We took some pics on Route 66

After the heady excitement of Monument Valley, we headed to the glorious town of Chinle which is the gateway to Canyon de Chelly. Chinle is a very bleak, desolate place, leading me to decide that Chinle must be Navajo for “ not a tree in sight” or perhaps “home of people who don’t like gardening”.  By now it was absolutely freezing and it snowed overnight so that our sightseeing of the Canyon was a very cold affair indeed. Unfortunately we have been spoiled with spectacular sights in the first week, so Canyon de Chelly, although interesting, didn’t really measure up. Never mind, life can’t always be exciting for every moment.

Pueblo Indian ruins- "the White House"

Didn't we have a dust storm yesterday?

On to Holbrook via the Painted Desert / Petrified Forest, which was higher up on the Interesting Sights scale.  Holbrook is on Route 66 and is a mother-lode of nostalgia! We stayed at the Wigwam Motel for an in-tents time.  It was cheap, dated and tiny, but you can’t put a price on glorious kitsch. Even the bathroom mirror held fascination due to the quirky angle of the bathroom walls. Mike took a photo of the inside, but because I was still asleep he had to go around the room on tepee toes (ha, ha, ha!)

What's left of Route 66, now a strip of grass.

When did you last sleep in a Tepee?

The next morning the cultural experience continued with breakfast at Joe and Aggie’s café. A wood-panelled, vinyl and laminate-boothed emporium of kitsch. It came complete with a bunch of old guys, Hank, Chuck, Chip, Bud and the really old guy, Junior, who get together on Fridays to discuss ailments and funerals, and ailments which lead to funerals.  I ordered 2 hotcakes and had in mind something the size of McDonald’s breakfast hotcakes. What I got was 2 family sized pizza hotcakes, about an inch thick each. Holy Frijole!

Our journey continued, driving deeper into New Mexico and the land of huge pick-up trucks and lots of cammo clothing. Mike particularly enjoyed the handwritten sign in the men’s loo at one diner, saying “Don’t wipe boogers on the wall!” It alarms me that such a sign needs to be written.

We arrived in Alamagordo New Mexico, the nearest spot to White Sands National Monument. Alamogordo is also home to the White Sands Missile Range with active missile testing a couple of times a week. They don’t call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment for nothing.

White Sands National Monument is full of, you guessed it, white sand. Large dunes in fact, which are quite beautiful especially in the late afternoon sun.  We had a great time photographing the dunes,

 and after that, sand sledding down them.  Sand sledding is kind of a slow motion thrill, as the sand is pretty boggy so you don’t get up too much speed. Mike did his best beetle impression. 

  After filling up our shoes and clothes and ears and nose full of sand, it was time to go and empty it all out in the car and hotel room. I guessed the hotel is used to it.