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lupestripeThursday (8 June) was another warm day in northern Arizona, although as we were high up in the mountains, it wasn't sweltering. Of course, back home this was General Election Day and with a sizeable Tory majority still being predicted, I had started to feel somewhat apprehensive about the country we were going to which we were going to fly back that weekend. Being eight hours behind, the opinion poll was due to be released at 2pm, meaning we had a morning of touring before getting an inkling of the result. I had largely been able to put the election out of my mind thus far on the trip, just eyeing the opinion polls on Twitter on occasion, but the worries had started to increase during the 48 hours prior to the vote and thus I was somewhat apprehensive going into the day.
We left the hotel in Page shortly before 9:30am, with the intention of calling in on Horseshoe Bend as we made our way out of town. As befits the name, this is a stunning bend in the Colorado River, where we water traces a horseshoe shape around a huge dusty rock. Upon arriving at the car park, we were dismayed to discover that this natural wonder was a three-quarter mile walk away on a rather soft sandy surface, which meant Wolfie would struggle to proceed due to his injured foot. As a consequence, we made the executive decision to forge on with our plan, heading towards Monument Valley in Utah on our way to Four Corners National Park. Our decision to do Monument Valley was something of a last-minute thing, and we had only tried the night before in the hotel. Alas their internet site prevented us from purchasing the tickets while the phone line was engaged, both late on the Wednesday evening and when we had tried to phone them at 8am that morning. As a consequence, we could only drive down the public highway, route 163, but this proved to be a very good second-best option. The road pretty much picks its way through the stunning sandstone buttes and it is also largely straight, meaning you get a good view of them as you are approaching. Alas, there were few places where you can stop off and take pictures, meaning I spent a lot of the journey hanging out of the car window attempting shots, but it was ultimately worth it. The best rocks were just over the Utah border and the area was made famous by the number of movies in which they featured. Indeed, this array of thin and thick rocky columns and peaks came to define what the Wild West was, which only made these geological phenomena more fascinating. The stratification of the buttes only added to their wonder and although our drive through them was all too brief - they only last for about thirteen miles - it was certainly a worthy detour. The fact all of them had names such as The Totem Pole, Three Sisters and the West and East Mitten Buttes only added to their sense of mystery.
The principal town on the Utah side was the fantastically named Mexican Hat, which is little more than a rocky outpost. Crossing the San Juan River near there, we were stunned by the ninety degree turn the road performed so as to avoid a huge cliff, a turn which was made even more dicey as we were following a huge articulated vehicle. Mexican Hat itself was a rather dusty place, with a number of low rise hotels which looked more like shacks. There was a petrol station and 7-Eleven where we had a pit stop but ultimately this was exceptionally rural America within a rather Martian landscape of iron oxide rocks, swirling geological patterns and rock formations stacked in impossible ways. Driving on towards Four Corners, little changed, with all settlements being a few wooden huts amongst the scrubland, with the red rocky desert defining the area. It was a wonder to drive though but incredibly poor, and again a world away from the America you largely see on TV. Montzuma Creek was one such example - slightly bigger than Mexican Hat and with an elementary school - it still seemed a place where little actually happened and how the economy works out here is anyone's guess.
We pressed on towards Four Corners, soon crossing the Colorado border and entering state number 26 (number seven for Wolfie). The scenery didn't really change that much in Colorado and was a far cry from the Rocky Mountain terrain for which the state is most known, but I guess that was always to be expected. We followed Colorado Route 41 for a brief while before turning onto US State road 160, which lead us straight to Four Corners. On arrival, we noticed that we briefly crossed into New Mexico (state number 27, number eight for Wolfie) in order to get to the car park, with us parking behind one of the numerous small souvenir concessions which resembled concrete prison cells (or bus shelters if I was being generous) which opened out onto the monument itself. This was a big moment for me as I had wanted to visit Four Corners since I first heard about it in 1994. I was living in Louisiana then and our friends the Pontbriands had visited the previous summer. They showed us pictures of the four of them in four different states, and even at the age of 11, the young traveller in me was somewhat excited. So this was the realization of a dream of 23 years, so I was incredibly excited. Even better was that due to the place's remoteness, there weren't that many tourists, meaning seeing the monument and getting a picture of you standing in four states simultaneously was actually quite straightforward. The exact spot was marked by a brass plaque in the ground, beyond which there stretched some lines etched into the concrete which traced the outlines of the states for about ten metres. This formed four quadrants and on the edge of each there was written the state. The state flags, along with the two Native American regions' flags were flying here too, while further back near the souvenir stands there was a marble plaque in each state detailing that state's history. There was only about fifteen tourists at any one time waiting in line to take a picture at the actual spot, so we didn't have to wait too long to do the same. In all honesty though there was little else to do here and after buying a commemorative fridge magent and spotting a sign detailing the distance from here to all the major places in each of the four states, we hopped back in the car and headed off.
