Day 25 - Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Day 25

Holbrock, Arizona

Today was more or less a resting day. Believe it or not, traveling makes you tired.

We slept late and then after lunch went to a couple of tourist traps and trading posts to look at petrified wood and other rocks for sale. We stopped at McGee's Native Art on Route 66 where the little human got a necklace: a polished rock set in a spiral like holder. And the archeologist got a set of "ghost beads," a string of glass beads and varnished juniper berries, said to ward off evil spirits that cause nightmares. (Note: it didn't work; the next night she had the worst dreams of her life in the Thunder Lodge at the Canyon de Chelly! She hasn't worn the beads since.)

We also went to "Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Company" which is pretty well-known in these parts. Part museum, part showcase of high-end petrified wood samples, part tourist trap, we amassed quite a collection of botanical and geological specimens!

Later in the day we took a drive through the Navajo Nation (I-40 East to 77 North to 6 North to 15 West to 87 South back to I-40), and took in more of the Painted Desert and also saw some spectacular mesa and plateau formations. On the way back, we stopped at the Homolovi Ruins (it's part of a state park) and the archeologist took a short hike to an actual archeological dig in progress where she saw kiva foundations and dozens of pottery shards in the process of being collected and catalogued. There was no one around but the two of us and it was quite a surprise to see this in-process digging site being left open for any old tourist to come by and check it out.

On the way back to our hotel in Holbrock, we drove on a piece of extant Route 66 between Winslow and Joseph City -- it was in the process of being reclaimed by Mother Nature and many sections of it had cracked and had grass growing in it.

Back at the hotel for the evening, the little human entertained us all with a "fashion show" of our petrified wood rock collection and the rest of us served as judges for the this reality show to decide on the lovliest samples.

We all went to bed refreshed and happy.

It was a very cool day.

Day 24 - Monday, June 23, 2008

Day 24



Show Low, Arizona to Holbrock, Arizona



After leaving Show Low, we went through more of the Sitgreaves National Forest, which bills itself as the "land of many uses." Most of its uses for us was with eyeballs, although we did stop to take one small hike.



We took Rt. 260 East to Rt. 61 N and then 180A North to the Petrified Forest. It was another scenice byway and we enjoyed a drive with big puffy white clouds pinned in a deep blue sky, while tiny bulbous trees rolled past us over desert hills and grassland plains.


We spent the entire day driving through the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert National Park and stopping at overviews and taking short hikes.

Coming in from the south, we watched the introductory movie at the first ranger station and then got the CD for the self-guided tour. We loved all 23 glorious, miraculous miles of it, especially the Blue Mesa, the Peutro Peublo ruins and petroglyphs, and Newspaper rock with more petroglyphs. Each stop was more impressive, more stunning than the last.

I could have easily spent another day or two there -- watching the different parts of the park unfold under different light and times of day. But the humans had to move on. There is so much to see here in this part of the world, and even a month doesn't do it justice.

We drove to Holbrock afterwards to spend the night.