The Inside Joke (Navajo style)

.. and in an email exchange, I wrote

woo hoo?

and she replied

yee haw!

to which I retorted

Ya'at'eeh!

at which point both of us were ROF,L (Rolling On The Floor, Laughing). I suspect this is the ultimate example of an Inside Joke, which only two of us on the planet "get".

For those of you who are still reading, Ya'at'eeh is a Navajo phrase which means "Howdy" (more or less). It's not the translation of the phrase that's so funny, but the background (a very long story) that makes it amusing. The nearest parallel I can think of -- which is in widespread use -- is "42!" which is from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

It's been many years since I visited the Navajo Nation (spanning northern Arizona, southern Utah and parts of 2 others states - hence the term "Four Corners") but I wouldn't mind a trip back there sometime.

Deep Thoughts: I wonder if ...

1. Dion (our tour guide) still has that scar on his cheek (from a knife fight in the bar);
2. the kids still sell turquoise-and-silver jewelry on hand-made blankets, in Canyon de Chelly;
3. the Burger King (which seemed so out of place in Navajo Country) is still doing a credible business;
4. the Thunderbird Lodge still has fry bread on the menu;
5. it's still 50+ miles between gas stations in that part of the world;
6. AAA still publishes a special map of Indian Territories;
7. Pink Jeep Tours still operates in Sedona;
8. they ever marked the trail better at Sunset Crater Volcano (near Wukoki and Wupatki) so that certain novice hikers won't get lost among the lava?

Ah, that was a relaxing vacation. Even if the motel (the Cliff Dweller's Lodge) didn't have either a TV or a phone. The pork chop and stewed apples (at the restaurant next to the motel) hit the spot, as we watched the sunset over the desert.

Here's a photo I took with one of those old-fashioned film cameras:

This was Tuzigoot way back in May and June 1993, during a vacation to Utah and Arizona (the Grand Canyon's north rim; Monument Valley; Canyon de Chelly; Meteor Crater; Sedona). Ah, peace.