We were staying the night in Flagstaff AZ so it made sense for us to drive through New Mexico before reaching interstate 40 at Gallup. This allowed us to see some of another state, while it also meant we never retraced our steps. In reality though we were paying far too much attention to what was happening back in the UK as after we had passed through Shiprock - so named because there is a nearby rock buffe which looks exactly like a ship's sail - the exit poll for the General Election was released and we couldn't believe our eyes. Reception was hard to come by in rural New Mexico, but Wolfie managed to get a signal briefly. He was driving so couldn't spend too long messing about, but when we saw the headline we were plunged into a sense of elated shock. Initially I thought it wasn't right, that it was erroneously highlighting the 2015 exit poll, which was in the same ballpark. I quickly purchased data, churning over the phrase 'Conservatives are largest party' in my mind as this same thing had happened two years agon and pointed to a hung parliament rather than an outright majority. As I say, getting reception was a nightmare, but upon consulting my politically inclined friends on Twitter, it soon became apparent that the exit poll was correct and that the Tories had completely blown it. From a Brexit perspective, despite my despair at Jeremy Corbyn's position, this really gave me a boost and we spent most of the rest of the day glued to our phones as the results came in. We didn't want to count chickens, particularly as the 2015 exit poll had been about 20 seats out to the Tories' disadvantage but as shock after shock started to happen, we became increasingly confident that the majority had gone.
This boosted us, and Tux could feel it in the car too, even if we did have to apologise over and over to him about our distraction. We put NPR, public access radio on, but they covered little apart from the opinion poll itself. We were elated though and we weren't really paying much attention for the rest of the journey to Flagstaff. Fortunately, it was largely more of the same in terms of scenery, while our trip through Monument Valley meant we had to sacrifice other sights later in the day. As a consequence, we only stopped off in Gallup for fuel, while we also didn't get to see the Petrified Forest or Meteor Crater after we had crossed back into Arizona. However, we did manage to stop off at the city of Winslow on the way to Flagstaff, driving down some of the old historic route 66 as we did. Most of route 66 has been turned into interstate 40, but the roads through the old towns still remain, with Winslow being one of them. Winslow was made famous for being mentioned in the song "Take It Easy", which was performed by the Eagles. This meant it was thrown a lifeline as once the interstate was built, the town suffered economically. You can still see this on its outskirts but in the centre, there is a whole homage to the song, which references 'standing on the corner at Winslow, Arizona'. The corner is still there and there is a monument to the song, with statues and a mural at Second St. and Kinsley Ave. There are a number of shops and bars on this street too, and even a flat-bed Ford as mentioned in the song, suggesting something of a renaissance built on tourism, Meanwhile the railway tracks one block away, part of the huge coast to coast transport network, highlighted the once importance of these railroad towns and even now you could see trains over a mile long of containers shipped from China and being distributed across America. Here there were some delapidated warehouses, hinting at a town in decline, although the park next to the train tracks was a pleasant place for a stroll. Of course in the town there was a lot of reference to the historic route 66 and all of the myth and pathos of that road. It was all like something out of a Bruce Springsteen song, referencing middle-of-the-road America and it was a true privilege to see it.
This was pretty much our last stop of the evening aside from a rest area forty miles outside of Flagstaff, where we saw some rabbits. After a quick trip to the restroom, we pushed on and arrived at the Marriot Springhill Suites at around 6:30pm. After checking in, we headed over to Coco's Diner, a solid chain in the south-west where we had a pleasant burger but an even better dessert. They are a bakery and their speciality is cheesecakes, and I remember mine being absolutely divine. Through the meal, however, we were distracted by our phones and the election results, which were close to being fully declared by the time we headed to bed. We followed the final results in our hotel room, supping the last of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp beers (we ended up having to take only two beers back to the UK in our hold luggage as we had made a good concerted effort to get through our 12 remaining throughout the course of the week). It was an exhilarating night all-told and in a way I wish I had been back in the UK for it, although I wouldn't have traded this trip for that. The only negatives were our Tory MP retaining his seat and Nick Clegg losing his, but aside from this, it was a generally positive night. Indeed, it had been a generally positive fortnight and we went to bed happy, although sad that our vacation was coming to a close.
