hoping to get lucky. They also told us that another man in our group got hurt today. He was cut on the arm and had to go the clinic but the story is that he was getting way too close to the bulls and his wife had fused at him all day about it until he got hurt. Doak and Jan said Fantasy had one more tour coming here this season and if something wasn’t done about the elk in the campground Fantasy would be looking at other options.
Sean and Lorraine had invited us and Bill and Suzanne over for grilled chicken at 6 PM to eat outside at the picnic table but at that time there were 2 or 3 cows nosing around their picnic table looking for acorns and then right behind came the biggest bull elk. Then they made their way over in front of our motorhome. So Lena went over and got us a plate each and they all went inside to eat. Didn’t want to take a chance eating outside with that big bull around.
Day 46 Thursday September 25, 2025
As I expected I didn’t sleep much last night and with all my rolling and squirming trying to get in a comfortable position Lena didn’t sleep much either.
Fantasy had booked the group a bus to take a ride around part of the South rim of the Grand Canyon. One bus doesn’t hold 50 people so we were split into two groups, one group took the tour yesterday and our group took the tour today. I debated with myself about going because my left leg is very sore and kind of stiff and last night my right leg began to hurt, I guess from where I fell when the elk hit me twice. But I came here to see the Grand Canyon so I decided to go anyway. Sean and Lorraine let us ride in their car to where we met the bus. I did some walking back and forth in the motorhome before breakfast to get some of the stiffness out and that helped.
The bus driver/guide took us on an 8 mile trip along Hermits Road. He made several stops and we were able to walk up near the rim of the canyon and get a good view. I don’t like to be near the edge and a place like the rim, especially with a bad leg but we still got a good view of part of the canyon. We couldn’t see all the way to the bottom to the Colorado River without getting right on the rim, no thanks.
At one stop there was a railing at the rim that was just 3-4 horizontal pipes that were spaced about a foot or so apart to provide some safety. There was a small girl, probably 3 year old, standing up against the railing and her mother was standing probably 12-15 feet away not even watching her. How careless. Lena said she couldn’t even stand to watch the little girl.
The driver/guide told us a lot of history of the Grand Canyon and passed around some photos that were taken back in the 1910-20 time frame when there was a place to stay overnight down in the lower levels of the canyon.
They named this place correctly because this is one massive ditch. I believe to get the full appreciation for how massive you really need to be at the bottom of the canyon by the Colorado River looking up. They do offer mule rides but I don’t know if they go all the way to the bottom and I would expect even riding a mule would be a tiring experience going down into the canyon and back up.
Our last stop was Hermits Rest. This was a building that was designed by a woman. The outside walls are large stone that blend into the landscape. The views from the front of the building were very good out over the canyon. Inside was a gift shop and a huge fireplace. You probably could grill two small pigs in that fireplace. Did I mention gift shop. There is a gift shop every where we go. I looked for a T-Shirt with a big bull elk on it but didn’t find one.
We returned to the pickup place and we decided to get some lunch there in the cafe while we were there. I asked Sean to stop at the general store near the campground on the way back so Lena could go inside and get some bandage material. I need to replace my bandages and the doctor said I could take a shower tonight so that will be a good time to replace them. We have two first aid kits in the motorhome but neither one had the bandage material I needed.
After getting back to the motorhome Lena and I both took a nap. Then some predicted rain came and it had some hail in it. Not as much as when we were in Cortez, Utah.
We didn’t hear the bull elk bugling this morning like we have been hearing in the morning. We thought maybe the Rangers had tranquilized them and moved them somewhere but we started hearing them mid afternoon. We did see the cow elk this morning and two buck mule deer and a doe mule deer.
I talked to the other man in our group that got attacked by a bull elk yesterday. He had one cut on his right arm below the elbow that took two stitches. He showed us a short video clip of the attack. It appeared he was doing some videoing with his camera and the elk came around the front of an RV and the elk came right at him.
Well the bull elk came out near our campsite this afternoon so I guess they weren’t removed from the area.
