DAY 5 TUESDAY MAY 22 CHINLE TO FARMINGTON

With the weather getting worse, we decided to skip Mesa Verde, at least for this day. Decisions were made over the road map and breakfast in the car in a gas station parking lot in Mexican Water, AZ.

As it turned out, the day included alot of driving. But we did stop at Four Corners National Monument where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado all come together. We passed on the opportunity to stand on the platform that allows you to stick various body parts in all four states at one time. We headed for the Navajo arts and crafts booths for a quick run through. I was on the hunt for small pieces of pottery to be purchased directly from the artist. I didn't want to buy anything from a gift shop or "trading post" and pay the mark-up. I wanted to meet the folks who actually made the piece I would take home. One of the beautiful pieces I bought was created by Kimberly Nasha Benally, Diné artist. Diné (deh-NAY), sometimes seen written as Dineh, is what the Navajo traditionally call themselves.

At the very least, walking the booths provided shelter from the rain but not from the temperature or the wind. It was too wet and cold to be fooling around in four states at one time. Besdies, after we hit all the booths and used the porta-potty and went back to the car, we'd been in all four states - so there.

Also stretched our legs in Cortez, Colorado to find an ATM and coffee. Surprisingly, the latte stand inside the City Market (we have them in WA - part of the Kroger chain) makes a very tasty drink. On our way out of town we realized there was a locally owned coffee house. There might even be more but we had no time for exploration.

You know, I'm sure this giant formation has a name but we could never figure it out. Any ideas?



On our criss-cross adventure we saw Shiprock in the distance, standing 1,700 ft. It’s an eroded volcanic plume sacred to the Navajos as Tse Bi dahi, or “the Rock with Wings.” This name comes from a Navajo folk myth that tells that the rock was once a great bird that transported the Navajo ancestral people to their lands in what is now northwestern New Mexico. The great bird rose from the ground to carry the people to safety from a war-like tribe. Geology tells us the rock was formed 12 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch. Shiprock has been a pilgrimage site for people for a long time. Since 1970, the rock has been off limits to climbers out of respect for this Navajo sacred place. There is also a city called Shiprock. We were unable to gets closer to either but I managed to snap one less than mediocre shot form the moving car.

FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO

The more we considered the map, the more we realized that with just a bit of extra driving we could get back to see Mesa Verde in a couple days. In the meantime, we headed to Farmington, NM, our home base for our trek to Chaco Canyon. Farmington is sizeable, sporting all the modern shopping and services and even a small airport.

The first night we walked the old downtown window shopping and picking up souveniers. Postcards, smudge sticks, candy, carved stone ornaments and jewelry to name a few. Looking for grub, we were pointed in the direction of Los Hermanitos. Sally had the green chile stew. Chile is practically a religion in the Southwest. Each area has their preference for either green or red chile and then their preferences for how they eat either of those. The green chile stew at Los Hermanitos passed Sally’s muster. It was pretty damn tasty. And Los Hermanitos tortillas were very good.

Permit a digression on the culinary customs of the Southwest:

The big comfort food of the Southwest is posole (po- SO - lay). Every region has its recipe. Some people serve it as the Christmas Eve meal. Posole is also the name of the corn used in the dish. Soaked in powdered lime and water, the kernels expand. Then you remove the outer husk from each kernel. Sounds time consuming. It could be hard to find posole so hominy works very well too. Sally made this dish for me months ago and I immediately started scheming variations I’d like to try. Pososle has lots of flavors - garlic, cayenne, green chile, oregano, cloves, peppercorn and is traditionally made with pork. Like any regional comfort food, you can customize your posole. Use chicken or sausage or a meat substitute. Folks in southern New Mexico use red chile while those in northern New Mexico use green.

Here is a very good start to your posole future. I’ve also recently discovered a version with shrimp and scallops. I will try that recipe and then post it on cucina bodanza.