Painted and Petrified

We left Canyon de Chelly at 7:30am this morning, happy in the knowledge that we were picking up an hour as we left the Navajo reservation and drove into AZ, the land of perpetual Mountain Standard Time. We really enjoyed staying at the Holiday Inn which is located right at the Park entrance. This was by far the quietest place we've been on this trip.

Holiday Inn, Canyon de Chelly

Before we left, Claire wanted to take a picture of one of the many feral dogs hanging out around the inn. I know it pays off for them because I saw a van load of women feeding a bunch of pups before we left.

Feral Dog, Holiday Inn, Canyon de Chelly

Claire came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road to avoid running over this snake, blithely sunning herself. [Not wanting to make unwarranted gender assumptions, here, I flipped a coin.] The closer Claire came to her, the faster the snake moved off the road.

Guardian of the Road, Painted Desert

I had never been to the painted desert, before, and I was surprised at the landscape: I had expected the terrain to be flat, multi-colored sandy expanses. Instead, we saw terrain similar that that encountered in several places, with interestingly contrasting colors at the various geological layers.

Painted Desert

Painted Desert

Unfortunately, the Painted Desert Inn no longer hosts travelers. Instead, it is a museum and bookstore. We loved the simple elegance of it.

Painted Desert Inn, National Historical Landmark

There were at least a dozen overlooks along the road through the Painted Desert, each with a slightly different viewpoint to offer. There were also several trails; but, we only walked the short ones, rushing to arrive at Flagstaff in time to tour the Riordan Mansion.

Viewpoint, Painted Desert

As a child, I recall hearing a song on the radio about "The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" Railway. Well, this never in fact reached Santa Fe--the terrain was too tough. And, I suspect, too expensive to build upon. In 1996, this line merged with Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. We were astonished to find that very long freight trains kept running every few minutes either East or West.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway

We are fascinated by the petroglyphs we have found, but frustrated by the lack of knowledge about them--experts only seem to be able to guess as to dating and meaning of these curiosities. The example, below, is surely striking evidence of the origin of the myth that storks are the cause of babies.

Petroglyph--Stork and Baby

Petroglyphs--Dozens of Them

The second half of the road through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park began to reveal sections of logs scattered about the landscape. Once there were forests in this area, millions of years ago. The trees fell, were covered with silt, mud and volcanic ash. This sediment stopped oxygen from decaying the logs. Eventually, silicon-laden groundwater seeped into the logs replacing the original wood tissue with silica deposits. This turned into quartz, preserving the logs as petrified wood.

Petrified Log

Rock Profile

Painted Desert

Petrified Wood

Crystal Forest

John Muir, famed environmentalist, lived in this area for a while, at the whistle-stop of Adamana. Given his friendship with President Theodore Rooseveldt, he probably influenced the designation of Petrified Forest as a National Monument for scientific study--only Presidential authorization is required for this. Congressional action is required to create a National Park. This did not occur until 1962.

Muir Rainbow Forest

There are many paleontology sites and exhibits in this region. We did not make an effort to pursue this. But there were several fascinating skeletons of "dinosaurs" in the Rainbow Forest Museum in Petrified Forest National Park.

Roadside Attraction

Our friends Pat & Brian from England drove along Route 66 (US 40) during a recent visit. They were impressed with these, noting that they are made of cement and that the rooms were very tiny. We were fascinated by the old cars scattered among the parking spaces.

Wigwam Hotel on Route 66--Get Your Kicks...

This is the only Hupmobile I have ever seen in my life. We pulled up right behind it as we were driving into Flagstaff. The Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1940 by the Hupp Motor Company of Detroit, MI.

Hip Car Entering Flagstaff

The train runs right through the middle of town in Flagstaff. We had been warned by the Frommer's guidebook to select our motel based on remoteness from the noisy rail line. As we entered the drive into our Quality Inn, Claire noticed that the sign advertised: No Train Noise.

We also took Frommer's guidebook advice and ate lunch at Macy's European Coffee House Bakery & Vegetarian Restaurante. This is the kind of place we love: Good, healthy food, reasonable prices, casual atmosphere, interesting, mixed clientele. There were people of all ages here, from college students to seniors.

