Through Apache country

We set off in good time for our trip to Petrified Forest, Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly with the goal of sleeping at Holbrook AZ our first night away. First we stopped off at South Cottonwood Lane to drop Kate's two miniature turtles with Jean and Barbara. Then we set off in good form, with Chidi, Oksy and James in the Toyota Avalon, and Kate, me and the two girls in the Ford. We intended to travel straight up to Globe on the I 77, but somehow missed the turn-off and ended up going along a smaller byway via Coolidge and Florence AZ - truly the back of beyond, but remember Coolidge, it came up later in the day. Florence is an unexpectedly charming historical little place more so than Globe which has a greater reputation as a 19th century mining centre. After Florence the scenery became very spectacular as we travelled across beautiful Arizona "desert" scenery with the distant rim of mountains ahead of us and the subtle colours of the mesquite, the saguaro, and other drought loving plants, the occasional drift of flowers, and the various shades of rock. As we rose up from the desert plains, we passed through very dramatic scenery such as Devil's Canyon, and to our delight, had to wait for a few minutes while road makers did some blasting ahead of us (they are widening an old bridge across a chasm). Then on to Globe where we found a picnic table by the road in front of the old railway station, and ate our sandwiches, and large cold slices of water melon. Despite our slight detour, we were making excellent time, and expected to arrive Holbrook in time for a short visit to the Petrified Forest before supper. We started the next phase of our journey winding through the amazing scenery of the Apache White Mountain Reservation - you have seen many of these ridges and peaks in films I am quite sure. The road snakes up and down the mountain sides with hairpin bends, and vertigo inducing views at every hand until you cross Salt River and rise again towards the town of Show Low (do look it up as it has a quixotic history). A rock fall was our downfall - through some unusual freak of bad luck an unseen rock on the road pierced the Avalon's fuel tank under the car, about half way between Globe and Show Low; we all stopped at the next pull out to see what we could do. The answer was absolutely nothing - not even duct tape could staunch the deluge of petrol. Worse, in the middle of this wild stretch of country, our mobile phones did not work. Luckily a passer by had a mobile that did work and we were able to call AAA for roadside assistance. It was obvious that the car would have to be towed and that it was just a matter of a long wait. We decided that Chidi, James, Oksy and the girls should take the Ford and press on for Holbrook to get our night's accommodation sorted out, while Kate (whose name is on all the car documentation and AAA membership) and I would wait for the tow truck, get the car to Show Low and then find our way to Holbrook in the evening. Unfortunately it took ages for the AAA truck to arrive, well over two hours (we learned from the driver that he had not been busy and had only been called at 4:00 pm, whereas we had called AAA before 3:00 and advised that it would take about an hour for them to arrive). One good old guy from Coolidge who passed by and double backed to see if we needed help, gave us the direction to a AAA accredited repair place in Pine Top a few miles East of Show Low, and advised us to be off the White Mountain Apache reserve by nightfall, as it wasn't safe - a touch of the old Apache fears! Good thing Chidi hadn't heard that. It turned out that Dan as he was called, had attended Kate's school in the 1960's and we all bonded with hugs on his eventual departure and many admonitions about our safety. Anyway the long and the short of it is that Kate and I managed to drop the car off at the recommended place which was of course shut by the time we got their at about 6:45, and then hitched a ride with our AAA truck driver (who I am sure was a Mormon reugee as he was a sad, gentle creature with no teeth at all in his head, from Utah, now settled at Globe) back to Show Low where we waited for Chidi to collect us - he had to drive back the 47 miles from Holbrook to collect us, but after such an event we all wanted to be together again. While Chidi searched high and low for us at Show Low (Mobiles were still not working for us remember!) Oksy and James did sterling work caring foir Zaria and Freya at the Best Western Hotel in Holbrook. At last we arrived to find the babies sleeping happily in the hotel. Kate and I hit a bottle of Prosecco we had stashed in the cold box, and sent the men across to Denny's to have a satisfying bellyful of burgers, hash browns or whatever took their fancy. When they got back, Kate and I swayed happily across the parking lot to Denny's and ate something too. We are totally resolved to complete our trip as we are sure the car won't be fixed in a hurry. It needs a new fuel tank. We will telephone the mechanic tomorrow morning to arrange for the work to be done, arrange for a hire car, and set off for Monument Valley eagerly, after a short detour to admire the Petrified forest. Now to bed. It's been quite a tiring day, but we are all happy, safe and well. The scenery all day has been breathtaking and the adventures though not wanted, have only left us grateful that there are so many nice, helpful and kind people around.