Tired Road Warrior

As you drive into Monticello, Utah, which I do frequently, there is one solitary stop light.  In fact, it is the only stop light in San Juan County.  A few years ago, if you’d have turned toward the east, you’d have been on US 666 headed for Colorado and then New Mexico (the Four Corners areas).  You’d first be crossing pinto bean country and then into the Navajo Nation.

Some fundamentalist Christians consider “666″ a sign of evil:  According the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, it’s the “number of the beast.”  That’s why the two-lane US 666, originally numbered because it was a lateral off US 66, is now US 491.  There were two reason given for change.  First, according to NG Magazine, the Navajos requested the change because of the number’s satanic reputation.  Second, there was a high theft rate associated with the route’s highway markers.  The road-sign change was reputed to have cost $175K.

Again, according to NG Magazine, “But old 666 never was a “Highway to Hell.”  It went to New Mexico.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Navajoland, Religion, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.