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| Joe, Debbie and Cassie at the Painted Desert |
I am not going to write much today—it has been a long day
and it’s late. But more important, a picture is worth 1,000 words! And the
views we saw today are worth 10,000 words, for sure.
We began our morning before eating breakfast, leaving our
Cracker Barrel overnight spot and heading west over the Arizona state line to
finally get our Arizona sticker onto our states visited map. We stopped at the
visitor center at the border for breakfast. I was dismayed when I went inside,
however—the lady there told me that the visitor center would be closing next
week! Apparently state budget cuts are responsible. I think this is terribly
short-sighted of the legislature; we have stopped at every visitor center as we
cross state lines, and it has encouraged us to visit more places (and spend
more money!) The one time we entered a state with no visitor center, we felt
unwelcome and were not inclined to stay very long. In any case, she encouraged
me to “take as many brochures as you want”, so I took a number of things which
I hope will be informative in the future, if not on this trip.
After breakfast, we sped off down I-40 again until we came
to the exit for the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park. We followed the single
road from the north end of the park to the south end—it took us the entire day.
The park is dog-friendly, so Cassie joined us on a number of walks and
overlooks. We spent much more time than we expected—the park was just so
beautiful! Here are some photos of the Painted Desert:
The Painted Desert is the only national park through which
the original Route 66 passed. This 1932 Studebaker and the sign by it are on
the site of Route 66.
The southern part of the park (south of I-40) is the part
with the petrified trees. I was not expecting to be blown away by rocks that
looked like trees, but I was wrong. The longer I looked at them, the more
fascinating they got. As Joe put it, they really “mess with your head.” They
look JUST like trees on the outside, yet the insides are so colorful and
clearly a mineral, not a vegetable substance like a tree should be. Here are some photos:
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| It's almost impossible to believe this is a rock! |
At one point, we were entirely alone on an outlook, except for
this raven (we think), who kept cawing and cawing at us. Finally as we stood
watching him, he deliberately walked closer to us and I took these photos. He
opened his mouth VERY wide—we could see his dark pink throat as he cawed LOUDLY
at us. He finally made us a little bit nervous, because he was clearly totally
unafraid of us, and he seemed to be quite determined to communicate something.
Being merely stupid human beings, we were unable to understand the details of
the message.
When we left the park, it was about 4:30ish, and we were
tired. We decided to spend the night at a “real” campground, as there was a KOA
in Holbrook, the next town to the west of the national park. So we drove there
from the southern park entrance. This turned out to be a serendipitous decision
for us, because I checked with my Route 66 guide, and discovered that old Route
66 runs right through the town. The
centerpiece for us was the Wigwam Motel—it is just the iconic Route 66
landmark! But we also took photos of several other vintage signs and businesses
on the main street. We just loved the place!
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