The Fantasy team prepared Walking Tacos for the group at 6pm. We got some fairly heavy rain right up to almost the time to gather up. Their motorhomes are about 5 rows over from ours and more rain was predicted about 6:30 so Lena and I decided to not attend. I knew if the rain started I would get soaked before we could get back to the motorhome the way I am hobbling on my injured leg. We had a good lunch and were not really hungry enough to risk it. Lorraine offered to bring us something but we declined. Her and Sean have been really helpful since the incident.
The Doctor at the clinic said I could take a shower tonight so I took a hot shower that really felt good. Then Lena changed my 3 bandages. She said the area around the stitches was not swollen or red so that is a good sign.
Day 49 Friday September 26, 2025
One of the bull elk has been bugling since the wee hours of the morning and was near our campsite about daybreak bugling. I told Lena either he was chasing the cows or stalking me.
We don’t have anything planned until late this afternoon so we had our fruit. I had a Latte sitting outside with my head on a swivel looking out for the bull elk and then later we had our eggs and bacon. Sean and Lorraine checked on us before they headed out to explore then Bill came over to check on us. Suzanne is not feeling well this morning so they are not out exploring either.
I did a few minor chores around the motorhome this morning and then we set inside and watched it rain.
Fantasy provided everyone in the group tickets to the IMAX theater here in the park to watch a movie about the Grand Canyon. When Sean and Lorraine came back about 3pm we all got in our Jeep and drove over to the theater. This is the first time I have driven since we got here and I didn’t have any issues. Tomorrow I have to drive the “big boy” 95 miles to our next campground.
The movie was interesting and being an IMAX movie it was almost like being there. Of course when we exited the movie we had to walk through a gift shop. We had a few minutes before we had to join the whole group at the Big E Steakhouse for our farewell dinner. I have been looking for a T-Shirt with a big bull elk on it. I found a sweatshirt that had an image of a camera like mine and in the lens was the image of a bull elk. I asked the clerk if they had that same thing in a T-Shirt but they didn’t but I did find one with a larger image of a bull elk so I got it.
We drove over to the steak house for our dinner. Lena and I ordered ribeye steak, she said hers was good but mine was not so good. After everyone ate the Fantasy team each had a few words to say and then each couple was given a chance to say something about their favorite thing about the trip.
When it came my turn I said I had enjoyed meeting all the people on the trip and that I liked wildlife but I had developed a dislike for Bull Elk.
Then Nick, our Tailgunner came over and handed me the microphone and a laminated certificate to read. It was a funny piece written by Audrey, Ms Tailgunner, about my experience with the bull elk. Lena, Donna and Reno(the other man that got stitches ) also got one. Everyone got a good laugh when I read the certificate. It was very cleverly written and very humorous.
Then they showed a slide show that Audrey had done of photos and videos she had taken all along our journey. As we were leaving each couple got a gift bag which included a thumb drive of the slide show and a magnetic group photo and a large coffee cup.
Then we returned to the campground for the night. Tomorrow is our parting day. The tour will be over. But I think 14 couples will be at the Ballon Fiesta starting October 2nd.
Day 50 Saturday September 27, 2025
I had noticed a bruise on my left arm yesterday but today it is nasty looking. I guess maybe one of the elk point hit it but didn’t break the skin.
We got up and walked over to the Fantasy Team campsites where they had prepared coffee, bought some donuts and other treats for a breakfast get together before everyone parted ways and headed to where ever they were going. We have had a good tour, met some nice people, made a few friends and seen some amazing scenery.
We said our good byes and finished getting ready to pull out. We only have 95 miles to get to our next stay at J & H RV Park just outside of Flagstaff Arizona.
We arrived about 11:10 and got checked in paid for our four night stay and set up in pull through site 2. When we got to our site the owner was moving the picnic table out of the way so we could pull in the motorhome. He said he had owned this rv park 45 years and he had never seen anyone put the picnic table back in the place they found it. We know that is true from working at Stone Mountain campground.
As we were walking away he said he wanted to show us a “stool sample”. He popped the top off a little canister and pulled out a little wooden stool. He said it also had stool softener…..the top of the stool had a soft cushion on it. We thought that was a good joke.
Lena prepared lunch and we decided to chill out for a while. We both got a nap and it rained a good shower. Tomorrow we will do some exploring but probably not a lot of walking.
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