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| Kinley and Knox with the beautiful rock formations in the background |
As the sun streamed in through the picture window in our
little cabin overlooking Monument Valley in Arizona, we could see the tour
companies with the backs of their pickups trucks outfitted with bench-style
seating already taking guests on the bumpy road down into the valley and around
the rock formations. We had elected not
to book a tour but rather to drive the loop on our own even though someone in
Moab had told us that hearing the stories about the formations told by a Navajo
with deep connections to the land was well worth the extra cost. Since we were going on to Mesa Verde, we
decided that investing the extra time in a guided tour might mean that we
wouldn’t arrive at our next destination before the visitors’ center closed. (Plus the dusty ROAD meant that all of the
passengers were covered in red dirt.)
After packing the car and checking out, we followed the
signs to the dirt road that made a loop through the desert landscape and its
desolate beauty.
As soon as we pulled
onto the well-worn lane, we could see why the Navajo Department of
Transportation had been up all night doing maintenance in this area (though it
had done little to make the road better).
What amounted to little more than a narrow cow path was pocked with
potholes, and we were shocked that some visitors were attempting the 17-mile loop
in sedans rather and 4-wheel drive vehicles. 13 of the 17 miles are on a
one-way road, so once we got started, we couldn’t change our minds.
The first formations on the route were the ones we’d seen
from our cabin, East and West Mittens and Merrick Butte, and we continued on
past Elephant Butte, the Three Sisters, the Thumb, and the Totem Pole.
We even found one that reminded us of Josh’s
dad’s hand with its crooked pinky finger.
In all, there were 11 marked spots along the route through the
strikingly beautiful valley famous for its presence in many Western movies.
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| The Totem Pole formation is the tallest formation on the far right of the picture. |
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| Yep. It pretty much looks like a big thumb. |
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| This is the one that we think looks like Josh's dad's hand with its crooked pinky finger! |
And it was movie inspiration that had brought us to Monument
Valley in the first place.
As I mentioned
in
my post about Route 66 on Day 11 of our trip, Knox had been wanting to visit
for years because of the Disney movie
Cars. But zooming around the rock formations
race-track-style and turning right to go left a la
Doc Hudson wasn’t an option
on this rutted, bumpy thoroughfare.
I’m
happy to report that the trusty Volvo made it out unscathed, but it was touch
and go for a few minutes along the way.
After the experience, Josh said, “I’d like to say that this
was the worst road I’ve ever driven on in America, expect that it’s not really
America. It needs, like, an asterisk or
something.” To which Knox replied, “Not
America??!! How can you say it’s not
America?! It’s, like the Americaest
America there is!”
Navajo sovereignty is complicated.
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| We had lunch at Twin Rocks Trading Post which had both good food and interesting Native American arts and crafts. |
And I guess we hadn’t had our fill of the complicated part,
because our next stop (after a very tasty lunch of Navajo tacos at Twin Rocks
Trading Post) was Four Corners, another area of Navajo sovereignty where four
US states meet at one celebrated point.
The
sun was blazing, and there was no shade to shield us while standing in line for
our turn to take the obligatory straddling-four-state-borders picture, so we
sent the kids to check out the stalls selling Navajo crafts in the only area
protected from the sun while Josh and I waited.
When it was finally our turn, we were careful to obey the sign
instructing us to take no more than 3 photos (unlike the group in front of us
that patently disobeyed the edict).
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| Kinley touches four states simultaneously |
After getting shots of each kid sprawled across four zip
codes, we went in search of the facilities.
I mean, after all, we had just walked across Colorado, Utah, Arizona,
and New Mexico.
We were disappointed to
see that the relatively-recently constructed restrooms were not in working order,
so we had to use the Porta Potties in the gravel parking lot.
Not pleasant in such heat.
Moving on to our next adventure, we drove on to Colorado and
Mesa Verde National Park.
Josh and I had
differing expectations for this park—mine were high, his were low—so it was
going to be interesting to see whose were more accurate.
Rather than staying in the gateway city of
Cortez, we continued our streak of National Parks lodges with the
Fair View Lodge which houses a highly-rated restaurant called the
Metate Room.
Our plan was to stop at the visitors’ center,
buy tickets for a tour of the cliff dwellings for the following day, check in
to the lodge, and then eat in the Metate Room.
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| We made it to park #20 |
Unfortunately, just after we arrived inside the park and snapped
the requisite sign pictures, the skies opened and a rainstorm unlike any we’d
seen all summer commenced.
Undaunted,
Josh parked the car illegally near the visitors’ center and took one for the
team, sprinting inside to buy our tickets in spite of the downpour while the
rest of us waited in the car.
The park’s ancient cliff dwellings can only be visited on ranger-guided
tours, so we needed to purchase our tickets for one of the next day’s tours. The tickets are reasonably priced at $5 per
person, but you can’t buy them online.
You have to show up in person no more than two days in advance, and the
website said you weren’t allowed to buy tickets to both the Balcony House and
the Cliff Palace during peak season. You
had to choose just one and hope that tickets were available when you got there.
While the kids and I waited in the car, we kept our fingers crossed that we’d
be able to nab a spot in one or the other.
After a few minutes, Josh came dashing back to the car,
soaking wet but victoriously clutching four tickets for the Balcony House
tour. “They even had tickets left for
the Cliff Palace tour! And the lady said that you could buy both!” he
announced. “Should we?” Bless his heart. He was willing to go back out in the
torrential rain to get us tickets to the second tour. So of course I let him.
Once we got to the lodge (which is really more like a nice motel),
the rain slacked off and we were able to schlep our luggage inside without
getting too wet.
After settling in, we
made our way to the Metate Room with its curved wall of windows overlooking the
plateau and its local, sustainably-sourced cuisine.
We had heard great things about this
restaurant and were not disappointed.
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| Pickled Strawberry Salad |
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| Rattlesnake & Pheasant Sausage with Caramelized Onions |
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| Roasted Corn on the Cob with Black Bean Pico |
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| Crispy Prickly Pear Pork Belly |
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| Seared Sockeye Salmon with Citrus Beurre Blanc |
The rattlesnake & pheasant sausage
and the roasted corn on the cob were both standouts, but everything we ordered
was delicious.
And you can’t beat the
view!
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| The dining room at the Metate Room. (Photo courtesy of Aramark) |
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