We left the hotel in Page shortly before 9:30am, with the intention of calling in on Horseshoe Bend as we made our way out of town. As befits the name, this is a stunning bend in the Colorado River, where we water traces a horseshoe shape around a huge dusty rock. Upon arriving at the car park, we were dismayed to discover that this natural wonder was a three-quarter mile walk away on a rather soft sandy surface, which meant Wolfie would struggle to proceed due to his injured foot. As a consequence, we made the executive decision to forge on with our plan, heading towards Monument Valley in Utah on our way to Four Corners National Park. Our decision to do Monument Valley was something of a last-minute thing, and we had only tried the night before in the hotel. Alas their internet site prevented us from purchasing the tickets while the phone line was engaged, both late on the Wednesday evening and when we had tried to phone them at 8am that morning. As a consequence, we could only drive down the public highway, route 163, but this proved to be a very good second-best option. The road pretty much picks its way through the stunning sandstone buttes and it is also largely straight, meaning you get a good view of them as you are approaching. Alas, there were few places where you can stop off and take pictures, meaning I spent a lot of the journey hanging out of the car window attempting shots, but it was ultimately worth it. The best rocks were just over the Utah border and the area was made famous by the number of movies in which they featured. Indeed, this array of thin and thick rocky columns and peaks came to define what the Wild West was, which only made these geological phenomena more fascinating. The stratification of the buttes only added to their wonder and although our drive through them was all too brief - they only last for about thirteen miles - it was certainly a worthy detour. The fact all of them had names such as The Totem Pole, Three Sisters and the West and East Mitten Buttes only added to their sense of mystery.
The principal town on the Utah side was the fantastically named Mexican Hat, which is little more than a rocky outpost. Crossing the San Juan River near there, we were stunned by the ninety degree turn the road performed so as to avoid a huge cliff, a turn which was made even more dicey as we were following a huge articulated vehicle. Mexican Hat itself was a rather dusty place, with a number of low rise hotels which looked more like shacks. There was a petrol station and 7-Eleven where we had a pit stop but ultimately this was exceptionally rural America within a rather Martian landscape of iron oxide rocks, swirling geological patterns and rock formations stacked in impossible ways. Driving on towards Four Corners, little changed, with all settlements being a few wooden huts amongst the scrubland, with the red rocky desert defining the area. It was a wonder to drive though but incredibly poor, and again a world away from the America you largely see on TV. Montzuma Creek was one such example - slightly bigger than Mexican Hat and with an elementary school - it still seemed a place where little actually happened and how the economy works out here is anyone's guess.
We pressed on towards Four Corners, soon crossing the Colorado border and entering state number 26 (number seven for Wolfie). The scenery didn't really change that much in Colorado and was a far cry from the Rocky Mountain terrain for which the state is most known, but I guess that was always to be expected. We followed Colorado Route 41 for a brief while before turning onto US State road 160, which lead us straight to Four Corners. On arrival, we noticed that we briefly crossed into New Mexico (state number 27, number eight for Wolfie) in order to get to the car park, with us parking behind one of the numerous small souvenir concessions which resembled concrete prison cells (or bus shelters if I was being generous) which opened out onto the monument itself. This was a big moment for me as I had wanted to visit Four Corners since I first heard about it in 1994. I was living in Louisiana then and our friends the Pontbriands had visited the previous summer. They showed us pictures of the four of them in four different states, and even at the age of 11, the young traveller in me was somewhat excited. So this was the realization of a dream of 23 years, so I was incredibly excited. Even better was that due to the place's remoteness, there weren't that many tourists, meaning seeing the monument and getting a picture of you standing in four states simultaneously was actually quite straightforward. The exact spot was marked by a brass plaque in the ground, beyond which there stretched some lines etched into the concrete which traced the outlines of the states for about ten metres. This formed four quadrants and on the edge of each there was written the state. The state flags, along with the two Native American regions' flags were flying here too, while further back near the souvenir stands there was a marble plaque in each state detailing that state's history. There was only about fifteen tourists at any one time waiting in line to take a picture at the actual spot, so we didn't have to wait too long to do the same. In all honesty though there was little else to do here and after buying a commemorative fridge magent and spotting a sign detailing the distance from here to all the major places in each of the four states, we hopped back in the car and headed off.
