Saturday, December 3, 2011

We arose attending to our daily routine.  We ran out of water. So we refilled our tank.

During the afternoon, we took a drive over the mountain on Historic Route 66  also known as the Oatman Highway.  The road twisted and turned around the mountain displaying beautiful vistas.  Bare rock butted extended up to the blue sky.  A wondrous sight! 

Rock Butte

Rock Butte

At the top of one mountain a restored gas station and museum stood called Cold Springs.  We stopped and perused the items in the store.  The exterior of the building was interesting.  Stone covered the walls with an overhang where two antique gas pumps stood for display.

^{We meandered around on the highway through a pass to the other side of the mountain where we could view three states – Arizona, Nevada, and California.  There at the bottom of the valley ran the Colorado River.  Bullhead City, Arizona, and Laughlin, Nevada, could be seen from that vantage point.}

^{As we descended, we passed a working gold mine.  It was very modern and not a Hollywood stereotype from the movies.} 

^{Then we proceeded to the town of Oatman, Arizona.  It was very interesting.  It looked like an old-time frontier town from the Western movies.  Wild burros roamed the streets.  Of course, now, they are somewhat domesticated from tourist feedings.}

 

Tom and burro



Wild burro

Wild Burros

 

Tom and Cyndie

 

Oatman, Arizona, Post Office



Oatman sign



^{We turned around and headed back home.  The views were awesome of the majestic mountains.}

^{Upon our arrival, Barby met Karl, Tom, and me.  We visited for a couple of hours and enjoyed our time of conversation.}

^{After that, I had a Skype chat with my friend Sheila from Carmel, Indiana.  It was amazing to talk and see her at the same time.  This is stuff that was science fiction when I was a child.  Technology is fantastic.}

^{Another day finished with activity and appreciation for God’s creation.}

Friday, December 2, 2011

Today began with our typical routine.  I tried to set up bill paying online.  It was a very difficult process for me – accomplishing a little bit each day.

Tom worked around the motorhome setting out a little lawn art such as his metal pig and a rock from home that says “Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.”  The slogan is typical of our adventure. 

Other activities consisted of setting up the bikes, letting the awning out, and placing the lounge chairs under the awning.  We were resting in the chairs as the sun was penetrating the clouds.  The sun’s rays were warm like a heat lamp.  It was so soothing.

In the middle of the day, we ventured out to the Wal-Mart to get food and a few other items.  Wal-Mart was extremely crowded.  Finally, we left with our bags of treasures.

Barby and Karl were waiting for us.  We chatted for a while and then proceeded to our respective abodes for the evening.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

We awoke this morning to snow in Seligman, Arizona.  This town is above 5000 feet elevation.  We were concerned to drive or remain to wait out the snowstorm.  The decision was to trudge on to Kingman (about 70 miles).

Ten miles down the road, we faced a dense snowstorm.  The visibility was about 100 feet with large quarter-size snowflakes.  Tom was very tense because he could not see the white lines on the right side of the road.  Finally, we reached a lower elevation where the precipitation was rain.



Dense snowstorm in Seligman

 

Seligman, Arizona

About 1 ½ hours later we arrived in Kingman, Arizona.  We met Karl, our friend, at the Flying J truck stop.  Then, we proceeded to his house in the middle of the high desert – our destination for about the next two weeks.  We have a fabulous view of the desert and mountains.  Yeah! No Wal-Mart parking lot.                                                                                                                                                          



Karl & Barby's house



Mountain view

             

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Our first sightseeing stop for the day was Meteor Crater which was about twenty miles west of Winslow, Arizona.  The exit off Interstate 40 was designed solely for this tourist attraction.  We followed the directional signs to the crater creating a long and straight drive.  In the distance, the road gradually inclined to the rim of the crater.

At the entrance, we paid senior citizen’s rate ($14 each), rode the elevator up to the top level, and stepped on to the mezzanine.  There was an official NASA space capsule on exhibit.  We entered the museum and then took the path to the rim.  The wind was very gusty that Tom almost lost his hat.  The crater was a mammoth hole in the ground with the rim extending to about one mile in diameter. The 360 degree panoramic view that extended for miles from the highest lookout was stunning.




Cyndie at Meteor Crater



Tom at Meteor Crater





           



              

We returned to the rig and headed for the interstate.  We proceeded through Flagstaff because we wanted to beat the snowstorm predicted for the area. 
The landscape in the Flagstaff was a dramatic change.  The elevation was higher and mountainous.  Ponderosa pine trees covered the mountains and gave a Rocky Mountain stereotype.  It was beautiful.  In contrast, the topography of the surrounding area was different consisting of flat plains with scrub grass and juniper bushes dotting the land.  The various types of vegetation provided an interesting comparison.

