Breakfast at the Grants KOA was a big plus because it was included in the amenities of the campsite. After the short night of not much sleep, I got up and ate with the rider from Denmark. He told me all about his three month motorcycle tour, and I shared my stories too. We exchanged blog info, and he was off on his way.
Uri and I talked to the Owner of the campsite and learned a lot about the Acoma and Navajo Indian tribes who live in the area. He explained to us the whole story of how the native Americans came thousands of years ago from Mongolia, and as of today are spread out along North and South America. Later on we went on an hour hike to El Malpais (the "badlands") which got their name from the Spanish king who came to the area in the early 16 hundreds and couldn't pass the rugged terrain with his army. The land has a few large plateaus on which one of them reside the Acoma pueblo (Spanish: village). The rest of the terrain consists of lava rock and large caves which developed due to the solidification of the lava along the years.
As we continued on I 40 west we entered the Navajo reservation. I learned from talking to the minister of treasury that the Navajo reservation is the biggest in the whole world with 110 chapters. He explained to me also how their government works and the way they interact with the American federal law, which doesn't have much affect on the reservation land. It can be quite dangerous to drive through the reservation so we tried to learn as much as we can from locals who interact with the Indians.
The ride to Flagstaff was longer than expected due to rain and thunder storms that put us in a slight delay. We stopped to eat a late lunch at a place called "Hopi cafe" which we found out later wasn't even in Hopi reservation land, but the food was good. We met another rider there who told us we have to visit this store that sells petrified wood. So after a long conversation with him we drove to Holbrook and we were really amazed by how many artifacts they have. From pieces of meteorites to petrified fossils, all in one store. I bought a postcard as a souvenir and we headed to our final destination of the day, Flagstaff.
As the sun was setting we could see nothing but cattle grazing nomads land, and horses roaming the fields. A month ago when I was in Chicago for Bruce Doblin's wedding, Rick sat with me and gave me a list of close friends of his for me to contact if we need a place to sleep at. So a few days ago I spoke to Kate Sorensen who lives on a ranch right between Flagstaff and the Navajo reservation, and she invited us to stay by her for the night. We arrived at the location she gave us which didn't even have a zip code because the area is still being developed as we speak, and gave me a big hug even though I have never met her. Kate was an amazing host and was very kind to all three of us. There was one thing we hadn't expected on doing that night, and it was the 8 mile long dirt road leading to the ranch. Our touring bikes were slipping and sliding all along the sandy way and I can count on two hands the amount of times I almost slipped and fell. We drove very slowly, around 15 mph, but it sure was an experience.
The night at the ranch was very relaxing. Kate gave us the option to sleep on the wooden deck they just recently built, which has a magnificent view of the whole area. The ranch's water is collected from the gutter, and electricity from solar panels. The exclusive place gave all three of us a feeling we made it to somewhere special, and we enjoyed our stay very much.
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