Another Farewell

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Patrick and I enjoyed one last meal together and said our farewells...again.  This time, it will be more than three weeks before we see each other again.  I'm sure I'll get used to this eventually...

I hit the road around 10:00 and headed north.  My first stop was Tuba City, Arizona.  Tuba City sounded like a fun place to visit given my high school band experience (I played tuba), but then I learned that it has some history.  Tuba City is in the Navajo Nation.  Several Navajo citizens were part of the Code Talkers of WWII.  Marine Corps leadership selected twenty-nine Navajo men who created a code based on the complex, unwritten Navajo language.  This code was used to communicate military tactics and plans.  This system enabled the Code Talkers to translate three lines of English in 20 seconds versus the standard 30 minutes with existing code-breaking machines. The Code Talkers participated in every major Marine operation in the Pacific theater, giving the Marines a critical advantage throughout the war.  I don't suppose any of them played the tuba.


Scenes from the drive north toward the Utah border.






Before I entered the southern tip of the Zion National Park (partly by accident...I had planned to go around the park) I stopped to take some pictures.  At the pull out of the scenic overlook, I met these two motorcyclists...on BMWs.  I struck up a conversation with them and we chatted about motorcycle adventures and good "twisties" in the west.  We laughed about how BMW riders always find each other and make quick friends.

Scenes as I drove through the southern tip of Zion National Park (of course, pictures can't do justice to the reality).



My day ends in Cedar City, Utah.

And Patrick starts his new job tomorrow!!

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