Chinle to Albuquerque

We had a bit of a delayed start from Chinle, as Tuna found a hole in the lining under the bedsprings and decided to settle in. We had to pull apart the whole bed and dump her out.  Needless to say, she was not a happy camper, and she was in a snit all day. 

The landscape as we drove through Navajoland continued to be beautiful.  We saw sheep and horses roaming the land.  We made a short detour to see Dine College, a two year school that teaches not only standard courses for associate degrees and to qualify students for transfer to four year colleges but also teaches Navajo language and culture.  There are several Dine college campuses in the United States now; this was the first.  Our tour guide Leander is attending classes here.

Near the junction of Indian Routes 12 & 32, there are rock formations called Green Knobs.   These rocks are made of peridotite, the minerals from which the green peridot gem is made.  It is a sacred spot to the Navajo.  You are driving along with red rock formations on the side of the road and all of a sudden the shades turn to green as you pass Green Knobs, then back to red.

There were no Welcome to New Mexico signs when we passed over the border.  Is it because we were still on Navajoland?  The road dips into New Mexico for a very short distance, then back into Arizona.  Then again south of Window Rock you pass into New Mexico.

Window Rock is the government center of the Navajo Nation.   The name of the town comes from the large opening in the sandstone behind the town.  There is a park that features the window as a background.  In the foreground of the park is a lovely veterans' memorial dedicated to the Navajo and also a memorial to the code talkers.  Near the monument is the tribal council chambers, where the 88 Navajo council members meet.

We took a back road to the Window Rock museum and encountered a prairie dog in the meadow on the side of the road.  Cute little fellow.  We watched him pop in and out of his hole.  Truck traffic was noisy and he was careful.

The museum was very informative and moving.  It covers history and culture of the Navajo.  In a section depicting the Long Walk and Bosque Redondo, I found the following quote quite interesting: "The Dine were subjected to American genocidal policies of ethnic cleansing, which is more commonly known as American Assimilation."

It was rather sad to leave the Navajo Nation.  It is a beautiful place in so many ways.

We headed southeast to Gallup, New Mexico, where we picked up Route 66/Interstate 40.  We stopped at the Continental Divide for a photo op, then continued on to Albuquerque for the night.  It felt very strange to be on a fast-moving highway of traffic and to see so much development.