A Place Called To'hajiilee

The empty road--traveling toward Tucumcari, NM (nowhere near
To'hajiile, but I like the photo)

Crossing New Mexico on our recent road trip to California, we passed by a place with the intriguing and beautiful name of To'hajiilee. It is the name of the city located a bit west of Albuquerque, and it is also the name of the band of Navajos that live there, away from the main reservation (the "Big Rez"). Driving past To'hajiilee signaled the beginning of our passage through Navajo country.

Here is what the New Mexico Tourism web site has to say about the Navajo Nation:
The largest U.S. Indian tribe, the Navajo Nation consists of more than 298,000 members, about 106,807 of whom live in New Mexico, according to Census 2000 figures. The reservation includes approximately 27,000 square miles. Its boundaries extend from northwestern New Mexico into northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah, larger than many states.

This was just a quick week-long trip, driving to and from California with a few days in the middle to spend with family to celebrate our Thanksgiving. Along the way, I saw many places that I want to go back to and explore in depth. In the meantime, I’ll learn what I can from home. Here is my list of places to travel back to and explore:

• Acoma Sky City
• Chaco Canyon
• Gallup, NM
• Grants, NM
• Hubbell Trading Post
• Hosta Butte
• Monument Valley
• Shush Yaz Trading Co.
• Window Rock/Tségháhoodzání (AZ): Capital of the Navajo Nation

We had lunch at an amazing place in Gallup, the El Rancho Hotel (“Home of the Movie Stars”). I’ll tell you more about that later.