            




Ponderosa Pines at Flagstaff



East of Flagstaff









         

We made several stops because Tom was tired fighting the gusty winds.  Finally, we parked at a Shell station for the evening in Seligman, Arizona.  Alas, it was not a Wal-Mart parking lot.

 













Tuesday, November 29, 2011

What a beautiful day!  We continued our daily routine and left the campsite at the Crystal Forest Museum Gift Shop about 9:45 am, then progressed to the entrance of the Petrified Forest National Park using the previous day’s pass to enter.

Teepee at the Crystal Museum

Our campsite

 First we started with a stop at the Rainbow Museum.  The ranger gave a lecture on the formation of the petrified wood logs.  At the conclusion of the presentation, we followed a trail that intertwined through the various deposits of petrified logs.  The logs were phenomenal.  The trees were very large when they fell.  What an awesome sight!

Cyndie and the petrified logs

Tom standing among the petrified logs

Old Faithful

Petrified Logs

              
As we wiggled our way through the park, we made several stops.  Each time we got out of the motorhome, took pictures and marveled at the sight.




Our rig at a painted mountain

The stop at the Painted Desert was incredible.  The sight was magnificent with the layers of rock having a variety of colors from red to white in horizontal bands.



A painted mountain



A red painted mountain



Petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock

The time we spent in the park was a wonderful break from the daily travel.

The rest of the day was spent in conducting upkeep activities such as dumping waste, filling propane tank, filling gas tank, and buying food.  Our destination for the evening is the Wal-Mart parking lot in Winslow, Arizona.  Tomorrow’s goal is Flagstaff.









Monday, November 28, 2011

This morning we awoke in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with several mountains very close to us on the east. Of course, we were in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
We ventured on our way about 10:00 am Mountain Standard Time heading west on I-40 or route 66. The buttes and bluffs west of Albuquerque were fabulous. They were bright red from the sun’s rays shining on the surface jutting out from the ground against a bright, blue backdrop of the sky. Awesome!!!
We were headed to Gallup, NM. Then, we stopped at a souvenir shop on the Continental Divide. That’s where the water flows in different directions: the eastern flowing waters go to the Atlantic Ocean and the western flowing waters go to the Pacific Ocean. We decided to stop and have lunch. Also, we conferred as to what our destination for the evening. We decided to head to the Petrified Forest National Park. In addition, when crossing, we would stop at the visitor’s center for more information.

 

Our Rig

 

Continental Divide Souvenir Shop



Route 66 Sign Continental Divide



Cyndie at the Continental Divide



Arizona State Sign



Arriving at the Petrified Forest about 3:30 pm Mountain Standard Time, we stopped at the ranger’s visitor center. The ranger said that we could drive through the park to the southern entrance where there are two rock shops that provide free camping for self-contained campers.

Great! Let’s Go! At the beginning, the Painted Desert exhibited bright red rock. The timing was perfect – The sun was going down for sunset. The sun’s rays and elevated rocks produced dancing shadows made the view breath-taking.




The Painted Desert at sunset



The Painted Desert at sunset



The Painted Desert at sunset



The Painted Desert at sunset

 The road twisted and turned around the buttes as the sun was descending in the west. Each turn exhibited a new sight. Then we came upon the Petrified Forest. Hundreds of chunks of rock logs were strewn across the floor of the valley and on top of hills. Unbelievable!!! Finally, we reached the exit to the park. The rock shop was right there – our destination for the night! Yes, it is NOT a Wal-Mart parking lot!! We are looking forward to our trip back through the park tomorrow.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Today I felt we survived a hardship.  Yesterday, we used all of our fresh water.  I did not have water to wash my face or flush the toilet.  We had 3 five-gallon jugs of drinking water that we used.

The morning was bright and cheerful with the sun blazing overhead.  We headed out of Trinidad, Colorado to Raton (Spanish for mouse) Pass, Colorado.  The mountains were beautiful with a dusting of snow while evergreens and boulders dotted the landscape.  The road was clear, but Tom drove slowly because of the incline, and the road was close to the edge of the mountain. As we wound our way around the pass, on the other side, a different topography existed.  The sides of the mountains were barren and had flatter peaks.  Some of the mountains were mesas (Spanish for table) which had flat tops like the top of a table.  We had entered New Mexico, The Land of Enchantment.

As we progressed, the land became flat with an occasional jut of a mountain that had a square top making the mountain look like a cube.  The wind was gusty which made it difficult for Tom to drive so we made several stops for him to rest.

We passed through Santa Fe early afternoon.  The landscape was dotted with typical, traditional adobe dwellings.  We call them Santa Fe architecture.  They were just like the one that had been appearing in my dreams.

Proceeding to Albuquerque, NM, we found the Wal-Mart.  We filled our water tank (yeah!) and our gas tank.  We were set for tomorrow’s trip.  The highlight of the evening was a shower for the each of us.  Then we went to bed.