Heading For Home

Sun Apr 17
We left Gallup early this morning and logged nearly five hundred miles on a windy day to arrive at our daughter, Laurie and Evan's home in Springville, Utah by early evening. We passed several abrupt rock formations protruding from an otherwise flat desert floor.

Our only side trip was to stop at the four corners monument where the four states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah share a common boundary. This monument is entirely surrounded by Indian lands and is run by the local people. Rows of commercial booths where locals sell Indian art, jewelry, etc., one in each state, surround the marker.

"X" Marks the Spot

Standing in Four States at Once

We took pictures, bought Indian fry bread from a very cute little girl and her Mom,

and bought a beautiful sand painting representing each of the four states.

The older gentleman who sold us the painting was named Frank Austin or Bahah Zhonie as his Navajo name.

We talked with him some and found him to have an interesting background, with a college education, as a professional clothing silk screen designer and artist. Soon we could see snow-capped mountains in the distance.

We then passed through the beautiful Canyonlands area, the red sandstone rock and cliffs around Moab and Arches National Park and over Soldier Summit at 7500 feet elevation with plenty of snow still on the ground along the highway. In Springville it was quite cool and overcast but it felt good to be back with family close to home.