Saturday, January 3, 2009

Sun, Dec 28 - Hopi Lands to Navajo Nation

10.45am - getting a late start out of Flagstaff - and without breakfast, so someone was getting very grouchy (and it wasn't Ritesh...)11.07am - an apple, heading from the snow into the high desert lands of the Indian Country
this is the same apple a little further down the road...
11.37pm - and this is at the Hopi Trading Post I mentioned (Cameron Trading Post): This one is for Simon, actually: a Native American in a kilt, and high heels. Whaddaya say?
11.42am - local product, at Cameron Trading Post
12.09pm - and yours truly finally got some breakfast at the Trading Post restaurant...
12.12pm - this is the ginormous veggie Navajo Taco (one order, split in two) that we shared. It's Navajo because it is served on a base of fry bread instead of on a taco. Hmm.
12.13pm - a close-up of the fry bread, which I was very excited to try - nice, but a bit on the oily side, if you're wondering...
12.31pm - it didn't taste like it was made out of corn, but I guess it is...
1pm - one of the last sights in Hopi territory
2.16pm - some fresh-brewed Navajo Tea (along with a bundle of the herb that I purchased for later use) at a homey little coffee shop in Kajenta, on Navajo territory. This tea is supposed to be great for sinus infections, and it was - my sinuses had been killing me, what with the cold, the pressure changes due to the altitude and the incredible dryness of the climate, but this tea cleared it up, at least for a while. Should have bought more but mind you, this stuff is expensive.
2.52pm - and here we are - not the best light yet, but this is the first sight of Monument Valley. We have tons more (and better) pictures that I'll link to separately but this was what it looked like when we saw it first. Very moving moment. I grew up watching a lot of Westerns, so this landscape seemed oddly familiar to me - like a piece from my own past. To see it for real in all its splendor and magnitude was just awe-inspiring.
3.52pm - a different part of the Valley, later in the day, taken w/ the iPhone
6.16pm - a French onion soup, at the restaurant of the brand new hotel that just opened in Monument Valley, which is where we're staying. This may not be the Frenchest of onion soups but it was the only soup they had and anyway, who cares. This place is Navajo owned and operated, and it's the only hotel inside the actual Valley Park, so all rooms have an amazing view of the rocks. Can't wait till sunrise tomorrow!
6.27pm - a very good green chile stew, w/ pork and potatoes, which we take it is a local specialty.
6.28pm - and yes, they served fry bread with the stew! Ritesh pointed out that it tastes like an Indian fried bread called bathura, only that bathura is a special occasion thing, not something you'd eat every day - and certainly not twice a day!
6.30pm - my half of Ritesh's salad, not that great. Why do they have to put crappy cheese on everything?
7.21pm - a soy milk mint latte, in our room, planning the next day's adventures...

3 comments:

Unknown said...

hi love, this was a really great trip and we need to go back to this area to explore some more.

i am really going to miss your blog, love. you have done a great job and you have been so diligent. few could have done this everyday for every meal for a whole year. congratulations! looking forward to the last few posts.

-ritesh

Petra said...

aww, thanks, love! And thanks for being so supportive all year! Few would have put up with all the fuss at meal times. I must have stopped you from digging in about a hundred times (Hang on! Got to take a picture!) and that's not even counting the times we were eating out and I'd forgotten the camera and we had to go back home to get it. You'd have had many reasons to complain, but you didn't. Thanks for being such a trooper, babe, and for being my partner in crime all year! And honestly, without all the great meals you cooked, it wouldn't have been half the fun!

The Speaking Goat said...

Great kilt. What was he wearing underneath though? Whadyamean you didn't check? Come on girl!