I’ve been confirmed for my timeshare exchange  through Interval International to The San Juan Mountain and Golf Resort in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and I’ve decided to drive there. It’s about an 8 hour drive and I’ve been looking forward to it.

As I drive out of the Phoenix metropolitan area on Highway 17 towards Flagstaff, I’m surprised at how green the desert is.  That is, green to us locals.  I’ve forgotten how pretty and unique the Sonoran desert is here.  There are some really exotic looking Saguaro cactus on this stretch.

North of Flagstaff I stopped at the Cameron Trading Post for gas and had a look inside. I’m now getting into Navajo Nation territory. There is some interesting stuff in the trading post but mostly tourist nick nacks.  The original hand woven rugs were the best things there but $4900-$7900 for a small rug is ridiculous.

Authentic Navajo Rug

The landscape north of the trading post is really beautiful. I can easily visualize the Native American Indians riding across the desert and imagine their teepees poking up in the distance.

At about 200 miles from home it occurs to me that a person on horseback, making good time, would have taken about 5 days to get to where I’m at in 3 hours; and probably at least 2 weeks in a wagon train.

I’m in awe of the early pioneers like the Spanish Conquistadors in the 1700’s and the Americans that crossed such a huge expanse of unpopulated territory in the 1800’s and what they endured to reach their destinations. What temerity, focus and bravery it must have taken.
I also think it would have been incredible to camp in the virgin desert beneath a sky with no light pollution or people and only mother nature at her rawest.

The desert north of the trading post is really beautiful.  It’s exotic and epitomizes the colors and land features of Arizona.  There are buttes, mesas and mounds everywhere that are the muted pastel colors of pink, ocher, blue, purple, green and charcoal, back dropped against a blue sky filled with cumulus clouds.  Many of the mesas are horizontally striated with these pastel colors. It’s breathtaking, and I imagine Indians everywhere.

On the radio they’re talking about 9/11 and I’m suddenly filled with mixed emotions.  Without getting too patriotic on you, I’m reminded what a truly great nation we are and how anyone could think otherwise, regardless of our bumps and warts, is beyond me.

But as I drive across the Navajo Nation I’m reminded of how badly we treated the Native American Indians; how we broke our promises and stole their lands.  It’s one of a few, or possibly many, sad chapters in our history.  But are there any other countries in the world that haven’t done things they now regret and are ashamed of?  I doubt it.  It certainly doesn’t make what we did right, but to those with anti-American sentiments, I suggest you take a little closer look at home.

And to any Americans currently whining about how they want their old USA back during these turbulent times, I suggest you remember that the old USA belonged to the Indians, not us.

As I continue east on 160 past the little outpost of Tsegi, AZ, I see some fantastically shaped buttes jutting out of the desert.  Trying to describe it in my mind I finally think of Monument Valley and when I get a chance to look at my map, lo and behold, I find I’m skirting the eastern edge of it.  I’ll take the 23 mile detour on my way back to go through it since I’ll be gaining an hour.

Hwy 160 now jogs north to head to Pagosa Springs. As I turn north, I leave Arizona.  Within 60 seconds I pass a sign that says “Welcome to New Mexico” and then “Welcome to Colorado”.  I’ve just traversed 3 states in one minute and I am, of course, at Four Corners.  I resist the impulse to stand in line at the marker to be able to say that I’ve straddled 4 states because I straddled 2 hemispheres in Quito, Ecuador in 1977.

More in the next post.

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Jeff Pierce, The Timeshare Expert, has taught thousands of timeshare owners the secrets to getting the best exchanges with both RCI and Interval International for over 21 years.

His two books, The Timeshare Exchange Bible – RCI Weeks Edition, and The Timeshare Exchange Bible – Interval International, are the only books of their kind in the timeshare industry and designed to help you  master at the very complicated art of getting good exchanges.

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