Visiting the Navaho Nation

I made an unplanned trip into the Navaho Nation today.  I-40 was completely blocked after Grants, NM.  I don't know what happened, but they routed us off the interstate and there was no detour marked for going west.  After following the big rigs, we were told to turn around.  I decided to see if there was any alternate route and since I couldn't look at my map, I called my daughter and her husband looked up a route for me.  It worked, but it took a while.  I went though Navaholand to the north of the interstate.  There was a police woman at one intersection who was there to direct those like me who were taking this route.  She told me how to get back on I-40 at Gallup.  She also told me where I could get gas, which I really needed.

This is a very sparsely populated area.  I did pass one mine, either coal or uranium, I don't know which and a number of empty ore-carriers.  The state road was really good and the speed limit was 65.  The Navaho road (N-9) was pretty good too. I'll have to do some research into the area later.  The last time I was near there was in the 1970s when I visited both the Hopis and Navahos to talk about coal gasification.

When we finally got back on I-40  there was very little traffic.  I decided to drive past Flagstaff to Williams.  Stayed in a Days Inn there a couple of years ago.  They are a very dog friendly chain.  In Amarillo the fourth floor seemed to be the doggie floor.  We met a Newfie and a Golden there.  Izzie wasn't interested.  Right now she's sound asleep.