Two Weapons and Two States

 We woke up at 0400 and roused the girls at 0430 for a 0500 departure from our Grand Canyon hotel. Everybody had gone to bed early (around 7pm), so we weren’t even grumpy. 

We ate breakfast in the car which produced some pretty creepy pictures. 

We were surprised at the sheer number of people awake and beginning a multitude of adventures at 0500. 

We drove straight to Goulding’s Lodge at Monument Valley, arriving just as the eclipse began. A dog Carmen named Fin became our instant companion. He even rolled over and shook, hoping to share some of our lunch. He was an entertaining and gentle companion. 

Fin kept looking toward the sun too, and we wondered if he sensed the eclipse somehow. Carmen tried to put the glasses on him but he didn’t understand. 

Lots of folks were out looking at the eclipse, but nothing felt crowded because there were plenty of spots along the road to stop at. 

We ate car sandwiches for lunch as we watched the eclipse. 

Though it didn’t get dark at totality, the quality of the light and the color of the sky changed dramatically. The two pictures below were taken with the same settings in the same location. 

Before eclipse (top), During Eclipse (bottom)

Carmen with souvenir stuffed corn. Not sure what the significance of corn is here, but even our wifi login is “Corn”. 

We have learned that in Navajo tradition, one mustn’t ever look the eclipse or go outdoors during one. So the lodge was slow to get rooms cleaned because so many staff called in and wouldn’t go to work this morning. So we did some extra shopping and exploring while we waited for our horseback ride. The park was closed until the eclipse was over, so at 12:30, there was quite a line of people trying to get in. 

We got fitted up on horses and in helmets for our 2-hour tour.  We had a private horseback tour with our guide Logan, a very friendly Navajo guide.  

Jane on Tank, Carmen on Trigger, Beth on Kansas, and Joel on Arizona. 

Carmen pointed out we had two weapons and two states. Joel and I both had new (to the stable), tall, slow, lazy quarter horses. Jane and Carmen were issued fast competitive horses that were far more energetic. Both of them rode like champions. Joel and I could not have been more proud! Logan the guide was pretty impressed as well. He let Jane lead toward the end. And he had to ask Carmen’s age. He said most kids are scared of her horse Trigger. I rode behind them nearly the entire way, and Carmen had incredibly relaxed control of the horse. I would have never guessed that to be a scary horse to anyone. The guide let the girls trot the horses too, which again they managed effortlessly. Beth’s horse Kansas did his own thing in his own time. And Joel’s horse just followed Beth’s everywhere. 

The word of the day was “decorum”. Jane and Carmen conducted themselves with expert level decorum. We got to ride right up to the monuments over striking terrain, while the guides had taken the other riders to the middle of the plain and back. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. These two both represented House Goodranch well today. 

After the ride, we did some like shopping at the gift shop and then checked into our Premium Villa.  Now we are on rest time before dinner and a star tour through the park tonight. It will be a long day but a massive vacation triumph. We sleep in tomorrow morning anyway.

Up next, Navajo tacos on fry bread. I can’t wait!