We are all ensconced in what feels like a secret house in Bluff, part of the estate of the Recapture Lodge which is highly recommended by LP. This charming old house is situated off the main road through Bluff, in what seems to be a quiet part of this rather intriguing town. The Adams House, as it is called, has four bedrooms, ample beds, a well equipped kitchen, and all sorts of other generous amenities. We were offered it for a very reasonable price for just one night, when we called to try to book rooms at the Lodge for our unusual combination of adults and children: it sounded perfect for our needs, and now we are wishing we had planned our trip to stay here for another night. We have arrived at Monument Valley in the dark, but we have made out the shadows of immense rocky bluffs and can't wait for sunrise to see what can be seen.
The Adams House was probably built in about 1895, in the Utah "box style". Around this time, Bluff was in transition from a community of 25 families living in log cabins into a relatively prosperous little town complete with sandstone public buildings. The new found prosperity came from the livestock business and Mr Frederick Joseph Adams who built this house in his twenties (and then died of typhoid while away on business at the age of twenty-nine leaving his wife with three children) made his money in livestock trading. It has been restored to make a very comfortable, spacious house, with rocking chairs in every room and on the back porch. American living!! It costs $700.00 per week to rent for 4 adults with a surcharge of a few additional dollars per night for any extra adults, children go free. There are 3 rooms with double beds, and one room with a double bed plus a single bed.
Friday morning seems a long time ago. As soon as I got up, I checked the web on my netbook, and discovered that there were no car hire companies operating in Holbrook, and alerted Chidi and Kate to this hitch in our plans. We decided that Kate and I should make a dash back to good old Show Low, 47 miles down the road: this plan would have various advantages: Chidi could complete the essay he is writing for a course he is undertaking (while the girls could be indulged with TV, a very very rare treat), and it would give James and Oksy time to have a small sleep in and then a leisurely breakfast at Denny's which is just across the car park. This plan worked perfectly: we met the mechanic who leads a team of two other mechanics, all like him, a bit aged with straggly grey ponytails, but salt of the earth Republicans, so far as we were concerned. They had located a second hand fuel tank at less than half the price of a new one, and would have the car fixed some time after Easter. Plus they fixed Kate's headlight for free. From there we drove to Hatch Toyota (the only company that seemed to have readily available cars for rent, but nevertheless gave us a really good deal). Here we picked up a nice metallic green Toyota Corolla, which I drove back to Holbrook with Kate leading the way. As soon as we arrived we got packed up and ready to drive to Petrified Forest National Park. Our jinx struck again, and this time the Ford refused to start. James, Oksy and I set off for Petrified Forest leaving Kate, Chidi and the girls to sort it out agreeing that we would rendezvous in Bluff.
Later we learned that our friendly mechanics were called, and advised them to knock the engine with a hammer to get it started: they supplied a hammer, and marked the correct spot with some white paint. I remember doing the same thing to get a car started in Nigeria: it seems a hilarious solution but it does work.
The Painted desert and the Crystal forest were amazingly beautiful. We drove through stopping at most of the "pull-ups" or viewpoints, futilely trying to capture the subtle colours and formations in digital pictures. There isn't any need for me to delve into the background, as it is all so well written up and photographed elsewhere. It is definitely a "must-see" if you come this way, and there are trails around the crystal forest you can walk, though we didn't fully explore them for lack of time. I learnt later that some of the trails lead past petroglyphs, but most people don't know where they are and don't get to see them (see later for our source of information). James mapped me on to our next journey stage - straight up the I 191 via Chinle township to Bluff. It was late afternoon by now, and I drove up a very straight, deserted road with wild, empty Navajo country on all sides. We made excellent time, and decided to stop off at the supermarket at Chinle which serves the Navajo community, full of locals doing their weekend shop. We trailed around picking up various survival foodstuffs for Bluff (no alcohol as we were on a reservation, and possibly none in Utah!) as we knew that we were transiting from Arizona time to MST, and therefore things might well be shut up by the time we got to Bluff. As we turned a corner of the supermarket aisles preparing to check-out, there was Chidi with Zaria: they had just made Chinle and had the same idea: a happy reunion. We pooled our groceries which now included two large roast chickens and some big heads of lettuce, and set off for Bluff in convoy. The next stage of our journey was along increasingly dramatic and beautiful wild country, and as the darkness set in, the drama and desolation increased. In under two hours we were driving from the deep darkness into the scattered but welcoming lights of Bluff: we arrived at Recapture Inn, collected our house key, quickly bought beer from a place across the road just as they were closing up, and got into the Adams House to enjoy the beer, chicken and lettuce before retiring to bed at about 11:00 pm.
PS very sporadic wireless here so no pictures at first, and no spell checking...
No comments:
Post a Comment