Monument Valley and the Code Talkers

What can I say about Monument Valley? They’re just stupendous, wondrous, and well, darn right monumental. I really was pretty well speechless, all I could say was “wow” and “unbelievable”as we drove through So I will just let the photos do the explaining.









You drive your car through the valley and there are places to stop and see the views. At each one were Native Americans selling authentic Navajo jewelry. About the only thing authentic was that the people making them were Navajo, I had the same beads at home and made the same jewelry. Not that they were cheap or gaudy ( I bought a rather nice bracelet) but they weren’t that special. Bruce did buy a nice stone inlay knife that was indicative of Navajo work. I’m not big into turquoise, never been a fan, so there wasn’t much I was interested in. There were authentic Navajo art in some of the stores but they were out of my price range. The rugs were amazing but didn't fit our decor anyway.

I was talking to a Native Americans at one of the lookout sites and he told me that his family has lived in the valley for generations and one of the monuments was named after his grandfather who had been a code talker. He could tell me the history of his family practically back to the beginning of time. As a genealogist, I found that fascinating and could have talked to him for hours. Imagine knowing your history that far back and it’s was all verbal.

Oh a side note, the valley is on the Arizona Utah border and the time our cell phones kept flipping back and forth because Arizona isn’t on daylight savings time.

After leaving we drove into the town of Kayentafor a bite to eat and to visit the Code Talker Museum. Well even Miss Google Map screwed that up and we ended up in the suburbs and she had us pulling into someone's driveway! After figuring out where we had to go we realized we drove right past it. Thanks Miss Google Map.

It was a small little museum, a lot of photos and uniforms but it packed a powerful punch. Those men were so brave, battling the enemy out there and the prejudice within. It was sad that they were not allowed to talk about what they had done until 1968. They didn't even get any medals until 2000. It was sad that people didn’t know that the US would probably have lost the Pacific war if it hadn’t of been for those brave men.

“At the Battle of Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the first two days of the battle. These six sent and received over 800 messages, all without error. Connor later stated, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”1

We were in there for maybe 15 minutes and then I went out to the gift store to buy some books leaving Bruce in the museum. I was in the store with tears in my eyes, their story just touched me so much. Bruce came out and I said, "You've got the sniffles, don't you?" He just nodded and smiled. I know my marshmallow Marine well. If you want to read more about the code talkers go to their website. And the Navajo weren't the only ones, there were other Native Americans that were code talkers but they were the most famous.

After that we drove down to Prescott Valley and stayed the night with our old neighbours who moved there recently. They had a beautiful house and really loved the area. Maybe we’ll go for another visit and see that neck of the woods again.

Well that was the trip. It was a great time just driving around seeing the sites. I would recommend a trip around Arizona to anyone. That state has a lot to see but it was sure nice to be back home in California!

1 Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker

Did You Hear the One about the California Couple Who Perished in the Arizona Mountains?

We left Winslow around 5 p.m. and figured it would take 3.5 hours to get to Monument Valley straight up highway 87. We’d be able to check in around 8:30 p.m., have a nice dinner on the way and relax. This was our last leg on the vacation and we were starting to feel the miles.

What we didn’t take into account was the fickle mind of the stupid Google map woman! I should have realized something was wrong when she crisply said “turn right” at the next intersection which would have taken us off the highway. But I was busy knitting and thought all was in hand so I didn’t look at the phone. I did think it was a little odd that we were going off the beaten path.

Word to the wise, Arizona is full of “Indian Roads” and we’ve discovered the hard way, the higher the number the less likely it will be paved.

So, Miss Google told us to turn right off the highway onto an Indian Road 4. Okay a shortcut. Then suddenly Miss Google had us go on Indian Road 8031 which looked like it went straight north, so still okay. But then it turned into a dirt road. I had flashbacks to the time I took a side road in Newfoundland only to realize it was an abandoned railroad track. That was a nightmare and it seemed to be coming back to haunt me. (I’ll have to tell you about that little adventure later.)

But we foraged on, we were in an F-150 so it could handle the dirt road quite well. But then the road started getting smaller and very rutty. I really knew we were in trouble when Miss Google told us to turn left onto a road that wasn’t there. And, that was about the time we lost cell service.I was getting tired of that bitch's condescending tone anyway. 

Did I mention too that the sun was starting to go down, we were heading into the mountains, and the houses were few and far between? I had visions of those people that get lost and perish in the California mountains in the spring snow. Well, at least it wasn’t snowing.

Luckily the map was still on the phone so I thought I could guide us manually only where we were was just a big blob of land on the map. I had to zoom in to see any roads, they were that small. So I told Bruce to turn around and I found an Indian Road that went to Pinon which was thankfully paved. Pinon was east of us so we were going in a big circle.  

From Pinon we headed west on a nice paved road that last for about 2 miles and then turned into yet another dirt road. By this time, I had gotten cell service back and could see our progress. And, thankfully even though this was a dirt road, it was well traveled. Luckily we were behind this a car the whole way. Still it was a nasty drive as by this time the sun had gone down and we could barely see the car’s rear lights because of all the dust he was kicking up. Then suddenly our road ended at a highway, a real paved highway, hallelujah! It was the road we were on before we had made the turn right. I kid you not.

We took that highway to Tuba City where we could turn onto the major highway that went north. I was intrigued how Tuba City got its name. Did a band of marauding German tuba players settle there in the 1800s? Nope, it’s named after Tuuvi a Hopi headman who converted to Mormonism. How Tuuvi was changed to Tuba is beyond me. 

By the time we got to Goulding’s Lodge at the Monument Valley it was midnight. Our 3-hour drive lasted well over 7 hours. Naturally it was pitch dark when we arrived so we didn’t realize the sights around us. We stayed in an amazing cabin at the lodge. I would highly recommend the cabins and not the hotel although they are a bit pricey, but we were only staying one night. We just fell into the bed exhausted. We did discover as we pulled out our overnight bags that everything in the back of the truck was absolutely covered in red dust. Everything. 

The view from our cabin.

The next morning Bruce woke up before me and was having a smoke out on the patio. I came out and he said turn around. Holy crap! It was so dark that we didn't see any of these huge monoliths as we drove right past them.

The drive to Monument Valley was an adventure in itself so I will post my photos of the Monument Valley in the next blog.