The Lunch Box Journals

The second chapter of “Looking Back” picks up in Moab, Utah, heading south on Hwy 191. Day 8: Friday, April 13, Moab, UT to Canyonlands National Park (Needles Section) to Blanding, UT The weather had definitely gotten cooler and there are rumors of snow in the mountains tonight. We head out south on Hwy 191 to visit the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park. The entrance is about 40 miles off the highway in the middle of nowhere. We wend our way down narrow, winding canyons to get to the park. This is open range BLM land, and there are cattle guards about every 3-4 miles. It turns out that the noise we make going over the guards is making Augie crazy. He’s acting really weird, but finally the land opens up and the road gets better as we approach the entrance to the park. Once in the park, again we are confronted with vast vistas and spectacular rock formations. The skyline of the picture below are the “Needles” that give this section of the park its’ name. The most interesting rock formation to us is called the Window in the Wooden Shoe. The picture speaks for itself… It’s amazing what Mother Nature can do! The wind is picking up and when we stop at the Visitor Center we hear that rain/snow is definitely the forecast so we head out. I can’t imagine climbing up out of the canyons on 50 miles of twisted, in some places 10% grade, narrow roads in the Lunch Box. Perhaps more succinctly, we tucked our tails in and ran! Unfortunately we had to go back over those cattle guards and Augie had a bit of a nervous breakdown. I think I’m ready for NASCAR after driving along those roads dealing with a psychotic dog climbing all over the place and still not landing off the road! Finally back on the highway we turn right and head south to Blanding. Obviously this is the first time for us in this area and who knew that we would find ourselves in the middle of a forest??? Sure ‘nuff did! Then the excitement just continued as the wind continued to pick up and we found ourselves in the town of Monticello, where I stopped for gas. Had no idea that it was 20 below outside with the wind howling as I jumped out of the Lunch Box with no coat on, had to blow on my hands to get them to release from the metal of the gas pump, and then hid behind the Lunch Box to stay out of the wind. OMG,,, not withstanding perhaps a bit of hyperbole, it was cold! (A side issue, those of you who are following the gas prices can note that I paid $3.87 a gallon in Moab and $3.89 in Monticello, so the $3.61 gallon in Salt Lake City takes the prize as the lowest gas price so far….) Augie is continuing to go berserk, I am defrosting, and we head off down the road 20 miles to Blanding, which, it turns out, is in the absolute middle of nowhere. We are staying the night in a dirt/gravel parking lot dotted with utility hook-ups out in the wind. But, and it’s a good “but”, the temperature strangely seems warmer. Turns out that the 20 miles between Monticello and Blanding is a drop of 2000 feet. Monticello was at 7000 feet above sea level, who knew??? In any case, the people here are really nice, and we are bundled up cozy inside watching the satellite tv (yeah, it works again!). Life is good…. Day 9: Saturday, April 14, Blanding, UT to Monument Valley, AZ I know, I know, I could feel the eyes rolling as you laughed at my distress over the weather situation, unjustly accusing me of exaggerating the weather. WELL, wallow in guilt as you look at this picture, which was taken at 10:30am on Saturday morning as I hurriedly unhooked the utilities in order to get on the road before we got snowed in. Yes, that IS a blizzard and that IS snow dripping down my butt crack. So there! No need to apologize for your mean thoughts…! You might think I am bent over unhooking the water, but actually I am stunned because the “co-pilot” had just successfully driven the motorhome (all be it just in a circle). She is so proud of herself that we hear NASCAR calling….. The irony is that after all of that effort, we hit the road and ran out of the snow in less than 2 miles. We turned around and went back to Blanding, where there was a cool museum about the ancients along with an actually ruin of a pueblo. After spending time there we headed off to Monument Valley, heading south on Hwy 191 before turning west on Hwy 169. Along the way, the nearest town is Mexican Hat, UT. The picture below says it all. Past Mexican Hat we started to see Monument Valley. All of my inner John Wayne was dying to get out, as memories of westerns from the past reared up. The weather was cloudy, with threats of rain, but actually the wind and cold were the bigger issue. We did get ripped off by the Navajo, paying $10 to enter what essentially was a way over-priced gift shop disguised as a visitor’s center. However, did get some good pictures of Monument Valley. Having “donated” my $10 already, we decided not to fork over the millions that they wanted for the actual road tour (we couldn’t drive ourselves in an RV). In the foreground you can see tourists in a bus on the road that goes around the buttes. We actually stayed across the highway at Gouldings, a trading post/hotel/campground, and I know you love the pictures from my toilet, so here’s the view from the toilet out the back window at the campground!   