Blogs from Navajo Nation Reservation, Arizona, United States, North America

July 14th Break-up day as we today would continue to Grand Canyon. Business as usual as Tine and Paul went down for breakfast while the children slept late, can't really blame them - not very exciting. Got packed and ready and soon we were heading southwest towards the Four Corners, Navajo National Park to make a fool of ourselves by putting one foot in Utah, another in Arizona, one hand in Colorado and the other one in New Mexico. Totally ridiculous taking into consideration that all of this belonged to the Indians a long time ago and is now a reservation which has become famous because somebody drew some lines and decided that 4 states had their corners there!!!! Imagine that we had to cue in this ‘middle of the desert’ location to get our picture ... read more

Magnifique journee dans l'Arizona, decor a perte de vue... indescriptible.passage dans une reserve "seche" (pas de vente de biere) mais la chance etait avec nous: un jeune indien nous a invite chez lui . Tres belle rencontre avec sa jeune femme dans leur maison typique dans le plus vieux village Hopi de l'Amerique du Nord. Le Nouveau-Mexique etait tres contraste avec le Texas: beaucoup de betails, mais pas beaucoup de cowboys. What a day we had in New Mexico and Arizona! Where to start?... How about where we finished: in the small village of Kikotsmovi, Arizona, the oldest settlement according to our host Waylon Namingha and his wife Jenny Nauywaima, from the Bear clan of the Hopi tribe. Here's how it happens: we stop to snap a picture of an old village on top of a ... read more

Hello all. Our past few weeks have included time in California, where we camped in Malibu while Andy went to rehearsals and recording sessions for "Woody Sez," a sumptuous passover seder at Paul and Jacki's in La Jolla, and magical boating and hiking in Joshua Tree (CA) the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell (AZ), Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon(UT). Matzah never tasted so good as it does after a good long backpack into a canyon. We are now on the Navajo reservation, and will be driving into Hopi villages today. Max has just given us a presentation on the Native American Cliff-Dwellers, the Anasazi. Zoya begins her study of Native American pottery this morning, after completing a draft of her History of Mexican Leaders. Tonight we will camp in Canyon de Chelley, a National Monument Area which ... read more

We woke up the morning in Page to a bitterly cold wind and all the leaves on the trees in the campground had fallen overnight. Page marked our entrance into the Navajo Nation - the largest Native American reservation in the US covering an area stretching from the Grand Canyon to over the border in New Mexico and Glen Canyon to Petrified Forest National Park. We set out on an Antelope Canyon Tour that morning with a Navajo guide and just the two of us. The trip took about 1.5 hours as we slowly made our way through the canyon with our guide telling us about the Native American history of the slot canyons and area. The slot canyon was very narrow in places (less than a metre wide) and soared above our heads making beautiful ... read more

Road Runner’s Move Over After visiting with family and the final drive through the valley, it is once again time to pack up and move out. This park was small, so we needed to off load the car and then disconnect the trailer so we now needed to reverse this process before we could pull out. Everything done we pull onto the Venture free way heading towards Pasadena and pick up the 10 freeway. This drive will take us through Pasadena, Irwindale, Azuza, Pomona and down the line heading towards the Arizona border. You pass through Eagle Rock and until now never knew why it got this name. There is a large rock formation to the left of the freeway and it bears a remarkable resemblance of an eagles profile. Ya learn something every day. The ... read more

March 21 - April 2, 2006 Palm Springs, Calif. - Canyon de Chelly, Ariz. Mile 3,834 On our trek into the southwest—destination Canyon de Chelly—we’ve been offered several different pronunciations of the famous Anasazi dwelling place. Upon arrival in the Navajo Nation, we received the definitive answer: it’s not Canyon de Shelly, but d’Shay, as in the French. I was a bit disappointed! Jeff and I began this chapter in California’s contradictory Coachella Valley, a seemingly arid desert in which thrives Palm Springs, with its acres of green golf courses; the San Andreas Fault, whose folded rock forces groundwater up to the surface and feeds native palm oases; and the most productive (nonnative and irrigated) date palm “gardens” in the country. Date milkshake, anyone? Our hosts in the Palm Springs metropolis (La Quinta, actually), wer... read more