Navajo Nation
May 8, 2005
Greetings from the Navajo Nation--
Days and miles have passed since I last wrote from Minnetonka where Julie, her sister Joan and a host of others attended a pool tournament where Joan took 3rd place. The people I met were great--easy to be with and laugh around. It felt good being with a large, noisy bunch after the solitude of the road.
The next moring as I headed off to Joseph City, Julie took a photo of us in front of the bar and Ed who was delivering hay drove up to the entrance ramp on I-40 to lay down plywood for us to get over the cattleguard. The cattleguards are proving to be my nemesis, but the plywood saved us six miles and two hours of backtracking. For that I was grateful.
We rode fairly uneventfully for 17 miles to our next exit at Joseph City. The topography of the land hadn't changed that much, same high desert. The hardest part about traveling the interstate was stepping over the broken beer bottles, shoes, condoms and other such items thrown from passing cars. Not a pretty sight, but at least it's practical through the high desert, with stops every 20 miles.
In Joseph City I was met by Vicky and Allen with a horse trailer to help us cross over yet another cattleguard. Allen and Vicky were another set of strangers who embraced me and my journey. After a long hot shower, I enjoyed pizza for the first time in two months, over great family tales of late ancestors who braved the West. Vicky trailered us in the morning over the cattleguard to start us on our trek to Sun Valley where we met Derek and Eileen of Valley Livestock. I had been hearing about Derek and Eileen since Flagstaff and were thrilled that they took us in and invited us on our very first cattle drive. What a riot. Rocky and I went, as Val needed another day to heal. You could tell Rocky was having a great time. I didn't know how he would take to it, but he was an absolute trooper. Eventrually he and I were all alone on 50,000 acres brining 40 head of cattle and their calves to a central meeting point, where we joined the family to bring the herd up to 120 head. We took them across the high desert to, literally, greener pastures, and had a great time doing it--Hopi rattlesnake and all :) In Sun Valley I was asked to dinner by Ken who owns the best restaurant in Holbrook, where I enjoyed a great meal of Chicken Jerusalem and where Ken gave me a beautiful horsebraided band to adorn my hat.
Our next stop was at Chieftan Inn in Chambers, AZ where my entire journey changed. Dorothy and Frank, owners of the Inn, were our hosts for two nights. Paul Jones of KTNN, the voice of the Navajo Nation, heard of our journey and, literally, tracked me down to Chambers. He and his wife Katherine offereed to take us up to Window Rock, the Nation's captial, and be our hosts where I would recieve a tour of the Nation. We jumped at the chance.
Traveling along I-40 I was pretty angry with the American government for giving the Navajos such ugly land, but once off of I-40 my outlook changed. Linda, who has turned out to be a godsend, from KTNN spent the day with me giving me a tour of the Nation. The Navajo Reservation is beautiful, as are the people. I met the President of the Nation, as well as Speaker Morgan, equivalent to our Speaker of the House. I was absolutely treated like royalty. Paul had interviewed Speaker Morgan and me on the air, and I have never seen such an outpouring of support. They told me they've seen motorcycles, cyclists and backpackers pass through, but never a lone woman traveling by horse, but, the Navajos got it. They understood the reason for my journey. The Navajo Nation is a matriarchal society and the mother-child relationship is so incredible. My cell phone, which was given out over the air, didn't stop ringing. People knocked on my door late into the night. I became a minor celebrity and all knew Sam's name.
The land is beautiful, adorned by trees, the first that I had seen in weeks, incredible rock formations and water! I rode down Blue Canyon near Paul and Katherine's house on the way to my next destination and it was absolutely incredible. The canyons were high, deep and red in color, the morning sun set them afire, but the bubbling creek flanked by lush green grass was what set my heart beating again. It was so beautiful. Back east, we forget what a precious resource water truly is, I don't know if I'll ever take it for granted again.
As I continued onto my next destination which KTNN helped set up through Speaker Morgan's office, the 22 mile ride took me 10 hours to complete. We averaged 2.25 mph as we were stopped every 5 minutes by well wishers and photo opps. At one point there were a number of cars lined up on the highway. There was one gentleman who was dressed in office attire, that I thought was the reporter for Gallup Independent newspaper. As it turns out it was Senator Tsosie who was waiting in line at the NM border. He had personally made arrangements for Val and Rocky to spend the night, while Barb from Speaker Morgan's office hosted a party for us at her house. Just such, great, great people and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for a wonderful visit to their Nation.
The next morning we headed onto Gallup, NM where we were once again greeted by well wishers, vehicle honkers and people with so very little who gave everything they could, which truly touched my heart. Val and Rocky championed their first big city--with sirens wailing, sidewalks, cross walks, trains whizzing by, traffic lights, construction and flags whipping at 45 mph, like true bravehearts. And the publicity? They just ask which way to turn for their next photo session. It's really funny. But our heads are not getting too big as I write this from a truckstop, where I was asked to move our tent out of sight, because they thought we were derelicts. Oh well, they didn't know the night before we were celebrities for a moment.
For all you mothers out there, including my pregnant Anne friends, I wish you a joy-filled Mother's Day. May you appreciate every cold burnt piece of toast adorned with hardened eggs, graced by a flower as only my Sam, and his brothers and sister, could have done.
Missing you all so much,
Love,
Linda :)