Thompson Travelers

We’ve traveled north into Utah to Navajo territory to the Colorado plateau, characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 feet above the valley floor.  The Navajos called this place the Valley of the Rocks.  This rugged beauty may be familiar to you since it has been featured by Hollywood in so many westerns clear back to the days of silent movies. This is what people think of when they think of the great American West.

The director, John Ford,  filmed so many of the most famous westerns here with Hollywood greats like John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart.  Stagecoach, Easy Rider, Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Wild Wild West, the Lone Ranger, just to name a few, all were filmed here.

We hopped into these open air tour vehicles to make our way around the valley floor.   Bumpy, winding, and dusty, but none of that mattered when you were looking at these amazing formations carved by wind, rain, and erosion over time.

God’s earth is certainly a strange and wonderful place!!