Travels with haRVy

On our way to the astounding Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d’shay) in the northeastern corner of Arizona, we stopped in at the Hubbell Trading Post. The squeaky wooden floor greets your entry into the oldest operating trading post on the Navajo Nation. When your eyes adjust to the dim light in the “bullpen” you find you’ve just entered a mercantile. Hubbell’s has been selling groceries, grain, hardware, horse tack, coffee, and native american art since 1878. We perused the beautiful jewelry and rugs fashioned by locals and took a self-guided tour of the grounds and buildings, which are now part of the National Park System.

Later that afternoon we got settled in to our Cottonwood Campground site just outside of the entrance to Canyon de Chelly National Park. At 5 pm we set out on the scenic south rim drive, which provided tremendous panoramic views of the canyon and ancient ruins within.

Can you see the ancient dwelling at the base of the canyon wall?

Here’s a closer look of those dwellings built by Puebloan people 1,000 years ago.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you that for nearly 5,000 years, people have lived in these canyons – longer than anyone has lived uninterrupted anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. Today, Navajo families make their homes, raise livestock, and farm the lands. The Navajo Nation and the National Park Service work together to manage the park resources.

These folks apparently preferred living higher up…can you imagine? I can’t!

Acrophobia…what acrophobia…? He’s not as close to that edge at it appears.

Spider Rock, an 800-foot sandstone spire, the last stop on south rim tour.

On the way back, we saw these wild horses and many more.

As the sun set, the full moon rose over the canyon. My photo doesn’t do it justice, but I had to include it anyway. That evening we watched the full lunar eclipse through haRVy’s skylight from our bed pillows.