Grandson Watch in San Diego

     Debbie and I arrived in Santee,CA a few days ago, safe and sound after completing 3196 miles of our journey.  At the present time we are sitting in a very noise waiting room, awaiting the arrival of our first grandson.  I'd fill in his name, but the parents to be, Ben and Joanne, have done a good job at keeping that little factoid a secret!  But it looks like the secret will soon be out, as the birthing process is moving ahead quite rapidly.

 Last night was the Blood Moon, and Debbie and I were pretty confident that Baby Doo would soon be arriving.  About 11:30 this morning, Ben called saying they were heading for the hospital!  So now we have a little time on our hands, so I'll catch up on our journey thus far.  Don't worry, if something happens, I'll cut back with the breaking news.
     After Moab, we traveled a few hours south for a scheduled visit to Monument Valley, the location for several John Wayne movies including Stagecoach, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and countless others.
 Again the scenery was spectacular and was soon obvious why John Ford chose this location for so many of his classic westerns.  Numerous other pictures have used Monument Valley including Back to the Future and several James Bond movies.
     We camped for 2 nights at Gouldings Campground, which provided us with a spectacular view of the numerous buttes and mesas in the valley.   The sites are a little tight, but the pull-thru we requested was adequate.  It's preferable for us to reserve pull-thru sites when we anticipate not utilizing Yozo after we're parked.  The site was level, but the dirt was a little problem.  Some crushed stone on the site would have eliminated a lot of red dirt being tracked into Big Red.

Debbie and I were amazed at the number of foreign visitors who were visiting the area, traveling in every type of camping vehicle you could imagine.  Rental RV's were quite common, along with vans where the occupants actually slept on the roof in a tent that extended out of a Thule type rooftop carrier.  Many were camping in tents.  We met one family from Australia who were on a 5 month journey across America.  Debbie gave them several tips on visiting NYC, and they were very appreciative.  Lake Placid was on their list, so we were confident they would be enjoying their time in NY.
     Goulding Lodge is located about half a mile down the road, and the entire facility is located on the Navajo Reservation.  The Trading Post, first opened and operated by Harry Goulding and his wife Leone, nicknamed Mike,in 1921 is now a museum, and many  interesting artifacts can be seen.  The depression era had a significant impact on the Trading Post and the Navajo Reservation, and Harry heard of a Hollywood Director named John Ford, was looking for a location to film Western movies.

 Harry took pictures of Monument Valley, and within a few weeks John Ford and a young actor named John Wayne arrived for the shooting of the movie Stagecoach.  Admission is free, but remember, we're really visiting a Navajo Reservation, and "donations" are expected.  I don't think you'd get through the front door if the wallet didn't come out.  They do survive on tourists though, so it really should be expected.  Behind the Trading Post is a movie theater that has nightly John Wayne movies, but bring a cushion for your butt, cause they went cheap on chairs!  I like a good John Wayne movie, but I wasn't willing to sit through a movie.
   

We climbed aboard the Goulding Tour vehicle, and headed out to view Monument Valley with our Native guide.  Before long he had the tourists speaking Navajo, and shouting at the numerous tours passing by us.  We passed through the entry booths, (remember....Navajo Reservation) but the tour cost obviously included the cost of admission, and we breezed past the lines of cars awaiting entry.  We soon made a right turn and headed down a red dirt road leading into the Valley.

     I certainly would recommend utilizing a tour guide to tour Monument Valley.  We traveled down several roads into the back country which were clearly marked as private roads.  The tour guide was able to provide many unique factoids which made the trip very worthwhile, and we even met up with a small number of wild Mustangs.  We did not stop at the Visitors Center, so I can't comment on that.  Our tour lasted  almost 4 hours, which seemed just about right.  Gouldings also provides a shuttle between the campground and the Lodge/Restaurant/Trading Post, and that was very convenient.  After returning from our tour, we cleaned off a lot of dust, had a great dinner at camp, and took the shuttle to the Lodge to enjoy a wonderful view of the Valley at sunset.

   

The next day we broke camp and headed for our next stop near Phoenix.  Temperatures were pushing 104 as we pulled into our campsite, and we settled into cool  Big Red down.  Twin a/c roof units got the job done for a little while, till our transfer unit decided to act up, forcing us to utilize the 30 amp plug instead of 50 amps.  Now that we are settled in at Santee, I had hoped to work that problem with the repair shop.  As a matter of fact, I was on hold with Tiffin in Alabama, when Ben called this morning.  The following day we cruised across lots of desert before making the climb up "the grade" to Jacumba.  From there, it was downhill to Santee.  Road temperatures pushed 100, but Big Red had no difficulty pushing uphill for 14 miles.
     So our cross-country adventure has transformed into the magic parents and grandparents dream about.  The arrival of a child/grandchild.  I can honestly say that Debbie and I seems to be enjoying this transition more than Ben and Joanne.  But they'll catch up soon enough....😂😂😂!!!  Debbie has had a couple of days to try and explain to Jamo that a new best buddy was coming soon.  But he's still trying to figure out what that baby swing is doing in his living room???  He'll figure it out soon enough.  I would bet that before long his favorite seat will be underneath the highchair!
     It's been about 8 hours since this adventure began, and everything is going just fine.  Ben is exhausted since he's been going about 24 hours now.  We know that Joanne is being a trooper, and working hard to bring this child into the world.  The Grandparents are doing fine, and it sounds like all the cousins are up to date back in NY.  I'll go through my photos and finish this blog up tomorrow.  Looks like you'll have to read the next entry to see how this turns out.  Take care everyone, and we hope everyone is well tonight.