storm on left, blue skies on right
Endless roads
Wild horses having a staring contest
The weather changing quickly
Plateaus
Sunset
Really Amazing in person
Another shot
The light to guide me to safety
Wild horses waiting for their buddy
Amazing Sunet just before the storm
Leaving the Res...entering back into US territory
Elroy, Grandpa, GarrettAfter Moab I made my way south into the Navajo Indian Reservation which ecompasses much of the northeastern section of Arizona bleeding over into western New Mexico...its a huge piece of territory...all belonging to the Navajo Tribe. I began to notice that the land was becoming more and more remote...there were magnificent plateau's and canyons separated by huged distances of nothingness. Because of the cloudy weather and storms rolling in, the sky projected a purple fuzzy haze that seemed almost surreal. The winds began to howl and the skies darkened as stratus clouds began to develope before my eyes. I felt like I came into the most disconnected and alien region of the country yet...there were hardly any cars, or people, or plants...just planes of dirt and valleys and pillars of rock. I could see the road stretch way out in front of me...miles away in time and space but visually close. It's hard to explain what I was feeling...it wasn't awe or fear or boredom...it was a strange feeling, as if I felt like this wasn't home...or on earth...or a place where people go. I don't know... I didn't feel unsafe, yet I never felt comfortable.
In an attempt to divert my attention away from the threatening storm, I began to imagine all the western films probably filmed in places such as this...the classic Western films of the 50's and 60's...How the West Was Won, One Foot in Hell, True Grit and such...the mental pictures of the wild west during my childhood...a place of outlaws, adventure and unpredictability. The scenery practically screamed out to me, "Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk!"
I was thrilled to see many small bands of wild horses roaming around as I came closer to Tuba City, AZ, where there was much more vegitation for feeding. On one occasion, there were 3 wild horses on the side of the road next to me...and a 4th one was disconnected from them across the street behind the wire fences that follow much of the roads on the open range ( I think these are set up to help prevent wild animals from running out in front of vehicles). Anyway, this beautiful stallion ran back and forth, making horse calls to his buddies, but frustrated because he couldn't seem to get over the fence to be with them. I pulled over to see what would happen...after much hesitation, he finally leaped over the 4 foot wire fence and galloped over to his fellow horses...they all ran towards him calling out as if they were saying "What took you so long? We missed you"
Just before Tuba City, I stopped by Kayenta...a small Navajo town filled with stray dogs, donkies, and llamas??? not sure what they were doing there...but anyway, Kayenta must have been one of the bigger deal towns on the reservation because it had a McDonalds. I was starving so I decided to grab a quick bite. As soon as I pulled up to the McDonald's and got off the scooter, a Navajo named Elroy walked right up to me and asked me if I could spare a few dollars so he could go buy a beer. I told him all I had was a debit card. He told me that was okay, we could walk to the bar together and both grab a beer, one for the each of us...he was obviously drunk and living up to every negative American Indian stereo type I could think of...and by the way, that "dishes" joke I wrote at the beginning of this blog...well, I heard it many years ago, and I didn't change the name to Elroy...the name in the joke was always Elroy and this guys name was Elroy...I guess that Elroy is a common American Indian name?..Anyway, I decided to buy him two snack wraps so that I would at least show him a little bit kindness and charity. When I came out of the McDonald's, he was sitting there with his other Navajo buddy, Garrett. Garrett wasn't drunk, and more thankful for the snack wrap than Elroy...Elroy kept harping on me to buy him a beer, or to take him out for a little while for just a few drinks....he would not stop talking about getting a beer...he was obsessed...his snack wrap sat there untouched. I thought Elroy was really drunk until his grandfather walked up. Granddaddy was three sheets to the wind; one more drink and he would have went into an alcohol induced coma...he was completely wasted, much more so than Elroy. Granddaddy introduced himself to me, slurring his words, giving me the limp fish hand shake...I never could quite catch his name.
This experience was all sad and funny at the same time. I actually feel sorry for many of the American Indians...many of them live below the poverty level and are forced to work menial jobs...they have lost their cultural identity in many ways and have been marginalized by white Americans. It seems that the spiritual, adventurous and brave American Indian of the past doesn't exist anymore...and that's a pity. But damn, those three guys sure made me laugh.
Anyhow, that's my experience meeting the infamous and feared Navajo Indians...
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