Beaten but not broken, our merry wagon found it's way across a dream desert of colours, bright sun and Navajo horses in the scrubland. Crossing the Colorado River we made our way over the San Francisco volcnanic field to the town of Flagstaff, our oasis in the desert for a few days. I think we both craved the press of people, the lure of well made food and perhaps, as I found, the simple stimulation of walking into a large clean supermarket with its array of sensory delights. Checked into the Le Beau Motel next to the old Route 66 and now on the doorstep of one of the busiest fright train lines in the US. Oh yes brothers and sisters, all night that most evocative of sounds, a freight train giving it horns at all hours of the night at the crossings nary a hundred yards away. If not for them, then it was the bed bugs ("Have you been travelling in South America?"-proprietor before apologetically offering full refund) on walk-about in our bed.
But there was beer and mounds of delicious fries and sushi and coffee and lovely fried rice and...and... Second night in bona fide motel replete with deep ochre coloured walls and black bedclothes. Just couldn't shake that naughty feeling. Movie for Robyn- smiles all round.
Via a recently blown volcano we made our way to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park where all the scenes from a dozen Westerns met us. The visit to the Navajo tribe run park sparked an animated discussion about the contrast between what I perceived to be a thinly veiled commercial racket and what may be my sniffy ideas about how a stunningly beautiful piece of natural earthscape should be looked after. Banks of tour buses with their passengers herded into flying guided tours about the park. No one was spared- agents stalk the parking lot and dream catchers spin their charms. My own tribes legacy perhaps even here.
We wended our way around the 17 mile loop amidst dusk lined great totemic pieces of rock with the most improbably balanced slabs of rock. The light was delicate, the breeze blowing and as the crowds and mad tours filtered away, ethereal set in and the moon found its home in a silver bedecked land.
That gentle breeze turned into a typhoon and by the witching hours, what had been a grim hanging on turned into a rout as we bundled our tent and made for our wagon. Out on that patch of dirt, as the wind howled and dust filled our airways, I harbored my first ignoble envious thought about those merry people in their fine RV's alongside. Brief, but true.
But there was beer and mounds of delicious fries and sushi and coffee and lovely fried rice and...and... Second night in bona fide motel replete with deep ochre coloured walls and black bedclothes. Just couldn't shake that naughty feeling. Movie for Robyn- smiles all round.
Via a recently blown volcano we made our way to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park where all the scenes from a dozen Westerns met us. The visit to the Navajo tribe run park sparked an animated discussion about the contrast between what I perceived to be a thinly veiled commercial racket and what may be my sniffy ideas about how a stunningly beautiful piece of natural earthscape should be looked after. Banks of tour buses with their passengers herded into flying guided tours about the park. No one was spared- agents stalk the parking lot and dream catchers spin their charms. My own tribes legacy perhaps even here.
We wended our way around the 17 mile loop amidst dusk lined great totemic pieces of rock with the most improbably balanced slabs of rock. The light was delicate, the breeze blowing and as the crowds and mad tours filtered away, ethereal set in and the moon found its home in a silver bedecked land.
That gentle breeze turned into a typhoon and by the witching hours, what had been a grim hanging on turned into a rout as we bundled our tent and made for our wagon. Out on that patch of dirt, as the wind howled and dust filled our airways, I harbored my first ignoble envious thought about those merry people in their fine RV's alongside. Brief, but true.
photo shows my sister does filums in real style! Nice on the mountain biking as well!
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