“The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the identity of the innocent.” -Dragnet

Rose stood in line at Burger King.. It seemed like that’s all she’d gotten done recently.. Her thoughts went back to the wonder of Mesa Verde National Park, where she had toured the Indian ruins that had lain nestled under the cliffs for 750 years. There she had stood in line to climb down a ladder into a “Kiva”(a circular basement room) where they had worshiped the Great Spirit years ago. The cliff dwellers where fascinating people. Climbing straight up the cliff to tend their crops on top.

Travel had then taken her towards “Four Corners’ where she’d stood in line with her travel companions for 45 mins before finally getting the opportunity to stand on the square of concrete that represented the meeting of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. The 100 degree temp had made this wait a little bit of a challenge. One guy about 2 groups ahead of her in line was compelling his young children to make a decision.. “I’ve been to every continent on this earth, and I can tell you, this is the most over-rated tourist attraction there is.. The wait is an hr. And it’s just a piece of concrete you can easily see from the side..” Eventually they caved, and thus sped up the waiting time for the people behind them.

And so there she was, standing in line again. This time at a Burger King in Navajo Land. The memory of the amazing Sheepherder’s Sandwich (made out of fry bread-a Native American special) fresh on her mind and dreaming about all the wild horses she’d just seen and wishing that she had taken the time to look at their feet to see if they were as healthy as rumor stated… This was the coolest Burger King ever, surrounding her was lots of memorabilia from WWII. This was the land of the Navajo Code Talkers.. Those guys must have been incredible, to receive orders in English, relay it over the air in  their native tongue and write it down in English. An added bonus to this history lesson was the presence of one of these brave men in the motel lobby..

Yes, she was deep in thought.. Should she order a warm brownie Oreo Sundae? She didn’t even notice the middle age Indian couple that appeared to be madly in love, who walked in and stood behind her… And.. She hardly thought about how closely the lady stood behind her..

Until..

Somehow the poor man leaned forward to gather his lady-love in his arms, and whisper endearing things in her ear, and managed to catch Rose in the embrace as well..

Three is a crowd, you know. The Indians and Rose both agree. So she quickly changed her order to rapid cup of ice cream, and hurried from the building attempting not to think about what might have been..

Bonus comments:

Soo.. enough silly stories 🙂 Today found us entering Utah and touring Bryce and Zion National Parks. Each National Park has its own unique personality and these were no exception to the rule.

Zion was so desolate. One of the girls made the comment that the area that we’ve been in looks like it’s been sprayed by round-up. And it does. Dead. For parts of 3 states now. I may have been overheard to mention several times on this trip, I wouldn’t be too sad, if they drop me and my suitcase off.. The last few days this hasn’t been the case..

Notice the 4 “kings (or queens) of the mountain” on the first pic

Here we are. I request a special interest in your prayers tonight. We seem to have contacted a little flu bug and our big hike is Tuesday. And it would be best to be in top energy for this.. It’s awesome to know that God is working out the details of my life. I’ve felt His hand a lot this trip. Ask me, and I’ll tell you about it.. 🙂

Thanks again for stopping by.. See you down the trail. Good night,

Kendra