Day 9- Monument Valley, Four Corners, Ship Rock
The next morning with the early morning sun lighting up the red cliffs.
   
Another plane had flown in yesterday after me.
 
I had a long way to go today.  My destination was Lamar, Missouri, 820 miles.  Plus, I was going to lose an hour or two (I wasn't really sure) due to the time change.
   
Daylight was burning so I had to pass on the Marble Canyon Lodge's famous breakfast.  But I would get my great breakfast this morning as you will see.
   
Heading north up the canyon.
   
One last look at Lee's Ferry and the Pariah River.
   

It's all about the lighting.

I made a quick stop at Page to have my good friends at Classic Aviation top off the RV with fuel.  There weren't a lot of places to get gas between Page and my planned fuel stop at Raton, New Mexico.
   
Departing Page, I flew up the eastern branch of Lake Powell.  I was looking for the famous Rainbow Bridge.  I had somehow overlooked it two years ago.
   
It would have been a simple matter to get the latitude/longitude of the Rainbow Bridge and plug it into the GPS.  But it was on the chart, so I thought it would be a simple matter to find it.  Big mistake.
   

But I was wrong.  I couldn't find it, and pressed for time, I had to move on.
   
Well, it just gives me a reason to come back some day!
   
It looks like a natural bridge down there at the base of the rock but that isn't it.
   
I pressed on to my next destination:  Monument Valley.  The visisbility was excellent today.  I could see the monuments a long ways away.  I was making good time heading east thanks to a tailwind so I knew that would help me get to Missouri before it got dark.
   
Another valley adjacent to Monument Valley.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
Wow, it almost doesn't look real.
   
My previous time here it was cloudy and misty.  But not today, the conditions were excellent for some good monument photography.
   
 
   
A good look at the "Totem Pole" rock spire on the right, featured in Clint Eastwood's movie "The Eiger Sanction".
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
And there is the Goulding Trading Post airstrip.  I had a great breakfast at their restaurant five years ago.  I figured with the big tailwind, I had time to stop for breakfast!
   
I landed and taxiied on to the ramp area.  I was surprised to see all these Light Sport planes pulling in right behind me.  I had seen them at Page.  Their group had the same idea I had -- get breakfast at Monument Valley!
   
 
   
I had to walk to the Lodge/Restaurant but the scenery on the walk wasn't bad.
   
The view of Goulding's Lodge and Restaurant from the road.
   
Looking down from the hill.
   
John Wayne would have approved.
   

The breakfast was as good as I remember it.  Score!  Then it was time to get going.  Because the airport is on the western edge of Monument Valley I have to fly through it again ... darn the bad luck!

 
   
 
   
 
   
There were two more things I wanted to see before I climbed to altitude and began the transit home.  The first was Four Corners, which is where four States come together at one point:  Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.  I plugged 37 North and 109 West into the GPS and after that it wasn't too hard to find.  There it is below.
   
The San Juan River runs nearby.
   
My last thing on the list of things to see was Ship Rock.  It wasn't too hard to find either; I could see it in the distance from Four Corners.
   
It was named Ship Rock for its' resemblance to an enormous 19th-century clipper ship.
   
 
   
I circled around it and then that was that.  I climbed up to 11,500 feet and headed east towards my fuel stop at Raton, New Mexico.
   
 
 
   
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