Scottsdale. Left later than planned. New neighbors threw a party, keeping us up. Out the door by 8. Get on the 101 and head north on the Interstate.
Flagstaff. Stopped for gas and drive through Starbucks.
National Forest Road north of Flagstaff. Visited J's folks while they were RV camping in the National Forest
We love crossing the Navajo Reservation It's an amazing drive. Very special this year because of events.
Entire res seems shut down. Signs along side roads for visitors to keep out.
Kayenta. Biggest town on the res. Hotels there were taking bookings.No bathrooms open in the entire Navajo Reservation. People using the side of the road. No food apparently available. Guests being told to eat at the deli in the gas station? Total breakdown of the system.
Four Corners. Shuttered with a tribal police car at the gate to keep people out. We have a conspiracy theory that the real intersection between the states is not at the top of this fine flat bluff overlooking the San Juan River but on the side of one of the steep cliffs, and they happened to relocate it for convenience sake long ago.
Ute Nation. The land itself is the barest in the lower forty-eight. By the time you get to the Ute Casino you feel like you are approaching civilization again. You come into the valley and there are farms. Colorado is well run.
Cortez. The first real civilization since Flagstaff. We check into our favorite motel, which is a renovated old motel on the good edge of town (towards Mesa Verde). The motel has a theme of years from the late Twentieth Century. We got the room 1956, which had a picture of Elvis Presley above the bed.
That night we eat a park-around-the-edge drive-in burger place. Very crowded. Hardly anyone wearing masks except person of undetermined gender with purple dyed hair in an Subarus with California plates. Everyone else acting in defiance of the state order, grabbing some normalcy. Who knew that Cortez was the rebel capital?
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