Day 13 -- Gallup, New Mexico to Holbrook, Arizona -- 139 Miles (at least)

This morning, much to our surprise, it wasn't raining on our camp in Gallup, New Mexico. It's pouring rain now as I type this, and it has been raining off and on all day. But this morning we were able to break camp and head down Route 66 in the direction (sort of) our intended point-of-interest for the day, the Hubbell Trading Post on the Navaho Reservation, under sunny skies repleat with fluffy white clouds. No, I'm not kidding. It really happened.

I was in a really good mood as we set out. I knew what roads I needed to take to reach our destination, and I told Concetta not to fire up her evil GPS on her iPhone. Her GPS has a mind of its own, and it insists on sending us in the right direction but on obscure routes that are not always suitable for our lengthy rig.

I knew that all we needed to do this morning was drive Route 66 west until it interesected Arizona Route 191 north. Route 191 would take us within a couple of blocks of our objective in the town of Ganado, Arizona. If Route 66 didn't go as far as Route 191, we had the option of seguing over to Interstate 40 to do the job.

When we had gone just a couple of miles on Route 66, the opportunity to take Interstate 40 presented itself and we went ahead and turned onto the ramp. It was at this point that Concetta revealed to me that she had gone ahead and programmed her iPhone to guide us. I told her we had no need of the device, but as long as it was on and giving us directions I knew to be correct, we'd leave it on.

That's when the damn thing started feeding her bogus information that caused me to start second-guessing my memorized directions. Almost as soon as we had gotten up to speed, the GPS demanded we get off Interstate 40 and take an obscure New Mexico rural road labeled 118. I'm not sure why I let it lead me astray, but I did as it requested.

Then to add insult to injury, the device demanded that once we were on Route 118 (which isn't even on our paper map) we should reverse direction and go east again. With a heavy sigh, I did as the device demanded. Very soon we had to drive under Interstate 40 and head north on 118 as the pavement narrowed, and the signs of civilization became fleetingly rare.

So there we were, miles from our intended direction or destination, headed north instead of west for some unknown reason, and we couldn't even find ourselves on the paper map. Since rural route (and I mean RURAL) 118 winds aimlessly around the Navajo Reservation providing access to families on the New Mexico frontier, we weren't even sure if we'd end up having to retrace our steps to get us out of the jam the GPS had caused.

Naturally, the Rural Route 118 may not have existed on any maps, but it did eventually T-bone into New Mexico/Arizona Route 264 that would eventually take us to Ganado, Arizona where we'd find the trading post. Not that you can't excuse the infernal device by saying, well, it took us on the fastest route? That would have been completely untrue. Well, maybe it took us on the most scenic route? That also would have been untrue. The only positive thing the GPS accomplished is it took us through the town of Window Rock, Arizona, which looked interesting, and we had never been there before.

After lunch, when we had visited the Hubbell Trading Post, taken dozens of photos, talked about Navajo code talkers with the staff, and and bought a cool book on the tragedy that was the Navajo "Long Walk," we took my original intended morning route on Arizona Highway 191 and, it was very straight and very scenic and got us back to the Interstate quickly. Sigh!

By note of explanation, I have been reading a book entitled "Code Talker," by Navajo Pacific theater soldier, Chester Nez and ghost writer Judith Schiess Avila. In the book, Chester thoroughly details what it was like growing up in the reservation areas we've been visiting as well as the hardships he endured when he was plucked from his family setting and bused off to boarding school to be forced to Americanize.

Chester's life was very hard at the boarding school staff were extremely harsh with the native children. They were expected to take on a anglo-style name, learn to speak English, and were punished if they spoke their own language or mispronouced English words.

But Chester was not so easy to bully. He actively took on the challenge of learning English, and he learned it so well that when he was a young adult he qualified to become a United States Marine as well as a Navajo Code Talker. Code Talkers had to have perfect proficiency in both English and the Navajo language in order to qualify. Two thousand Navajo tribesmen applied, but only 30 were selected to become Marines and be shipped to the Pacific Theater to both fight and to practice their special assignment.

