Uncle GT called a few minutes ago, and they have definitely been tracking WHO Louie has been talking to on his cell phone. It has been people in the Navajo Nation area. Holy Idaho! We might actually find Louie and convince him to go back to Washington, D.C. Based on the Youtube video that we saw a few days ago (and phone tracking), we know he is probably meeting with teenagers. Or at least that is who he has been talking to.

Have you ever heard of the Navajo Nation? I am very ashamed to say that I have heard about it, since we live very close, but I knew very little. What an amazing people and what beautiful land. We have included many pictures for you to see.

Navajo Nation is located in the four corners . This is the area where the corners of the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah all meet. The Navajo Nation covers the “corners” of all four states. That is why it is called the “four corners.” The Navajo Nation covers the southeastern portion of Utah, the northwestern portion of Arizona, and the northwestern portion of New Mexico. It also borders the southwest side of Colorado, although very little is actually in the state. There are Navajo people in many other states, too (California, West Virginia, Las Vegas, and Oklahoma, to name a few). The Navajo language is the Diné Bikeyah. Sadly, the language is slowly becoming extinct. However, the Navajos have done an excellent job in preserving their language in books and other forms.

The Navajo homeland covers about 26,000 square miles. The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American jurisdiction (with land area assigned) within the entire United States – Holy Idaho! Did you know the Navajo traditionally call themselves Diné (sometimes spelling in English as Dineh). This means “The People” in Navajo. Navajo Nation has its own language, religion, land, and government. There are close to 300,000 Navajo people living in the United States. Nearly 200,000 of those live within the Navajo Nation, and over half are in Arizona (our own home state).

Guess what! We decided that we are going to head home for a quick visit while we figure out where to look for Louie and the teenagers. We even wonder if Louie led us to the Navajo Nation hoping we would just go home and stay there. That surely isn’t going to happen. We are both still confused about why he is so suspicious of Geo and me? I wonder what connection he has to Mike, the hiker, from a few weeks ago? We won’t give up until we find Louie. But we are looking forward to a day at home with our parents and, yes, even Pandora. We attached a map of the Navajo Nation, check it out see if you can figure out approximately how many miles we will travel from the Mesa Verde to Phoenix. Remember to use the map scale .

Today we had the opportunity to talk to many other teenagers from the reservation . Do you know what a reservation is (and no, we don’t mean at a restaurant). A reservation is land that is set aside for a special purpose, in this case as a home for the Navajo Nation. The reservation (Navajo Nation, in this case) has its own government, police, laws, and more. It is basically just like a small country. However, Navajos are still American citizens and subject to U.S. laws.

Anyway, back to our adventures at the museum: none of the teens admitted to being on the YouTube video or even KNOWING anything about Louie. But one girl explained that many teens might not be telling the truth, because some of them created the YouTube video when they were SUPPOSED to be doing schoolwork! She did give us a lead that “someone” with a special interest in energy conservation and natural resources has been speaking at the Navajo Government building in Tselani-Cottonwood. It turns out that this person (Louie, we assume), was there investigating alternative forms of energy (mainly solar and wind power). It really sounds like it might be “our” Louie. A teenage boy, Yiska, gave us a ride to the government building. “Yiska” means “the night has passed” in Navajo. I wonder what our names mean. Anyway, when we arrived at the government building, the officials said Louie had been there (we showed him the picture we had on our cell phone). They said he had left the reservation and headed north. They only knew he was heading north because he said he had to swing by one of his homes to pick up some winter gear. I wonder where he is off to now! This wild goose chase is getting so frustrating.

Oh—about our watches being wrong: We always thought that Arizona didn’t observe Daylight Saving Time . It turns out that the Navajo Nation (which is located in Arizona) DOES observe Daylight Saving Time . So it was an hour later there than it is everywhere else in Arizona!

We also learned about the economy of the reservation . One of the most important businesses is the many handmade craft shops. At least 60% of all families living in the Navajo nation have at least one family member either creating or selling crafts. We saw some of the beautiful crafts; they are truly amazing.

Holy Idaho! Uncle GT just called us with our next destination! One of his affiliates in Detroit, Michigan just saw a picture of Louie on the FRONT PAGE of their local newspaper. Why would Louie be up in Detroit? Do you have any idea what is manufactured in Detroit?