State Hopping

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We left dreary Flagstaff and drove across the rest of northern Arizona towards the Four Corners. In doing so we drove through the Navajo and Hopi Nations ... and our phones kept changing times every time we pulled a signal from somewhere else. It was moderately annoying. Buy by the time we approached the Four Corners we were firmly in Navajo Territory and therefore officially in the Mountain Daylight Time.

The Four Corners itself is just strange. We know that they think it is in the wrong spot, but that doesn't change anything. Move the monument a mile in any direction and it all looks the same, so shush. It's not like the signs saying "Welcome to ______" are always in the right spot either (unless you are crossing some obvious boundary, like a river). Anyway, the monument is just a circle platform that provides the names, seals, and flags of each of the states. I was pretty happy.

We left the monument via the access road in New Mexico but quickly, as in less than a mile later, entered Colorado. There was a marked change in "civilization" by the time we got to Cortez, Colorado. We stopped at a Wendy's and the manager, Annette, made a comment about my Jewish star. She then said, "There aren't many Jews in this part of the country." I wanted to sarcastically say, "Really?" My guess would have been that many Jews live in Cortez, Colorado.

Then the drive got boring as we went through a more rural area of Colorado and into New Mexico. We mostly just got caught in torrential downpours sprinkled with some periods of only light rain. The desert and high plateau was some of the worst weather we've encountered on this trip, save maybe for the blizzard in Yellowstone. The other exciting moment of New Mexico was the farm that had a sign for "Sarah Palin 2012" on their fence already. We couldn't stop laughing.

Eventually we got in to Albuquerque. It's a big city with a mid-size feel. I've found the people here extremely nice and in general it's a happier place. I definitely like it much more than Flagstaff. Tomorrow will be a long day as we finish going through New Mexico and spend a lot of time in Texas.

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