We were staying the night in Flagstaff AZ so it made sense for us to drive through New Mexico before reaching interstate 40 at Gallup. This allowed us to see some of another state, while it also meant we never retraced our steps. In reality though we were paying far too much attention to what was happening back in the UK as after we had passed through Shiprock - so named because there is a nearby rock buffe which looks exactly like a ship's sail - the exit poll for the General Election was released and we couldn't believe our eyes. Reception was hard to come by in rural New Mexico, but Wolfie managed to get a signal briefly. He was driving so couldn't spend too long messing about, but when we saw the headline we were plunged into a sense of elated shock. Initially I thought it wasn't right, that it was erroneously highlighting the 2015 exit poll, which was in the same ballpark. I quickly purchased data, churning over the phrase 'Conservatives are largest party' in my mind as this same thing had happened two years agon and pointed to a hung parliament rather than an outright majority. As I say, getting reception was a nightmare, but upon consulting my politically inclined friends on Twitter, it soon became apparent that the exit poll was correct and that the Tories had completely blown it. From a Brexit perspective, despite my despair at Jeremy Corbyn's position, this really gave me a boost and we spent most of the rest of the day glued to our phones as the results came in. We didn't want to count chickens, particularly as the 2015 exit poll had been about 20 seats out to the Tories' disadvantage but as shock after shock started to happen, we became increasingly confident that the majority had gone.
This boosted us, and Tux could feel it in the car too, even if we did have to apologise over and over to him about our distraction. We put NPR, public access radio on, but they covered little apart from the opinion poll itself. We were elated though and we weren't really paying much attention for the rest of the journey to Flagstaff. Fortunately, it was largely more of the same in terms of scenery, while our trip through Monument Valley meant we had to sacrifice other sights later in the day. As a consequence, we only stopped off in Gallup for fuel, while we also didn't get to see the Petrified Forest or Meteor Crater after we had crossed back into Arizona. However, we did manage to stop off at the city of Winslow on the way to Flagstaff, driving down some of the old historic route 66 as we did. Most of route 66 has been turned into interstate 40, but the roads through the old towns still remain, with Winslow being one of them. Winslow was made famous for being mentioned in the song "Take It Easy", which was performed by the Eagles. This meant it was thrown a lifeline as once the interstate was built, the town suffered economically. You can still see this on its outskirts but in the centre, there is a whole homage to the song, which references 'standing on the corner at Winslow, Arizona'. The corner is still there and there is a monument to the song, with statues and a mural at Second St. and Kinsley Ave. There are a number of shops and bars on this street too, and even a flat-bed Ford as mentioned in the song, suggesting something of a renaissance built on tourism, Meanwhile the railway tracks one block away, part of the huge coast to coast transport network, highlighted the once importance of these railroad towns and even now you could see trains over a mile long of containers shipped from China and being distributed across America. Here there were some delapidated warehouses, hinting at a town in decline, although the park next to the train tracks was a pleasant place for a stroll. Of course in the town there was a lot of reference to the historic route 66 and all of the myth and pathos of that road. It was all like something out of a Bruce Springsteen song, referencing middle-of-the-road America and it was a true privilege to see it.
This was pretty much our last stop of the evening aside from a rest area forty miles outside of Flagstaff, where we saw some rabbits. After a quick trip to the restroom, we pushed on and arrived at the Marriot Springhill Suites at around 6:30pm. After checking in, we headed over to Coco's Diner, a solid chain in the south-west where we had a pleasant burger but an even better dessert. They are a bakery and their speciality is cheesecakes, and I remember mine being absolutely divine. Through the meal, however, we were distracted by our phones and the election results, which were close to being fully declared by the time we headed to bed. We followed the final results in our hotel room, supping the last of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp beers (we ended up having to take only two beers back to the UK in our hold luggage as we had made a good concerted effort to get through our 12 remaining throughout the course of the week). It was an exhilarating night all-told and in a way I wish I had been back in the UK for it, although I wouldn't have traded this trip for that. The only negatives were our Tory MP retaining his seat and Nick Clegg losing his, but aside from this, it was a generally positive night. Indeed, it had been a generally positive fortnight and we went to bed happy, although sad that our vacation was coming to a close.
