Musings

Dateline Monument Valley, Utah,
Goulding’s Lodge March 17, 2012
Musings
Day six was all about travel. Most of the day was spent on the road, although we did have stops at Goose neck and at Mexican Hat. Along the way we were treated to the sight of the Sleeping Ute. This is a mountain range in Northern New Mexico, that has the appearance of an Indian lying on his back with arms folded across his chest,, a beautiful site I must say. The landscape out here is unbelievable to say the least. And tomorrow our final day of the trip will be spent in Monument Valley.
The lodge we are staying at is the old Gouldin'g trading post. It was settled and built in the 1920’s and over the years has become a must stay if you are coming to the valley.
What was nine days ago a group of fifteen students, alumni and friends has now become a traveling family. Each one is unique unto themselves but have all become a sort of teammate, adding their bit of wisdom and skill as we travel. Names will be withheld to protect the innocent; however you must know a bit about us. We have among us an eating champion, she could beat Kobayashi at Nathans anytime, and one student brought her dentist along on the trip. We have sworn in our own sheriff, and deputies, we have our own traveling assistant, if we need a charger or need to be somewhere he makes it happen. I have never seen so many cases of water disappear so quickly and our semi pro photographer has taken just over one million photos. There has been the one who laid his room blanket on the ground to watch the stars above give the performance of a life time, and yes a skilled pilot who helped avoid disaster late one night when we almost landed in a pile of horse dung.
Our Lone Ranger has had lots of help from her (Tonto), she has collected at least a half a ton of rocks according to Tonto. And finally, one alumnus, who apparently did not have enough of the PEL, experience the first time that she came back for more, and drug her husband along for the fun. These folks have become my friends, and I will miss the time we have spent together..