Well, after such a successful day yesterday, we decided to kind of take it easy today, though it did not turn out that way. We were very busy.

First, there was a sunrise shot of the Mittens, hopefully with a sun star. It was just OK, but a beautiful beginning of the day.

Then we were off on a two hour multi-stop trip to Bluff, UT. First stop was the tourist trap and danger zone known as Forrest Gump Point on UT Highway 163 just 20 minutes north of Monument Valley.

This is the section of the highway when Forrest stopped running and decided to go home. Since 1994, fans have been coming to Mile Marker 13 to pay homage and, of course, take a selfie. In 2015 and 2016, the Utah Department of Transportation, built multiple turn outs and two parking areas to handle all of the crowds. In addition, there is ample signage warning vehicles of pedestrians and asking people to stay off the highway. You know what happened next. Even more people showed up. Today, around 11:30 AM I would say there were 50 cars and 100 people milling about. Even with all this commotion, Robert Zemeckis chose well, it is a beautiful location.

Next we were off to Goosenecks State Park. Talk about a one shot wonder. It is stunning to see the San Juan River 1,000 feet below you and watch it wander around two bluffs traveling six miles while only advancing one linear mile. There is a good size parking lot and pit toilets that Mary rated 5 out of 10. There are picnic tables so we enjoyed lunch here.

Our final location was the Valley of the Gods which some people call a miniature Monument Valley. You can see it by driving a 17 mile loop dirt and gravel road on BLM land. I would not recommend this drive in anything but a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle. There are good views, but it’s difficult to get close to the formations.