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Tuesday, October 8, I (finally) slept well that night! Leaving the room to go to breakfast, I noticed the landscape behind the motel. In fact, there is the City of Pages, road and right behind : the desert ! This really is especially as structuring. But the colors are beautiful:

Breakfast is always good, with a difference this morning pancakes and sausage! It was really great, it makes me want to be here for my next breakfast... But there were a little problem with this breakfast... is that it's not the one we were supposed to have! Indeed, nearly half of the bus got the wrong restaurant (including me ...).

Go hop forward on the road to adventure! (Hem, sorry ...) check-out with the bus, we have quite a way to go and a schedule to follow: at noon in the middle of Monument Valley for dinner with the Indians.
The sun slowly rises over the plains of red earth gives beautiful colors, with bushes and clumps of green grass while the rock color also:

At one point, we move to a place known for quite some people, but I have not had time to make a picture. Fortunately, Mike (the bus driver) told me that we will come back here at home. Phew!
So, I keep my camera handy and took the opportunity to take some pictures of American roads straight lines (we are in the Navajo Indian Reserve):

The bus slows down and finally park, here we are!

Welcome to Jurass ... uh no sorry. Welcome to Monument Valley !


Monument Valley ... mythical place in Westerns, but also true. This is the place that I have the most marked (with Darwin and Downtown San Francisco) throughout the report. Guess why photos:

We are 4x4, in a kind of pick-up driven by Navajos in the middle of Monument Valley Indians, it is very bumpy and it feels (especially video ...). But the scenery is really beautiful! It is beautiful, pretty hot and the sky is clear. We have a few photo stops (one of the few pictures of me during this reporting, enjoy!). During one of these stops, I want to pick up a jar of the dust of red earth and leave my footprints in this place... Footsteps that the wind will swept away by a few hours or days.

We pass ''next'' a place called ''North Window'', a kind of large passage in the rocks, as if someone had cut a door :

After a moment on these bumpy tracks, we arrive at our rendezvous point for lunch. Cooked by the Indians themselves.

Corn pancake, meat cooked in front of us, excellent BBQ sauce... magical views... a good strong coffee (but hot!). And I while I think a photo opportunity after the meal ...

After this great meal and some jewelry shown us by the Indians, it is time to get back on the road, but the ride (of the Daltons) in Monument Valley is not yet finished. We're off to see Totem pole. A natural rock formation that looks like a Totem. On the site, there is also a biiig rock... the person trying to push it gives you an idea of the size of the boulder simply called ''the Cube''.

It is time to take the way back, several rocks rise around us, and a few cars following us, they also charge visitors. This desert landscape is truly magical... we expect to see John Wayne out from behind a rock touch, waiting chuck wagons who make clouds of dust... except that these trucks are motorized !

After this visit, we will take a look at the small Trading Post in Monument Valley. Lot of cool stuff but it's not worth the Cameron Trading Post. Just before taking the bus, a team rider happens every backfiring and garrent... Cowboy boots and Harley :

We leave by the same route this morning, going to Page again, but this time, we just go to the exit, we could see from the motel this morning: Lake Powell (formerly the Glen Canyon). The road is scrolling, I think we spent half of our days on the road... the U.S., it is really VERY big!

This time, I did not miss the panel, for those who know the reference: we saw Gordon Freeman running around, chasing aliens of Xanadu with the G-Man hiding behind a bush. For those who do not know, this is based on a series of video games: Half-Life. The first episodes revolve around a scientific and military site at Black Mesa and whose hero is a scientific in an orange-black heavy protection suit called... Gordon Freeman!

Arriving to Page, I see once again their coal-fired power plant. According to the natives, better and cleaner than a nuclear power plant.

We have come to Lake Powell, 658 km ² in area to 63 million m³ of water. Lake Geneva is smaller but contains 1.5 times as much water as Lake Powell has an average depth of 40 meters (and a maximum depth of 150m). The Glen Canyon Dam, built in 1963 has filled the lake in 17 years: in 1980. However, the lack of water that has plagued the region since the early 2000s is worrying: between 2000 and 2004, he lost 32m water depth and 2007, the lake was only 60% of its capacity. It is planned to open the dam and Lake Powell finally empty (which would return at the same time, Glen Canyon) to counteract the lack of water. For you must know that this river feed a large area, from as far as California.



Being on the bridge, I feel the entire structure vibrate when a truck passes (here a Kenworth) while chrome:

Then those who want to can make a plane ride over Lake Powell, for my part, I remain on the ground and I want to drink a Starbucks coffee mocha. It's fresh, it's good and... I must buys back in France! I loved it!

Waiting the return of the aircraft, raising my eyes to the sky, I see an airliner leaves a shadow on the clouds, it's funny, it's the first time I saw it... Probably I was not careful enough. I will open my eye next time.

I watched a moment the American news channel, still nothing: the parks are still closed. The plane finally returned, and we also direction Tropic where we expect our motel at night. We pass Kanab, a small town in Utah where were filmed various known films (Planet of the Apes, the man who was worth $ 3 billion, Lassie, and many others ...). And the sun offers us again tonight, beautiful lights golfer on the rocks and clouds:

Our guide was also a great comment on the last photo: ''It is God who invented Photoshop'' because of the colors of the sky (with the assumption that god exists).
We arrive at our motel at night, and the restaurant management. Finally, the dining room instead. A cowboy us home pulling shots (the gun was loaded with blanks, but it still suprising a lot when you do not know!) The food is simple but good. Construction, rustic, lets the cold and wind, but the cast-iron stove in the center of the room warm enough that we did not were freezing on site. Afterwards, head to the bed for a well deserved night's sleep.

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