Flashback Friday - Valley of the Gods

You may remember last week I wrote about how we had to cross this mountain (Cedar Mesa) to get to Natural Bridges National Monument.

And that itty-bitty gray line is the road leading to the mountain:

And we all know that what goes up (meaning us) MUST come down so we had to drive back DOWN the mountain on our return trip. Once we reached the bottom we took a left off that ribboned gray road to get to the Valley of the Gods (VOTG).

VOTG is like a "mini-me" of Monument Valley, another Flashback Friday topic. It's a 17-mile dirt road that winds through various rock formations. It was like we landed on another planet - the only other person we passed was a guy by the side of the road who's motorcycle was stuck in the sand. Jim got out and helped him push it to the road. Other than that - it was desolate. The wind howled over the sand and through the rocks. Here's a short clip.



We never had a map of the rock formations - I just stumbled across one while writing this post. So I'm going to try to match up some of my photos with what I think are the correct names of the formations.

This one is called "Seven Sailors" because there are seven rocks with flat "hats" on top. 

But I called it "Screaming Man" because I zoomed in on the one rock, and, well, it looks like a man screaming.

There was supposed to be a rock formation that looked like a battleship. This one likes like a pirate ship to me. Does that count?

I thought this one looked like a monkey face. Do you think I could get a job naming these rock formations?

These next few are just rock formations. I've numbered them 1, 2, 3 and 4. Clever. I know.

Here the sun is just kissing the top of the rocks.

This shot gives you a good feel of the land.

The best part is, you didn't have to endure the bumpy truck ride, and your buttocks aren't screaming for some soft pillows.

Your welcome.