Day 30 – May 3

Our plan for wheels rolling by 9:00 was close to being met by all. Sean and Carla wanted to see some of the displays in the Visitors Centre which they had by passed on their entry to the park so the MRT was off first, followed by the BRT whose occupants were in need of a shower after the hike of the previous day.

With a staggered start our plan was to meet at the first turn off to Tuba City, where there was a flea market we wanted to see, but really who could drive by a place named Tuba City and not stop to find out where the name came from. However as the road passed along the Little Colorado River we spotted the LRT at a scenic look off as we pulled off were soon joined by the MRT. I contrast to the desert and warming temperatures, to the south we could see the snow covered top of Humphreys Peak, at 12,633 feet the highest point in Arizona.

We arrived at Tuba City around 11 and after some directions from a local we found the flea market. Set in the middle of what on non market days must be a dirt parking lot the market was a bustle of open booths selling native jewellery, bags of beads and a variety of local foods. The foods included buffalo burgers, mutton, pulled pork and fried bread. Sean and Carla sampled the $5 buffalo burger, Jane and Ike the pulled pork and Diane and I the fried bread. After the usual cross sampling we all agreed that the food tasted as good as it smelled. Although a feast for eye and nose the food appeared to be the main reason most of the locals were attending.

Tuba City Flea Market

After about an hour of exploring we headed off to visit the Navajo Museum in the town. The museum was well laid out and offered in interesting insight into Navajo culture and history, one that has been marked with hardship and adversity. The treatment of these people was similar to that of First Nations in many countries, in many instances nothing short of a policy of physical and cultural genocide. That fact that anything at all remains of the Navajo way of life is more a testament to the strength of that culture than it is to the ineffectiveness of the various attacks, both physical and cultural against it.

By 2:00 we were on our way heading towards Bryce Canyon. Along the way our route took us along the Little Colorado River which provided some other unique views of the Canyon. After some group consultation and calling ahead by Carla we were sure that there was no room at Bryce, as it was a Friday night. We started to explore options of campsites on the way and kept a watchful eye for any signs of camping sites. Carla consulted her Woodalls book and found a site in Kanab called the Kanab RV Corral. We found it without much effort and even though at first view appeared full we were given three adjacent sites. Although small sites they worked well for us as a group.

The Little Colorado

Having just crossed into Utah we found out that we had passed back into Mountain Time from the Pacific Time we had in Arizona due to their lack of adherence to Daylight Savings so we lost an hour and began to prepare supper around 8:00 in full sunlight which was a nice change. A meal of barbecued pork tenderloin was followed by a rousing game of ‘pass the pigs’ marked by enough laughter to cause us to be concerned about getting a reputation as the noisy Canadians so we retired to our RTs.