We have been exploring northern Arizona the past week. There is so much to see in the Southwestern USA! We sometimes need to stop, take a breath, and remind ourselves we don’t have to do everything. A down day is OK!
We started out with a visit to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. I had been to most of the places we are visiting this past week in 1974 (I was in middle school for those counting). It has been interesting to see how my memory matches up to the current reality. Not much matches it turns out!
The Painted Desert was very interesting. It’s a lot of layers of different materials built up over time. Google “Painted Desert” if you want the technical explanation. I’ll just say it was beautiful.
All along this trip, we have been following Interstate 40, which goes along the old Route 66, the first paved road to go from Chicago to Los Angeles. In most places, Route 66 no longer exists. But in the Painted Desert they did commemorate when Route 66 passed through. The popularity and lore of Route 66 really saw a resurgence after the movie Cars came out. In fact, the inspiration for the movie occurred when one of the film’s directors took a family trip along Route 66!
The Petrified Forest lies directly south of the Painted Desert, so we continued driving. How did they turn to stone? All these logs were tumbled by a torrential rain storm and rolled around until the limbs came off. Silica in the water created a chemical reaction with the cellulose in the wood, replacing the cells with the silica and turning the logs into stone. When the water receded, the stone logs were left. Really! It was amazing how much everything looked like wood. But when you touched a log, you knew it wasn’t wood. Amazing.
The next stop was in Winslow, Arizona. Anyone who is our age (and younger sometimes) probably clued right in on the words “Winslow, Arizona.” If you didn’t, maybe this helps:
“Well, I’m a standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl my Lord in a flat-bed Ford
Slowin’ down to take a look at me”
Does that ring a bell? Those are the lyrics from the song Take It Easy by the Eagles. Click here to listen.
This is one of Jim’s all time favorite songs. So…we had to go into downtown Winslow to see what we could see! Yup, there is a park in honor of the song!
While in Winslow, we stayed at a Homolovi State Park. This park is definitely one of my favorite campgrounds. We were camping in the high desert, with an unobstructed view from horizon to horizon. The campsites were large and the people few. We loved it. You can see how few campers were there!
The best preserved Meteor Crater in the world is in the Winslow area, so that deserved a visit too. When I was a kid, you could go down into the crater. No more. If you are flying across the USA, you can easily see the crater from the air (I have).
Done with Winslow, we drove along a portion of the original Route 66 that still exists.
We read the Burma Shave signs along the highway.
Burma Shave signs
Along Route 66, we stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns. The caverns are not near the Grand Canyon (those are 40 miles away), but it was proven that the fresh air comes from cracks in the rocks that lead to the Grand Canyon, thus the name. There is a hotel room in the caverns where you can stay for $800 a night. No thanks. And the cavern is a certified bomb shelter with enough supplies to last 2000 people for 2 weeks. That was unexpected!
The final stop this week was Kingman, Arizona which put us in close proximity to the Hoover Dam. That is where we visited today. When I was a kid, all traffic through this area went over the dam unimpeded. After September 11, 2001, it was decided to build a new bridge to keep most traffic off the dam. Cars that do travel over the dam today have to go through a security check point first.
We took the Power Plant AND the Dam Tour. We also walked out onto the new bridge. Jim was in his glory.
We ended the day by catching a late lunch at In-N-Out Burger. All we knew is we had heard of this place. Apparently so had everyone else. The parking lot was full of license plates from all over the country. I’ve never seen a place packed at 2:30 on a Monday afternoon. Regardless, the food was GOOD! The french fries were made fresh on the spot…meaning they were peeling and slicing the potatoes right there.
Double Double Burger! Two beef patties and two slices of cheese. Heart Attack City!!!
That sums up the past week. We are now on our way to Pomona, California. There is a FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Rally there later this week. It’s a good chance to see what is new in the RV industry and learn some new things (like how to keep your batteries from bursting in the winter!). After that, then we will start wandering to my parent’s place in southern Arizona.
Thanks again!!! We went through Ariz. on one of our trips west with Mike and Karen so have seen these places but — in the late 70’s so remember them a little. Do miss the Burma Shave signs — glad they still exist somewhere!!! Time to see a picture of Jim at one of the “sites.”
A picture of Jim? Hah! That won’t happen. He hates having his picture taken.
A double-double, I am so jealous. I am glad to see you stopped. I didn’t see any pictures from the bridge. Did you take any from up there?
The Double Double was indeed good good. Thanks for the head’s up. And I did take pictures of the dam from the bridge. But I guess I didn’t post one. Oops.