November 30: Mt. Carmel Junction, UT to Kayenta, AZ. Starting mileage: 39,425.
The day started with breakfast at our favorite diner, Golden Hills Restaurant. Then, we loaded up the car and headed southeast past the Vermillion Cliffs towards Kanab, Kayenta, Monument Valley, and Four Corners.
Best Friends Animal Society
If you are near Kanab, Utah, stop at Best Friends Animal Society. Best Friend’s mission is to end animal homelessness and stop the killing in U.S. shelters. More than 4,000 dogs and cats are euthanized EVERY DAY in shelters around the country and Best Friends is doing everything they can to achieve “No Kill by 2025”. In addition to collaborating with animal shelters to make that goal a reality, Best Friends houses more than 1,500 dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, horses, pigs, and other animals in their Kanab sanctuary. These animals may simply be between homes, or may have special needs that require longer–or permanent–stays. Twenty-two of the “Vicktory” dogs came here to heal after Michael Vick was convicted of animal abuse and dog fighting. Consider sponsoring an animal, or if you’re in the area–sign up to volunteer in the sanctuary or make a quick stop at the Visitor Center.
Into Arizona
We traveled back into Arizona over some of the roads we’d come in on, over Glen Canyon Dam and through Page before turning left onto 98. In the far distance, we could see white smoke rising and making clouds. This was the Navajo Generating Station, a power plant that serves electricity to the area. Shocking height and a powerful reminder of the impact humans have on the natural landscape.
Monument Valley
We drove on, continuing down this 2-lane highway, a grey-brown road with veins of black tar spreading like stitches or electrical tape to hold it together. The land was red and orange, and flat. Sometimes, mesas stood tall on this pancaked land–like some giant hand had sat a big slab of butter down. We passed through Kaibito (elevation 6,687 ft), before turning left on 160 and another left on 163 in Kayenta.
This was THAT road. Now, this road has been forever burned in my mind from a cartoon. You know it too, right? But what a delight to see that view in real life! And yes, we looked for roadrunners, and coyotes with Acme suitcases. Nothing. Beep! Beep!
Kayenta
We checked in to the Hampton Inn around sundown. After getting situated, we went down to the restaurant and sat right in front of a lit fireplace for a delicious dinner. Mama Lucy visited the gift shop for ghost beads and we slept like babies that night in Navajo Nation.
December 1: Kayenta, AZ to Four Corners. Starting mileage: 39,700.
This land is unique in that it’s flat for miles, and then a formation becomes visible on the horizon. They are surprising, immense, sometimes awkward–sitting there keeping watch over the land and surely helping travelers navigate. Agathla Peak is one of those formations. A jutting rock, a natural watchtower, a regal mountain, it is sacred to the Navajos and can be seen from miles around.
Another Photo Not Taken
We continued on 160, heading mostly east with a northerly tilt, through communities like Red Mesa Trading Post (and, yes, there is a red mesa), Dennehotso, and Mexican Water. We saw a long line of horses–brown ones, appaloosas, beige and black ones–slow walking almost single file along a narrow dirt trail, a red mesa behind them. I didn’t stop for that photograph, but I see it clearly still. I hope I’ll always have that image in my mind. Calm, fated and timeless, horse manes blowing in the wind.
Four Corners
Next, we headed for the famous Four Corners Monument–a place where you can stand in four states simultaneously…Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. We drove through Arizona, crossed into New Mexico, and parked. Four Corners is a big, concreted area, with a small medallion in the middle marking the spot, and surrounded by flags of the states and tribes. We walked across four states, and stood on the medallion straddling all four of them for the obligatory photo.
Into Colorado
Not long after we returned to the road, we passed into Colorado and the Ute Lands. The colors seemed to change from reds and oranges to golden yellows. Later, we passed Towaoc and Cortez, before stopping for lunch at a cute little diner called The Depot in Dolores, Colorado.
Our road was headed up, up, up. Past Rico (elevation 8,827 ft), through the San Juan National Forest and the San Juan Mountains, and into my version of heaven-on-earth–Telluride.
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