Thursday morning, we had a yummy breakfast at the Casino cafe and got back on the road before our willpower could give out and we’d lose everything just to get Five Jeff Goldblums. Our route dipped back into New Mexico, and we arrived at our next Boondockers site in the afternoon - a church parking lot in Shiprock, NM.
Bethel Christian Reformed Church
Shiprock is on the Navajo Lands, and you can see the town’s namesake in the distance from the lot.
Shiprock was the name given to the ancient volcanic formation by Europeans, of course. The original Navajo name is Tsé Bit’ a’í —“Rock with Wings.” It’s considered sacred to the Navajo and has been off limits to outsiders since the 60s, after a serious climbing accident. One legend says it is a giant bird that carried the Navajo ancestors to New Mexico, after which it turned to stone.
Our host, the pastor of the church, was originally from the Netherlands (the Christian Reformed Church was founded there) but he and his family have been living in the US since he graduated college - 20+ years in Shiprock alone. He’s a very kind and light-hearted guy who seems to have endless energy, despite the many roles and projects he’s juggling. One of them is running a thriving plant nursery:
You’ve heard of Fishers of Men, this guy’s also a Planter of Peppers! And all kinds of squash, melons, tomatoes, etc. During the pandemic (which sadly hit the Navajo nation very hard) they ran a food distribution, but now that demand has lowered, he’s growing extra food-bearing seedlings to give away in lieu of processed or packaged foods.
We also met his three cute dogs, but only one would stay still long enough for a photo.
Mrs. Pastor also raises hens and sells eggs at their nursery. We weren’t able to meet her, but we of course grabbed a lovely pastel dozen.
On the pastor’s recommendation, we stopped in Nataani Nez, a diner with Navajo-American dishes like burgers with frybread instead of buns, and tacos with frybread instead of tortillas. We would have gladly ordered frybread wrapped in frybread on a bed of frybread, but we opted to take it easy and get the Burger and the Lamb Stew with, you guessed it, frybread. Soooo good.
As the sun lowered, we drove out closer to Shiprock. We’d heard that the gravel road leading to it from the paved access road was also off-limits, but there was no signage or man-made barriers at all, and several other cars pulling off towards it, so we got a smiiiiidge closer. The naturally-formed barrier of a very bumpy and pitted road is probably enough to keep most people away from the base.
The formation is so other-worldly, it’s really seems impossible that there couldn’t be some spiritual or supernatural significance to it.
We got as close as our consciences and the truck’s four-wheel-drive would allow, which wasn’t terribly far. Honestly, viewing it from a distance kind of enhances its mystery.
Goodnight, beautiful bird.
Tomorrow - Lake Powell and Attack of the 50 MPH Winds!
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