Western Motor-home Trip 2015

Once again the drive is great. Considering that it is long weekend, there is very little traffic on the roads. The west has less roads and a smaller population. I was checking the map that we have and found out that the population in Arizona is roughly 6 ½ million people. This is about the same as Toronto, no? We head past Flagstaff and are amazed at the change in the scenery. There is actually a forest, with trees near Flagstaff, Arizona. This is kind of a nice change of pace. Most of Arizona has been very desolate and dry. This is a little bit of a longer drive and we don’t arrive until the evening. This park is called Homolovi State Park. This park has the ruins from the native Indians commonly called the Hopi Tribe.

We set up and have some dinner and relax for the evening. The terrain here is back to the flat, low vegetation that most of Arizona seems to have. Our site is on a crest and we can see Winslow from here. It is quiet; until the coyotes start to yip for their hunting party to start looking for dinner.

Day 1

Today we seem to be getting rained out. Not a torrential down pour (Arizona only get 6”-9” of rain a year!) but enough to keep us inside. So we play some cards, watch some TV, straighten up a bit and watch the rain.

Day 2

Still overcast but we head into Winslow for some groceries and check out the town. Winslow is not a very big place and there does not’t seem to be a lot going on. Winslow was made famous by the band The Eagles in a song called Take It Easy. Winslow was also famous for the Santa Fe Railroad and being on Route 66. When the Interstates were built Route 66 became a thing of the past. That is one of the problems with progress; we have a tendency to leave a lot of our history to dry out and die like the tumbleweeds you see blowing across the landscape. We have seen this all along our trip so far. The Interstates will bypass small towns and the towns revenues will dry up and a once booming town is forgotten.

Back at our campsite, the rain starts again. Oh well, this is a part of life.

Day 3

Today it is slightly overcast but we are going to see the crater that was left by a meteor about 50,000 years ago. This is about an hour drive from where we are. The crater measures 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet across. It was first discovered in the late 1800’s but interest in the crater did not take place until the 1920’s. This is actually privately owned land and a trust has been set up to protect the crater. The crater is not visible from the outside and you have to pay to get into the center. (This is America and things do cost money here.) So we pay our $18.00 each and get inside. They have an exhibit and a brief movie (and gift shop of course!). Off we go outside to see our crater. Yep there it is a hole in the ground, just like they said. (I guess I’m just not impressed by this sort of thing, sorry.) Guenther of course likes all this space stuff. A couple of movies were made here, most notably Starman with Jeff Bridges. We walk around and take our pictures and then leave. Not all that exciting for me, but then we both have things we want to see and Guenther puts up with me taking pictures of birds.

Day 4

Today is a bright and beautiful day, so off we go to the Petrified Forest. This is a National Park and the Painted Desert. This is a vast area and there is a road that travels
through the center of it and goes for 28 miles. They have an interesting museum at the beginning of our journey and you can walk through some of the petrified wood logs that are on display.

Okay here is the history lesson. A few million years ago before the dinosaurs, other crocodile like reptiles lived in this area. The area at that time was a vast floodplain, with grass lands and tall trees. The trees fell into the streams and silt covered them up depriving them of oxygen. This groundwater contain silica and this seeped into the wood and petrified it. It looks like hard glass that has many different colours in it. When polished it takes on a rainbow of colors and looks really neat. Of course this means that it is really expensive. This stuff goes for thousands of dollars! We didn’t pick up any souvenirs.

However, the drive through the park is really interesting. The geological formations and the colours that are displayed in the different layers of the rock are fascinating. Depending on how the sun hits the colours will change dramatically.

We take our time and stop at the different pull offs, so that we can get some great pictures of this area. Check out below.

Well this was an afternoon well spent. I would certainly recommend seeing this if you are in the neighbourhood. (Forget the crater!) Entrance fee here is only $10.00.


Day 5

We every now and then we have the maintenance day. This is the day when we get the laundry done. Check reservations and write up blogs.

Today is also the day that we do the touristy thing of ‘Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona’ and ‘Take it easy’. Yes Eagles fans, we have stood on the corner, taken the pictures, shopped in the store and had some great Mexican food just down the street.

Check out the pictures for the obligatory shot.

Tomorrow we are off to New Mexico again, so stay tuned for the next adventure.Read more