These western states have really delivered. Extreme beauty, colorful vistas, and educational opportunities abound and I am so thankful for them. Compared to what I have seen in the past few days, the rest of Route 66 was dull. Maybe that's only because of the winter season and the unruly amounts of snow and other precipitation but regardless, everything is definitely much more exciting out here!
This must be the National Park segment of our trip. Bandelier and El Malpais (which I have yet to learn how to pronounce) in New Mexico were amazing! Then yesterday we visited Petrified Forest NP and today we visited a park (rather, a monument) that I have never even heard of before called Walnut Canyon National Monument. Tomorrow we visit the Grand Canyon!!! I love noting the similarities and differences among each of the park sites and seeing which types I can see myself working at in the future. Danielle and I commented today that although we have seen so many parks, none of them are redundant. Each of them have their own unique story to tell and a niche within human and/or natural history. Particularly of note was that Petrified Forest NP is the only park in the country with a portion of Route 66 running directly through it. Other parks are nearby or come close to the old historic highway, but only this one actually intersects with it. There is a small pull off point in the park to view an old car and read about the road's history in the park.
After we left Petrified Forest we drove a short way to Holbrook where we found the Wigwam Motel. Upon locating it, we decided to forego that location as a stopping point for the night because it brought back memories of our chilly night at the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, MO. Of course, we took pictures to prove that we had been there but then we kept driving. The next thing we passed was the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, a small souvenir shop with giant rabbits painted everywhere! It is famous for its billboards painted bright yellow with the words "Here It Is" painted on them.
When we pulled over for the night it was in Winslow, AZ. We got lucky with the price on that hotel! It was the best deal we found so far on our trip and yet it had all the accommodations we are used to. We even had the opportunity to do laundry! This is exciting, and was much needed, because we left some of our laundry in a bag back in Santa Rosa, NM. We are now running low on some critical items. Laundry will need to happen more frequently for the duration of our trip.
Dinner was at a little diner called the Brown Mug. We felt a little out of place there, and we modified their menu quite a bit in order to get something our low spice tolerance could handle, but we enjoyed the food very much! Enchiladas and sopapillas. Yum :)
....more to come in a separate post....
Your first half of the journey was brightened by visits with family and friends, and now you'really actually being brightened by sunshine and scenery.
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