Day 2: Cortez, CO to Flagstaff, AZ

After a pretty straightforward driving day, we finally begin to see some serious stuff. Near Cortez is the relatively small and straighforward Mesa Verde National Park. I say relatively small; this the the States, though, and with a demanding day of sightseeing and tourist-being ahead of us, the (entirely beautiful) drive through Mesa Verde narrows our already tight schedule still further.

Enough moaning, though, especially as the day worked out pretty well after all. And I'm glad we didn't miss the park; while it may not compare in terms of flabbergastworthiness to some of our later stopovers, it was a fantastic first experience of the amazing nature of the American wilderness. And the view from its highest point, amid the strong breeze and the clacking of the cicadas, was as amazing as you'd imagine.

Selected conversation gems from day 2:

Sarah: Look, our first butte!
Mark: And isn't it a butte-y!
Mark: [wets himself with uncontrollable hysterics, etc.]

Sarah: Ooh, it's a turkey!
Sarah: A turkey vulture!
(pause)
Sarah (slightly less certain): Um, it's a buzzard...

It was a good day too for stereotypical americana: I saw my first tumbleweed (which didn't have the grace to do any tumbling), my second tumbleweed (watch it tumble! Tumble, motherfucker, tumble!), windblown sands, dust storms, dust devils (which rock, repeatedly, throughout the trip - but is the southwest always so windy?), wigwams, buffalo, a biker belle in chaps called Jolene, and the WWF logo picked out in rocks on a mountainside.

There was also a moment when Marv's Let's Get It On appeared on one of my specially-prepared mix CDs, and Sarah burst out laughing. I was non-plussed.

Hmm - somehow I've written all the above without mentioning one of the highlights of the entire holiday, Monument Valley. One of my smarter moves is persuading Sarah that we need to OFF-ROAD (spoken like Otto from The Simpsons, natch) around the familar but spectacular mesas and buttes that make up one of the most astonishing natural sights I've ever seen. Have no fear, once I've finished sorting, processing, tweaking and naming my hundreds of holiday snaps, I'll be putting some up here for your viewing pleasure. My mum had told me Monument Valley was her favourite sight of all in the States; she's not far off, fo sho.

Our other touristy stop-off was at the Four Corners monument in Utah-New Mexico-Colorado-Arizona. It's a neat idea, I suppose, and it is set in the most bare, benighted landscape we come across the entire road trip (Bonneville Salt Flats excepted), but it's really little more than an excuse to charge visitors $3 for the privilege of taking an "amusing" photo and eating Navajo tacos, a native delicacy involving the rather delicious frybread.

So we got to Flagstaff after an extremely fulfilling day on the road, and despite being welcomed to town by a bunch of topless, beer-swilling rednecks in the back of a pickup, we went to bed tired and entirely satisfied. And the hotel was good, too.

Posted by biondino at June 20, 2003 12:18 PM