Day 10: Sunday, April 15, Monument Valley, AZ to Gallup, NM This was mostly uneventful as we continued south on Hwy 160 before turning east at Kayenta, AZ, then south on Hwy 191 to I-40 and finally east on I-40 to Gallup, New Mexico. I did have the joy of paying $4.05 a gallon for gas in Kayenta, AZ. Most of the ride was across the Navajo Nation, which is vast, barren, and scattered with sad scenes of poverty. Day 11: Monday, April 14, Gallup, NM We hang out in Gallup for the day, spending the morning walking around to all of the trading posts in town, checking out the Native American goods. There are three blocks in old Gallup (which is the major trading center next to the Navajo Nation) that are just lined with trading posts, pawn shops, restaurants, etc. The picture below is looking west. It really was pretty interesting with lots of characters to watch in addition to the actual merchandise.  Unfortunately (and this may offend the purists among you), but after a while an Indian pot is an Indian pot and a turquoise necklace looks pretty much like a turquoise necklace….   We actually went in to 7 of these places, and here’s perhaps the most interesting fact of the morning: three of the establishments were being run by Navajo women (OK, so that seems normal), but the other FOUR were being run by A-RABS!!!!!!!! (pronounce that as two separate words to get the total “real” American impact)   Yes, it’s true, the cultural fabric of America has been invaded by the Taliban to the extent that they are taking over the historical pawn shops of Gallup, New Mexico. There’s nothing quite like looking at native pots and jewelry while the chanting of “Allah Akbar” (means “God is Great” in English) is going on in the background. Stunned at this realization, the only thing to do was go eat (!), so we headed off to “Earl’s” for a Navajo taco. The lady at the visitor’s center recommended this place for “real” food, and warned us about the difference between red and green chile, and New Mexico chile vs. what we might normally call chile (i.e. it’s HOT!!!!!) The Navajo taco is made on about a 12” round of Indian fry bread, layered with lettuce, beans, cheese, meat, tomato’s, etc. Definitely worth eating (and so big that we actually split it and were still stuffed). We then spent the rest of the day doing laundry and watching General Hospital (not me, I was doing my laundry!) and looking forward to Dancing With The Stars tonight! Oh, this is the life!

Day 12: Monday, April 16, Gallup, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico Again woke up to beautiful weather, though cold. It was 23 degrees last night, but is supposed to warm up. We hit the road for what is to be an uneventful road day to Albuquerque when, out in the middle of nowhere, we cross the Continental Divide. Now, this may mean more to the “Montananites” in The Lunch Box, because when you cross the Continental Divide in Montana there are massive mountain ranges stretching for miles north and south, great granite peaks piercing the blue sky. Not so much in New Mexico (see below). The family explanation of the Continental Divide from the Bentz patriarch was that you could straddle the Continental Divide, pee to the left and it would go into the Pacific; pee to the right and it would go to the Atlantic. Easily visualized for a young boy. Unfortunately if you follow the same theory in New Mexico, two things will happen. The first is that you will pee on yourself because the wind blows ALL the time, and the second is that any pee that doesn’t hit your leg will end up in a puddle on the ground, cuz it’s not going anywhere. Oh well, another science lesson hits the dust…. After getting over that disappointment, we continued heading east. We are following the fabled Route 66, which, for younger Lunch Boxers, was one of the most famous roads in America before the interstate system was built. We try to stay off the interstate as much as possible, and today was no exception. Unfortunately apparently New Mexico is short on money because they post a “Route 66” tourist sign at the exit of the interstate, but then you don’t see one again for miles. In this case, it meant going nearly 40 miles out of our way south of Albuquerque before we hit I-25 and then having to head north, which meant entering Albuquerque from the south instead of the west. That may not mean much to you, but for people who don’t know where they’re going, it’s a little bit unnerving… Neverless, my inner Lewis and Clark came through and we found the RV park without much trouble. Next up:  The cities of central New Mexico