Late Lunch

One of the places that Claire wanted to see in Flagstaff was the Riordan Mansion. The Riordans were lumber barons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two of the Riordan brothers married two sisters who were cousins from the Babbitt* family and built this 13,000 square foot American Arts & Crafts style duplex in 1904. There were two separate, virtually identical, homes connected by a common family room, to promote conversation and shared activities. The roofs of the two houses were different, allowing guests to distinguish them and to enter the appropriate residence. Today, one side is presented as it was when lived in and the other side is a museum.

*Bruce Edward Babbitt--whose family is mentioned above--a Democrat, served as United States Secretary of the Interior (under Bill Clinton) and as the 16th governor of Arizona. Conservative Western lawmakers fault the secretary for dismantling the hands-off environmental policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations. Environmentalists, however, see the former Arizona governor as an ally on such issues as mining, grazing, water and timber policies, land management and endangered species.

Riordan House

Large Duplex: Riordan House

We liked Macy's food so much we decided to return for dinner.

Macy's European Coffee House Bakery

Claire's Mediterranean Plate

My dinner selection of cream of cauliflower soup and veggie BLT sandwich was excellent; but, I was still hungry and had a giant biscotti and a steamed hot chocolate for dessert--sorry, no picture.

Chuck's Cup of Soup and Half Sandwich

Inside Macy's

We are enjoying Flagstaff and will be here for one more day.

...Ya know that this town's like a painted desert
Dead heat, movin' in the city
I'm lost in a painted desert
In a painted desert without you... ~ Pat Benatar, Painted Desert Lyrics

Hiking in Canyon de Chelly

We lived in the lap of luxury, today, and slept in until 7:45am! We dined in once more--on fruit and cereal. By 9am we were exiting the motel parking lot where we encountered...

...A Horse With No Name. We took this to be a very good omen.

One of our first views down into Canyon de Chelly driving the South Rim.

How Green Was My Valley

Gear Girl, Modeling Clothing and Gear by REI

Sunlight Shows Through Fauna in CdC.

We saved the South Rim of Canyon de Chelly and the hike down White House Trail for today because the drive is longer and we wanted to be rested, it has a trail that you can walk without a guide, and--at its end--it has the only ruins you can approach without a guide.

Heading Down White House Trail

Looking Down the Trail

Chuck on the Trail

White House Ruins

At the end of the trail, Claire decided she wanted to purchase a memento of our day and was taken by a piece of Navajo art by Sam. It was a painting on sandstone, telling the story of a hunt. It had a short explanation on the back of the piece. Sam was a delightful, cheerful 16 year old who plays basketball and track and hikes in this area almost every day.

Sam

A Little Local Color

Claire at the Second Tunnel on the Trail

Looking Up In the Canyon

Sitting in the Shade of an Alcove

Long View of Canyon

Balanced Rock Art Along the Trail

Twisted Rocks

At one of the overlooks, we saw for the first time these clever view finders that guided your vision to the location of the site of interest. We had brought our binoculars, today, and were then able to easily locate the sites.

View Finders

Spider Woman is incredibly important in Navajo Legend--she gave them the gift of weaving. In legend, she lives on top of this 800 foot sandstone spire--one of the most distinctive features of the canyon, rising from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley.

Spider Rock

Navajo Woman Playing Flute at the Edge of the Canyon de Chelly

Having finished our day's outing we looked forward to coffee at Changing Woman Coffee house at the start of the South Rim Road. We had tried to stop there, yesterday, but she was closed. Apparently, business is especially slow this year; she even asked us if we knew why. We had two excellent Chai Lattes. Frommer's Guide was right-on about this place. Owner Victoria Begay can be found in a Hogan under the trees across from the national monument's Cottonwood Campground. The coffee is organic, and the cafe owner, Victoria Begay, also offers a variety of four-wheel-drive, hiking and camping tours.

Changing Woman Coffee Sign

Changing Woman is a Goddess in Navajo legend. She was found by First Man and First Woman, who had never had a child of their own. People say she lives from infancy to old age every day and renews her youth with each dawn. The ritual ceremony for her transition to womanhood is performed to this day and brings families together in a celebration of continuity of life and spiritual communion known as Kinaalda.

Victoria Begay, the Owner of The Changing Woman Cafe with Her Dog

This was our view of Changing Woman's backyard from our table. We ended the day's outing with another horse--a perfect circle of experience.

