{"id":3352,"date":"2014-08-31T13:39:02","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T18:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=3352"},"modified":"2014-08-31T13:39:02","modified_gmt":"2014-08-31T18:39:02","slug":"colorado-discoveries-41-four-corners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/08\/colorado-discoveries-41-four-corners.html","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Discoveries 41: Four Corners Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3353\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2062.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3353\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3353 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2062-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_2062\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2062-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2062-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3353\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Four Corners Monument is a very *short* stop off U.S. 160, at&#8230;well&#8230;the junction of four states.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>You can&#8217;t drive between southwestern Colorado and New Mexico\/Arizona without stopping briefly at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.navajonationparks.org\/htm\/fourcorners.htm\">Four Corners Monument<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The monument is operated by the Navajo Nation. Since we were in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.navajo-nsn.gov\/\">Navajo Nation<\/a>. We paid an entry fee of $5 per person to enter the monument area, and what I saw was quite surprising. Not in a good or bad way, I simply didn&#8217;t know what to expect.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Navajo Nation is an autonomously-governed nation with an area greater than the state of West Virginia. It was established by the Treaty of 1868 as reparation for the attempted deportation of Native Americans in 1864. <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Navajo_Nation\">You can read more about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Four+Corners+Monument,+US+Highway+160,+Teec+Nos+Pos,+AZ&amp;aq=0&amp;oq=four+corners+&amp;sll=44.080801,-104.136084&amp;sspn=0.01711,0.038366&amp;t=h&amp;g=four+corners&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=&amp;ll=36.99897,-109.045182&amp;spn=0.006295,0.006295&amp;output=embed\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<small><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-align: left;\" href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Four+Corners+Monument,+US+Highway+160,+Teec+Nos+Pos,+AZ&amp;aq=0&amp;oq=four+corners+&amp;sll=44.080801,-104.136084&amp;sspn=0.01711,0.038366&amp;t=h&amp;g=four+corners&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=&amp;ll=36.99897,-109.045182&amp;spn=0.006295,0.006295\">View Larger Map<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3354\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2047.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3354\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3354 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2047-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_2047\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2047-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2047-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3354\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">There isn&#8217;t a lot of fanfare advertising the monument.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_3355\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2050.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3355\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3355 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2050-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_2050\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2050-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2050-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3355\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">There were several Navajo taco stands such as this one.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2064.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-3356\" src=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2064-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_2064\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2064-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2064-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There isn&#8217;t much to it. The monument itself is very lovely, with brass markers showing the four states&#8217; borders and very tall state flags clearly marking each quadrant. There is usually a line of people waiting to photograph themselves right at the crossroads. We waited about 20 minutes in the early July sun to take the photographs you see here. There is a bucket full of umbrellas that we could use to shade ourselves, but the only umbrellas left were broken. That&#8217;s okay, we had sunscreen and plenty of water.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see on the map above, there is a reddish-colored square surrounding the monument. Those are rows of vendor stands. We were there on a Tuesday, and about 1\/3 of the stands were occupied by Native American artisans selling pottery and jewelry. We didn&#8217;t get any of the pottery or jewelry. On each end stand were frybread and Navajo taco vendors. We did get food.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3357\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0008.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3357\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3357 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0008-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_0008\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0008-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0008-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3357\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frybread! It&#8217;s really good! I need to learn to make it at home.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_3358\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0014.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3358\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3358 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0014-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_0014\" width=\"630\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0014-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0014-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3358\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meanwhile, Jacob had a Navajo taco. It was enormous! It&#8217;s a circle of frybread with taco toppings: meat, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. Jacob ate most of it, and I picked at it and can vouch that it was delicious.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We spent about an hour at the monument, with 1\/3 of that time dedicated to waiting to photograph ourselves at the crossroads. Admission is a $5 per person donation to the Navajo Nation, and you must pay cash. The nearest town with an ATM is in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona, about 5 miles southwest of the monument. There is no electricity or running water at the monument so don&#8217;t expect to be able to charge cell phones or anything like that. There is plenty of food and beverage for sale. The restrooms are the waterless types, so don&#8217;t sit downwind of them to eat your Navajo taco.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure you wear plenty of sunscreen and have water on hand before your visit. For us, coming down from Durango, it was much hotter than what we had been experiencing the past several days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can&#8217;t drive between southwestern Colorado and New Mexico\/Arizona without stopping briefly at the Four Corners Monument. The monument is operated by the Navajo Nation. Since we were in the Navajo Nation. We paid an entry fee of $5 per person to enter the monument area, and what I saw was quite surprising. Not in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[100,386,535,536,540,538,537,539,37],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-S4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3366,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/09\/grand-canyon-first-impressions.html","url_meta":{"origin":3352,"position":0},"title":"Grand Canyon: First Impressions","date":"01 September 14","format":false,"excerpt":"The day we stopped at Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners Monument, we had to eventually make it to the Grand Canyon campground. It's only about 5-6 hours worth of driving from Durango, but we made several stops. So we were hard pressed to get to the campsite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"Our first views of the Grand Canyon were breathtaking.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSC_0094-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3567,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/01\/june-july-vacation-summary.html","url_meta":{"origin":3352,"position":1},"title":"June\/July 2014 Vacation Summary","date":"01 January 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Our June\/July 2014 summer vacation to the American southwest was fun and filled with National Park goodness. We are grateful for\u00a0the National Park Service's \"Military Annual Pass\" program which saved us nearly $80 in entrance fees on this trip. Here's the summary of everything we did: Drive to Durango Durango\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"IMG_9830","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_9830-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2695,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/10\/colorado-discoveries-17-spruce-mountain-open-space.html","url_meta":{"origin":3352,"position":2},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 17: Spruce Mountain Open Space","date":"29 October 13","format":false,"excerpt":"Colorado basks in their \"open spaces\". I'm not sure if it's a special category of park or what, but there are many in our community, and there are several between Colorado Springs and Denver. That's where my latest adventure took me. Just north of the towns of Monument and Palmer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"The parking lot was packed! You can see that it's not a huge \"mountain\".","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IMG_0001_2-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3481,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/12\/utah-driving-through-monument-valley.html","url_meta":{"origin":3352,"position":3},"title":"Utah Discoveries 1: Driving through Monument Valley","date":"31 December 14","format":false,"excerpt":"After leaving the Grand Canyon on the morning of July 4th, we set forth on an approximately 8-hour drive to Moab, Utah. We chose the route that took us through Monument Valley, which is just north of\u00a0the Utah\/Arizona border near U.S. Highway 163. The drive is gorgeous, taking us through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"This is a VERY famous view. Read on about Monument Valley.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DSC_0366-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2155,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/06\/us-air-force-academy.html","url_meta":{"origin":3352,"position":4},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 5: Visiting the US Air Force Academy","date":"10 June 13","format":false,"excerpt":"The weather was beautiful, so we took some time to see the Visitors Center and hike the trail to the chapel and see the cadet area. Most Americans are familiar with the Air Force Academy Chapel. Its distinctive design can be seen from all over the cities of Monument and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"air force\"","img":{"alt_text":"309991_10151630987703428_696121128_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/309991_10151630987703428_696121128_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3337,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/08\/colorado-discoveries-40-mesa-verde-np.html","url_meta":{"origin":3352,"position":5},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 40: Mesa Verde National Park","date":"31 August 14","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is about the first of the four national parks we visited on our southwest vacation. We tried to jam this visit in during our drive to the Grand Canyon, and it was admittedly a really tight fit. We spent about 3 hours in the park, but it could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"DSC_2002","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2002-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3352"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3361,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3352\/revisions\/3361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}