Today we packed up our RV and said good bye to Lake Powell. We headed further into the high desert of Northern Arizona. The scenery was remarkable with the red painted mesa and the statuesque buttes. (yes..all learning new terms). The vastness of the land is overwhelming. After a 3 hour drive we arrived at Monument Valley, one of the homes of the Navaho Nation. To my surprise the elevation that we have been at was quite high. The north rim was almost 9,000 feet. Then we dropped back to about 4000 feet at Lake Powell and then back up to 6,000 feet at Monument Valley. We checked into the View Hotel, the only one inside the park. The view from our room was incredible. Great dinner overlooking the valley. Accommodations were tight so Anna volunteered to sleep on the floor. (Two queen beds with no rollaway, my first reservation mistake.) When we awoke however, Julie had swapped with her and the sight of seeing your wife asleep on the floor wrapped up in a blanket started Day 8. She sweetly knew that I had to drive and needed my rest.

Today we were on the lake all day. We rented a ski boat and an intertube and left the marina around 9am. The Lake was truly incredible. The water was much colder than expected and stopped us from spending too much time swimming. We took a picnic out onto the lake. At the end of the day we found Antelope Marina for some well deserved ice cream. We arrived back at the RV around 4:30 in time for an early supper. Sandspurs were a slight problem, especially for Julie who seemed to really attract them. The RV park was completely run over with little jack rabbits. There were everywhere. The kids also got to learn what community showers actually means.

Day Five we spent the morning at the lodge. Anna and I even ventured out onto the point. We slowed down on the way out to let the buffalo cross the road. We traveled across northern Arizona to Lake Powell. We stayed the next two nights in the RV and it actually worked out pretty well. It took us a while to get the whole RV lifestyle but we began to get the hang of it. The best moment of the day was at the end as we all sat around outside the RV and looked at the wonderful display of stars that night. Turned in early to get ready for next day.