A Horse Named 'Comanche'

Canyon de Chelly is one of our favorite spots so far. It is the Grand Canyon writ small; but this is a good thing--this intimacy. We now understand why our friends Tai and Letha love this place so much. It is uncrowded--at least for us at this time of year. The people are friendly, the scenery is stunning. We had a pleasant encounter with Bob and his wife from Alice Springs, Australia, on the trail and at one of the overlooks. They have the outgoing charm we have come to expect of all Aussies. Better still, we had absolutely no problem understanding them, despite their accent.

Listen
Smell the pungent Juniper
Ancient black rock branches on the distant horizon
A dark cloud above means rain will soon be upon us
The awesome monolith at your feet is Tse Na ashjee ii--Spider Rock
Holy Spider Woman is an important deity in Navajo legend
It is she who taught the People how to weave
There is purity and strength here
And places sacred to the People
Places strong in the oneness of the earth and the sky and of all things

~ Interpretive Sign at Spider Rock Overlook

Canyon de Chelly

A Roadside Attraction on the Road to Canyon de Chelly

Today we had a 3.5 hour drive from Mesa Verde, CO, to Canyon de Chelly (duh Shay) in
AZ. It was mostly uneventful, except for continuing scenic beauty.

Chinle Wash from an unmarked pullout. It was so beautiful we had to stop and get a photo.

We stopped to get gas at the same station, in Mexican Water, we used on the way up to Mesa Verde. I don't mean to imply there is more than one, mind you; in fact, I think the gas station-store IS Mexican Water, if you discount the sparse population. Claire decided to get a bag of ice there, too, and was delighted to find it was cheaper than any ice we had purchased in days: $1.69.

We saw a Safeway and debated whether to purchase our produce there: We were afraid that the AZ agricultural inspection might apply to passenger vehicles and we did not want to risk forfeiting $20 worth of groceries purchased only minutes before. Our worries were in vain--only commercial vehicles were required to stop.

We finally found a small grocery store in Chinle. We felt like foreigners in there--we saw only one other Anglo couple. I noted that people spoke to each other in what I took to be their native tongue. This is definitely Navajo Nation land. We did manage to find grapes, strawberries, blueberries and bananas; we even purchased turkey breast at the deli; however, we later discovered that this delicacy had many of the attributes of spam. Claire was unwilling to eat hers. I needed both bulk and protein, so I grimaced and commenced to chow down. I used the grapes to wash it down.

We were delighted to learn that Canyon de Chelly has no admission fee! I did not sleep well, again, last night. This factored into my input on how to split our two days in Canyon de Chelly. We drove the North Rim today and will drive the South Rim tomorrow; since it has the only hike you can take without a guide and will make our day longer, it seemed the best option.

Approaching Antelope House

Antelope Canyon. Notice the green at the bottom.

Navajo Fortress. This is not a building but a natural protection--Navajos would climb this island of rock to escape pursuing US soldiers.

Lichen and Rock. Claire loves the contrasts of colors and patterns we sometimes encounter.

Antelope House Ruin. There are several "layers" of construction, here. The most recent is reminiscent of Mesa Verde style architecture because this is where those people moved when they left Mesa Verde.

Ancient Ritual Site. We were taken by the remoteness, small size and isolation of this cave. I assume it had some spiritual significance; it could not house more than one person, I think.

Our first room at the Holiday Inn was unsatisfactory: Claire smelled stale smoke and I found a strong odor of cleaning product. They relocated us into a second floor room that is quite nice. But, we did have trouble accessing the building--we were pulling out our key cards too slowly: An Australian couple clued us in on that. International diplomacy at its best.

View from our balcony at the Chinle Holiday Inn.

We immediately headed for the laundry room with our roll of quarters to replenish our supply of clean clothes--they sure smell good! It cost only $2 for washing and $1.25 for drying, using their commercial grade equipment.

Bed in our room with choice of soft and firm pillows. However, Claire found no perceptible difference!

The Holiday Inn restaurant, Garcia's, was recommended by our guidebook as the best in town. We tried the fajitas and loved them.

Fajitas

Fajita Condiments

Treat the Earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. ~ Ancient American Indian Proverb