I have just two things to say about our visit to Canyon de Chelly National Monument – “Awesome!” and “If you have never been to this natural wonderland, put it at the very top of your travel plans NOW! You won’t regret it!”

I have been to the Grand Canyon and the Salt River Canyon, I’ve seen Canyon Diablo, and a lot of other natural wonders of the Southwest, and in my opinion, none of them are as impressive as Canyon de Chelly! I only wish I had discovered this magical place years ago.

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d’Shay) is located at Chinle, Arizona, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, and has been inhabited by native peoples for nearly 5,000 years. At the canyon’s mouth, the colorful rock walls are only 30 feet high, but deeper in the canyon, the cliffs tower over 1,000 feet above the valley floor.

We had been advised not to take our 40 foot motorhome to Canyon de Chelly, and I’m glad we didn’t. There are two campgrounds, one the free Cottonwood Campground, which is best suited for small (under 30 feet) RVs, though we did see a couple of larger rigs that had somehow managed to squeeze in. But between the small spaces, tight turns, and trees close to the roadways, there is no way I’d take our motorhome in there.

Spider Rock Campground, about nine miles from the National Park Service Visitor Center, is privately owned, and it looked pretty run down to us. About the only amenities you’ll find there are lizards, porta-potties, and dry camping

We left the motorhome in Show Low and drove our van to Canyon de Chelly, and after a stop at the Visitor Center, we took the seventeen mile long South Rim Drive, which offered seven overlooks, each one more magnificent than the one before. Each overlook gave us a different perspective on the canyon. Our first stop was the Tunnel Canyon Overlook, which gave us nice views of the canyon, which is very green year around due to the river that flows through the bottom of the canyon.

At our next stop, Tesgi Overlook, we saw this farm, which is owned by a Navajo family who lives in this dramatic wonderland. Can you imagine what it would be like to wake up to these kinds of views every day?

Further along the South Rim Drive, at the White House Overlook, we took this photo of these ancient Indian ruins that date back to 1060 A.D. Archaeologists say that at one time the ruins had over 80 rooms, though only about 60 remain today.

It is very had to choose just one, but if I had to pick, my favorite view in Canyon de Chelly is of magnificent Spider Rock, which towers over 800 feet from the canyon floor. This rock formation is sacred to the Navajo people, who say that Spider Woman lives on top of the rock, and it was this deity who taught the first Navajo women to weave, creating a tradition that has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

Navajo mothers tell their children that if they misbehave, Spider Woman will carry them away and take them to the top of the rock spire to live until they learn their lesson.

I wish I had room to show you all of the wonderful photos we took at Canyon de Chelly, but there are just too many. And it doesn’t matter, because the photos just don’t do this natural wonder justice. You have to see it for yourself to believe it!

In tomorrow’s blog I’ll tell you about our visit to historic Hubbell Trading Post, another Navajo Reservation landmark.

Thought For The Day -A good traveler has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving.

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 In spite of very slow internet service, Kingman, Arizona has a couple of things going for it that make the city well worth a visit, especially if you enjoy history as much as we do.

The Mohave Museum of History and Arts has many interesting displays on the area, from Native Americans to gold prospectors, to World War II airmen, and Route 66 Oakies, who all passed through here at some point in history.

Route 66 saw the greatest migration of people in American history, as refugees from the Dust Bowl fled west, in search of a better life in the Promised Land of California. Many never made it that far, settling down wherever their old jalopies broke down for the last time. A lot of those 20th century pilgrims never made it past Kingman, and their families live on here today.

The Arizona Route 66 Museum, housed in the old Powerhouse Visitor Center, right on historic Route 66, tells the story of the Mother Road and the role it played in shaping our nation’s history and culture. I’ve been a big fan of Route 66 for as long as I can remember, and have enjoyed visiting the museum several times, and enjoyed it every time.

A few winding mountain miles up Route 66 from Kingman, the “ghost town” of Oatman waits to entertain you with costumed gunfighters, interesting small shops, and a resident herd of wild burros who wander the town’s one street, begging for handouts of carrots. The burros are descendents of prospectors’ pack animals that were set free when the gold boom went bust.

During World War II, Kingman Army Airfield was a major training base for aerial gunners who would see battle in the skies over Germany and the South Pacific, and there is a small museum at the Kingman Regional Airport with displays on that period in the city’s history. Further afield, you will find real ghost towns, old stagecoach stops, all kinds of outdoor sports, and plenty of history waiting to be discovered in Mohave County.

