Blame it on the Tetons

Day 26 – Albuquerque, NM

Our cabin.

We were driving along today and all of a sudden we hear “Blame it on the Tetons…” being sung on the iPod.  We check and see that the group Modest Mouse actually has a song by that title.  I have no idea what they were song was about (they’re somewhat avant-garde), but it wasn’t a bad song.  It was probably a more appropriate title for a past post, but oh well.  I’ll fit it in somehow.

Coffee on the porch.

Today was another driving & sightseeing combo day.  We started the day with coffee on our cabin porch and it was then that our plans were altered right off the bat.  Luckily, this wasn’t another car issue or anything like that.  Instead, it was a good thing: Amy got a call from Dixon Elementary School in Elmbrook (my district) about interviewing for a 1^st grade position at her school.  Seeing as coming in wasn’t an option, she set up a phone interview for 10 am our time (11 am Milwaukke time).  So that meant we needed to be in a place with cell coverage at that time. 

Driving towards monument valley in the morning sunlight.

Our plan for the morning had been to do the scenic drive and hike at Monument Valley Navajo tribal Park.  Now, our first order of business was to see where in that area would have cell phone coverage.  Luckily, Amy was able to get coverage in the visitor center parking lot, so we checked out the museum and had some breakfast on the patio overlooking the park while we waited for 10 am.  When 10 hit, I headed in to check out the museum some more while Amy interviewed by phone in the car.  It was only an initial interview to narrow down the candidate pool, so she was done within 20 minutes.  She felt like she did really well, so our fingers were crossed for good news. 

Breakfast on the patio.

View from the visitors center

We realized that we wouldn’t be able to do both the hike and the drive anymore, so we decided to just do the drive.  It was hot and we were kind of hiked out.  Plus, all the hike did was go out and make a loop around one of the monuments.  Not much excitement for 3 miles of walking.  I should probably stop here to describe what Monument valley is. Monument Valley is a collection of mesas, buttes, and spires (which I’ve described in previous posts) that seem to rise out of nowhere.  All around is flat and then these giant rock formations jut out randomly in all sorts of interesting and beautiful sizes and shapes.  It is in the center of the Navajo reservation and is an important part of their history and culture.  To this day, families still live in the park amongst the monuments as their families have for generations.  Traditional homes, called Hogans, can be seen next to trailers and modern homes throughout the park. 

The Three Sisters (far left).

So we set off on the drive, which is only 17 miles long, but usually takes at least two hours to complete.  The length is not due to needing so much time to look at the monuments, but more due to the condition of the road.  And by condition of the road, I mean huge potholes in a combination rock, sand, gravel path that limits speeds to under 10 mph at most times.  Not gonna lie, it annoyed me.  I spent so much time navigating the road, it was difficult to enjoy the scenery.  Throw in the fact that the most scenic and interesting monuments are easily viewed from the comfort of the visitor center observation deck or even the highway we passed them on yesterday evening and this morning and I was lees than excited about the “scenic” drive.  I was also disappointed by the lack of background provided about the park, the monuments, and the Navajo Nation.  While the museum was actually really interesting and informative, it was smaller than the gift shop and focused heavily on the Navajo code talkers of WWII instead of the park.  The brochure was even less informative.  SO while it was very neat to see, it was not our favorite spot.  Our expectations were too high I guess.  Blame it on the Tetons (see, I told you I would work it in).

View from Artists' Point

Obligatory self-taken photo of us.

From there, we headed out of the park towards the Four Corners Monument, where Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico all meet.  We had two interesting things and one good thing on that part of the trip.  The first interesting thing we saw was a cow stopped at a stop sign who appeared to be looking both ways.  As traffic was coming, he did not cross.  Second, when we passed Red Mesa high school, which is still on the Navajo Reservation, we saw that their mascot was the “Redskins”.  We really didn’t know what to feel or even think about that.  I guess it’s their choice and all, but it seemed an odd choice.  We saw another school on the reservation that was The Chieftans and the logo was a strapping young warrior in full dress.  While most non-Native American schools would have to change even that mascot (at least in Wisconsin), it was less shocking than the redskin name and mascot being used.  I don’t know, maybe I’m thinking about this wrong.

Anyways, the good thing is that Amy already received a call back from Dixon as we were driving and was asked back for a second, full interview at the school next Tuesday.  Yeah Amy!!!!!!!  That definitely got us in a great mood.

I'm in Utah and Arizona, Amy is in Colorado and New Mexico.

The Four Corners monument was, well, a place where four states got together.  It had plaques to read.  There was a spot where you could step and be in four states at once.  There were even more stands for buying jewelry, rugs, pottery and frybread.  We got our pictures and took off.

Amy, not amused with my "help" driving.

We crossed over into New Mexico and started to head towards Albuquerque.  Amy took over driving and I was able to unleash the side-seat driving wrath that had been building all morning.  It was fun.  (If anyone sees Ralph at church tomorrow, please let him know that Amy started singing on of his songs.  Something about "An asshole talking".  He's a bad influence on her.)  We arrived in Albuquerque without any further excitement, although earlier than planned. 

After checking in to our hotel, we decided to go out and get some dinner.  Amy thought that Mexican sounded good, so we decided to head to a place across from the hotel.  We stopped first at the front desk to see about internet connection problems and while there, mentioned our dinner plans to the woman at the front desk.  She told us that, while many people like the restaurant we were going to, it is more Mexican than New Mexican.  We were interested in trying New Mexican cuisine, so she suggested a place called Las Cuetas.  We popped it into the GPS and we were off.

After a somewhat long, zig-zaggy drive, we finally arrived at the restaurant.  Instead of chips and salsa, we were given ships and red chile.  It was hot.  Very hot.  So hot that when we ordered and had the choice of red or green chile on our dishes, we both went with green.  Didn’t matter.   Both of our dishes were so spicy hot, it was almost impossible to eat.  We asked for sour cream to hopefully cut the kick a little, but it did nothing.  I had a combo platter with an enchilada, taco, and chili rellaño served with beans and rice.  The taco was a taco – nothing special.  The bites of enchilada and rellaño that weren’t smothered in chile were very tasty, but the spice made it too much to enjoy the dish much.  Amy had an Indian taco, which was served on a sopapilla (a thick, bread-like sweet tortilla) with marinated pork, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.  She made a valiant effort, but the size and heat got to her and she had to say “no mas!”.  The one redeeming part of the meal was the sopapillas served on the side.  We put honey on them and they were great.  But now, we have two very unhappy tummies.  Gonna try to sleep it off so we are ready for the long haul from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City to Kansas City tomorrow.