Day 11 – Santa Fe, New Mexico, to The Grand Canyon, Arizona – Another hole

Leaving the sleepy town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, we set out for The Grand Canyon, Arizona via The Navajo Nation which is a large Native American reserve home to several tribes.

Driving through the Navajo reserve was tough on our RV with the roads in disrepair, so we vibrated ourselves through the picturesque countryside headed for an old Native American village called Welpi which is home to the Hopi tribe who inhabit 3 plateaus or Mesa’s. On entering the village limits (extremely small town in the middle of nowhere) we were quickly spotted and followed by the locals. Deciding that it would be unwise to head up the steep road created on a ledge of the plateau, we stopped half way up and were greeted by some of the locals that followed us. With the tribes main source of income being the traditional arts and crafts they create and sell on we given the hard sell by the locals before we even reached the town, so we struck a deal for a team mascot and a lift into town on the back of one the locals ute at break-neck speed.

Unfortunately we were unable to take photos of the Hopi or their land.

Not knowing what to expect, we entered the village to be greeted by people living a very humble existence (apart from the new mustang parked out the front). Spilling into the tiny town we were greeted by more locals and briefed on their way of life and given the hard sell on their hand crafted art. Needing no encouragement to purchase tourist memorabilia at twice the asking price, Andy quickly cleaned out the locals and garnered an unhealthy appreciation of his girly legs from one particular geriatric member of the Hopi.

One leg slap too many and we were back on the winding roads passing through spectacular countryside broken up by fault lines and huge rock formations, little did we know this would pale in comparison to Arizona’s Grand Canyon and its surrounds.

Hitting the Grand Canyon and Kaibab National Park at sunset we were blow away by what we saw.