Kingman has several RV parks, none of which I would call upscale, but several that are fine for a few nights’ stay while you visit this part of northwest Arizona.

Before I close today’s blog entry, I wanted to report that a representative of TA Travel Centers called me yesterday to discuss the problem we had at their Kingman location earlier this week. I’m happy to report that my money has been credited back to my bank account, and the gentleman is even sending me a gift certificate for our time and trouble. I told him that wasn’t necessary, that I just wanted the problem resolved, but he insisted that it was necessary, as compensation for our inconvenience. He also assured me that the employees at the truck stop will have some remedial training in customer service and company policy. So even though we had an issue, to TA’s credit, they did handle it for us, which I appreciate.

Thought For The Day – A frog in a well does not know the great sea.

With the Affinity rally over, yesterday morning we said goodbye to several of our vendor friends and made ready to pull out of Albuquerque. We were both more than ready to be somewhere else.

I don’t like cliques. I didn’t like them in high school, and I find them even more childish in people our age. There were several of them in Albuquerque, including a group who took exception to us dumping before we left, even though we were just one rig in a line of vendors doing so.

I try to be a nice guy about 99% of the time, but when my bullsh#& tolerance level gets exceeded, sometimes I get ugly.

So it was when one particular group gave us grief when we tried to dump in not one, but two different spots where other vendors had just done so. Finally Terry said to forget it, we’d wait until we got back to Arizona to dump, and I told her to pull the van up behind the bus so we could hook it up to our Blue Ox tow bar.

As she was maneuvering the van into position, one clown from this clique stalked up and demanded that I move because the bus was parked parallel in front of his and his friends’ RVs. I asked him if he was getting ready to pull out, since his slides were still out and they were all standing around.

“No,” he said, “but there is plenty of room all around here where you could hook up.”

“You’re right,” I told him. “And this is where I’m doing it.”

I guess he didn’t like the look that accompanied my reply, because he returned to his pals and glared at us while we hooked up, did our light check, and I scrolled through my PressurePro readout to check my tire pressures. Normally I turn off the bus while I do this, so I don’t asphyxiate the neighbors with diesel fumes, and normally the entire process goes much faster, but for some reason Bad Nick insisted on taking charge and things took a little longer.

With all of that done, we hit the road and got onto Interstate 40, where we quickly got tied up in a major roadblock just as we started the long westbound climb out of town. It took us about 30 minutes to go ten miles, but eventually we cleared the construction zone that was delaying things, and got up to speed.

Since we would be climbing most of the trip, and it was a pretty warm day, I was concerned how the bus would do. The needle on the temperature gauge was riding at the upper level of our safe zone all of the way, but with our radiator misters on we did fine, and the bus purred right long.

We passed through beautiful high desert country with mesas on both sides of the highway, and passed Indian communities that date back to long before the first Europeans ever set foot in North America. We may have taken their land, but the Native Americans are getting their revenge with a long string of casinos stretched along I-40 like a necklace sparkling with slot machines and neon signs promising riches untold to the lucky ones who hit it big.  

Somewhere in western New Mexico a pickup truck pulling a fifth wheel passed us and pulled into our lane, and we laughed when we saw his sewer hose trailing out of its bumper storage space. I tried to call him on the CD radio, but didn’t get an answer, and he was moving too fast for us to catch him. But thanks to the zoom lens on her camera, Miss Terry managed to get several pictures.

We eventually crossed into Arizona, and planned to stop at the State Welcome Center for a stretch break and a quick snack, but every parking space was filled with RVs. I wonder how many were also at the Affinity rally.

In Holbrook we got onto State Route 77 and made the 50 mile run to Show Low, pulling into the same campsite at Show Low Lake Campground that we had vacated when we went to Albuquerque. The trip took us five hours, which is a good day of driving.

My daughter Tiffany’s birthday was last week while we were in Albuquerque, so once we had the bus parked and unpacked a bit, we met Tiffany and her family at a restaurant for a belated birthday dinner.

By the time we got back to the bus it was dark and we were pretty well worn out. But we’re not done yet, today we’ll drive the van to Flagstaff to pick up the new issue of the Gypsy Journal from our printer. Then Terry will be busy stuffing envelopes for the next few days to get them ready to mail. Our life is never dull.

Thought For The Day – People who don’t have a life of their own spend a lot of time criticizing those who do.

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