Tó hajiilee Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Easy find off of The Mother Road, Route 66
Actually easy cache off of I-40. Have passed this spot many times and enjoyed trying to pronouce Tó hajiilee. I thought about making this cache virtual and asking people what it means, but then how many cachers are fluent in Navajo? The cache is near the interstate sign for the Tó hajiilee exit. The town is about 8 miles north of the turnoff and is on the Tó hajiilee Navajo Reservation, which is completely surrounded by the Laguna Reservation. This is one of three Navajo Reservations outside the big rez. Now on to the linguistics. The Tó part means water, a very precious commodity in this part of the world. Hajiilee translates as those who dip it. With no rivers or springs near here the people of this part of the world used to dip their water from catch basins in the rocks. Thus they are called water dippers in Navajo.
The cache is small, a bit larger than a film container. Now hidden underneath something. Room for a log and very small items. This is the West folks, not New York City and close is within rifle shot distance. You do not have to park on the freeway, you can pull off at the exit and walk back to the cache.
Enjoy your trip and look for other interesting signs along the way. If anyone has additional information or comments about the sign (especially the pronunciation) I would appreciate it.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Lbh unir gur pbbeqvangrf naq n TCF, jung zber pbhyq lbh jnag?