Del Fuegos be warned. The gang is together. John and I connected in Albuquerque without a hitch. Today's journey took us west along Route 66 through the balance of New Mexico over the Continental Divide and into Arizona. We did not record significant mileage as the photo opportunities were too many and John and I had so much fun catching up. I only took him and his Harley onto gravel four times today and remarkably we are still best friends. He only warned me a dozen times that he would never follow me off road but somehow I prevailed. Today was one of the best days of the journey as we explored off the beaten track a number of times and managed to get lost a few times as well. My navigation skills are deteriorating. A side trip into the Painted Desert in Arizona was a significant highlight and a very fun ride with many photo ops.
The Navajo tribe reservations prevail in most of western New Mexico and Arizona and route 66 took us through this native land on several occasion's. During our travels through their land we respected the unspoken code of not trespassing beyond the roadway and refraining from taking any photos.
For those of you that don't know the Navajo language proved an important strategic advantage during the second world war. The US Marine Corps employed some 400 Navajo speakers to transmit messages that would be undecipherable to the Japanese. This was possible largely due to the fact that the Navajo language is extremely complex; it has no alphabet and is unwritten.. This language was spoken only in the American southwest and was understood by no more than 30 or so non natives - non of them Japanese. For decades following the second world war, the US military kept this part of history largely under wraps in case the need should arise to use this language again. Finally, in 1992 the information was made public and the hundreds of code talkers so vital to the war effort were recognized and honoured for their unique contributions. In 2002 MGM Studios released a feature film on the subject, Windtalkers.
Tomorrow our journey will entail another side trip north to the Grand Canyon before retracing our route south and continuing on our 66 westward journey. Stay tuned.
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| Wild Hogs |
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| Painted Desert |
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| Our Wheels |
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| Scraggly Dog just for you Ralf |
Hey Jim
ReplyDeleteYour making great progress and living
the dream !!!
In the words of others: Take It easy,
take it easy. Don't let the sound of
your own wheels drive you crazy.
Lighten up while you still can ,
don't even try to understand.
Just find a place to make your
stand and take it easy. Well,
your standing on a corner in
Winslow, Arizona and such a
fine sight to see. It's a girl,
my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowin' down to take a look
at you. NEVER MIND SHE'S
PROBABLY ABOUT 85 BY NOW.
I just wanted to say that
before you got to Winslow !!
Hope your having fun. Be nice
to the Dels.
Dave V.
(Thanks to the Eagles - 1972)