We are now in Monument Valley, our second night at Goulding's Campground. We just completed an exhilarating hike up the mesa near the campground. A friendly woman who raised five kids here had told us how to get up it this morning. She and her husband had come here 38 years ago intending to stay about three years and they are still here. We never would have figured out how to get up there without her instructions, but we went behind the Seventh Day Adventist school which she is active with and climbed up a rock fall. It was great up on top, we could see a long ways. Earlier we had biked up to the fee area of Monument Valley and hiked around the West Mitten, the one hike they allow you to take without a guide. We had trouble staying on the trail though, but with the Mitten and it's two cousin buttes in sight the whole time, we always knew where we were.

We will get to Bryce Canyon this weekend, which we are excited about. We can finally set up a real home, with 'porch', outdoor shoe rack and get things in proper order inside the trailer. Our supervisor touched base with us and said our 2 week training period starts this Monday.

While we were staying near Mesa Verde, we also went over to Durango and did some shopping and hiking. There is a neat set of trails starting in the city limits called the Animas Mountain Trail. We had views in every direction, it was in a wonderful mountainous setting. The San Juan Mountains were snow covered, and the Forest Service employee we talked with at their office said the access roads to the forest were still closed for the most part. The Colorado Trail starts (or ends) there also but we were told it was pretty muddy with the spring runoff. I expected to see signs of gas drilling around Durango, but never did find any, must not have been in the right place for that. We did see plenty of oil drills on our drives though.

Today is Earth Day, I note that we are seeing some of the best the Earth has to offer. Monument Valley is recognized as a World Heritage Site as an example. We hope places like this remain protected and revered for generations to come. If humankind ever decides that these places aren't worth saving, then the planet is doomed.

P.S. We got our computer problem fixed by getting the latest version of Spybot and running it. We were using our computer for a few weeks without enough spyware and antivirus protection, not a good idea. Anyways, now we can upload pictures again, yippee.