As for the Hubbell Trading Post we wanted to visit today, I'm going to just include Wikipedia's rundown on the importance of the business:

"The history of the trading post begins in approximately 1874, when Anglo-European trader William Leonard established a trading post in the Ganado Valley. Using “squatter’s rights”, Juan Lorenzo Hubbell purchased the Leonard post and later filed for a homestead claim. In 1878, John Lorenzo Hubbell purchased this trading post, ten years after Navajos were allowed to return to the Ganado region from their U.S.-imposed exile in Bosque Redondo, Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This ended what is known in Navajo history as the "Long Walk of the Navajo. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960."

Of course everyone has seen the importance of trading posts to both the Indians and the settlers in the old west via Hollywood movies. Even the frontier military relied on trading posts. But nowadays there are few opportunities to visit such establishments, either still functioning or as museum resprestations.

So Concetta and I were very much excited to visit the Hubbell Trading Post and view the preserved history there. We even got to see a young Navajo woman doing traditional weaving which we found totally fascinating. Various rooms in the trading post held antiques as well as craftwork for sale. There were so many exciting and interesting things about the trading post that we didn't know which direction to look first.

Since rain has been following us around for many days, today was no exception. However, the rain seemed to be half-hearted when it arrived in mid morning, and we didn't mind driving the wet roads. But once we had parked the rig and visited the trading post, then returned to the RV for lunch, the heavens opened up and water poured down creating a scene that Noah would have recognized. Almost instantly, the dirt parking lot was turned into a giant quagmire, and it would have been impossible to walk back to the trading post without getting extremely wet and muddy.

Then, almost abruptly as the downpour had begun, the spigot was shut off somewhere, and the rain ceased. I was able to grab the camera and go exploring. And if I stayed to the more rocky terrain, I didn't even get very muddy. One of the places I visited then was the Visitors Center where I took many photos of all the displays. After that, I worked my way over to the barn and captured a few photos.

Once I arrived back at the rig and removed my wet and (slightly) muddy shoes, we put away our lunchtime supplies and got ready to leave. The experience at Hubbells had been truly memorable including the lesson we received from two ladies behind the sales counter who gave us some examples of the spoken Navajo language. The younger girl was a college student, and the older woman was employed during the school year as a college guidance counselor.

As we motored down the trading post drive toward Route 264, I knew that all we had to do was drive about a mile, then jump on Route 191 south toward Interstate 40. But I knew that the precocious GPS was not done with us since it was still activated. We had only just left the trading post drive when the GPS demanded we take a right turn on some skinny, wandering burro track. But, I held my course and ignored her instructions. Moments later we turned right on Arizona Route 191 and headed south, secure in the knowledge that Ms. GPS had failed to distract us.

But, almost as soon as we had rolled up the onramp for Interstate 40, the GPS started whinning about the need for us to take the next exit and travel on the frontage road. I ignored her, and we kept to the Interstate. Yet every few minutes as we approached a new overpass, the GPS would frantically try to get us to exit and follow her instructions. But it was no soap. I had learned my lesson, one all of us overland travelers should heed: listen to the GPS, but check everything on the road atlas.

As we traveled Interstate 40 toward Holbrook, and our reserved campsite for the evening, we came abreast of a constructon crew laying asphalt on one of the two traffic lanes over on the opposing side of the freeway. It was just a small crew, and the construction site looked small. But the effect of the closure of one lane of the Interstate was having catestrophic effects on traffic flow. As far as we could see to the horizon, hundreds and hundreds of cars and trucks were sitting motionless on the tarmac or creeping slowly forward.

This situation persisted for at least ten or fifteen miles and probably involved many hundreds of 18-wheelers and countless, if fewer, cars. I'd be willing to bet that the backup persisted for several hours and probably didn't end until dark.

Ultimately we rolled into the KOA camp about 3:00 p.m., and the sun was still shining as it had been from the time we left the Hubbell Trading Post. But, as I sat typing away here at my dinner table desk, we both heard a few drops begin to splatter on the roof, then a few more. Moments later another massive deluge like we had experienced during our lunch at the trading post dropped out of the sky and turned the whole camp to an inland sea. But just as quickly as it had arrived, the heavy rain fled and the scheduled outdoor dinner picnic at the KOA here was able to proceed as scheduled.

Well, that's our adventures for the day. It started out in complete chaos and ended up in tranquil serenity. To say I just love this lifestyle would be a huge understatement. Even though we traveled these highways in the past, we always manage to find a different town on a different exit and points of interest that escaped our interest the first time around. Tomorrow we don't have the slightest idea where we will end up, probably somewhere north of here. But stay tuned as it will always be fun.