13/10/2019 - Santa Fe → Monument Valley → Horseshoe Bend → Page / USA (812 Kilometers)

Santa Fe was still mostly asleep as we started our day quite early. We wandered through the empty streets of the capital of New Mexico. The shops were still closed and there was no usual hustle and bustle in the city center, the Plaza. The city was founded by Spaniards in 1610. However, most of the houses in the old town were built in the interesting Pueblo style, a typical settlement form of the Pueblo Indians. Many of these adobe buildings house galleries and small shops. The only place that was really crowded was the cathedral for Mass. We wanted to at least have a coffee this early in the morning and we found a special café that matched this special city. Only 2 people could fit in front of the counter and the café was full. There was a lot to look at and browse through. Here we found old photographs, magnets, banknotes, and all sorts of odds and ends. Unfortunately, we had to leave already because we had a full day ahead of us.

Long before we arrived at the visitor center, we could see the mesa formations of Monument Valley. The area is managed by the Navajo. In the visitor center, we could admire some handicrafts of this second-largest Native American tribe in the United States. Then we went deeper into Monument Valley. There is a scenic drive that we took with our rental car, and we kicked up quite a lot of dust. We had enough time to look at everything and take photos. There were a giant hat, a fallen wagon wheel, and vast plains among them. From a distance, we said goodbye to the valley and looked at the famous silhouette from movies and TV. No wonder Forrest Gump didn't feel like walking any further when he saw this.

Time flies here, so we unfortunately didn't make it to Horseshoe Bend in time for the sunset. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a great view of this horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River.

We drove the short distance to Page for the overnight stay.