May 14-17

Back on Route 66 road after our detour to Ute Mountain.  Next stop was Holbrook, AZ to see the Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater and a special dinner at La Posada in Winslow.

The Petrified Forest National Park protects a vast landscape of colorful petrified wood, badlands and archaeological sites showcasing millions of years of history from the late Triassic period.  The park features the painted desert in the north and the Rainbow Forest in the south, connected by a 28-mile scenic drive with numerous trails, overlooks and historic Route 66 remnants.  We were able to walk among the park’s largest concentration of petrified trees with logs dating back 225 million years.  The logs look so real until you touch them and find that they are as hard as stone with so many brilliant colors.  The park makes it real clear that there is no taking of petrified wood no matter how small or large, looked like a real challenge for a lot of the little people (and big people) that we saw on the trails.

The Petrified Forest National Park is the only National Park in the US that a section of historic Route 66 runs directly through.  The park preserves traces of the old 1926 roadbed, original telephone poles and a rusted vintage Studebaker.

Meteor Crater is just west of Winslow, AZ it is the earth’s best preserved impact site.  This massive landmark is roughly 50,000 years old.  It spans nearly one mile in diameter and plunges 550 ft deep, created by a 150-foot-wide iron-nickel meteorite.  Because its rugged terrain resembles the lunar surface, NASA’s Apollo astronauts trained there in the 1960’s.  Despite an attempt to make the crater a public landmark, the crater today remains privately owned by the Barringer family.

Who is a fan of the Eagles and their famous song “Take It Easy” we are.  Their lyric from the song came to life:

Well I’m a standin on the corner in Winslow, Arizona

With such a fine sight to see

It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed ford

Slowin down to take a look at me

We literally stood on the corner, so much fun.

The 1930’s La Posada Hotel is one of the few Fred Harvey hotels standing, located in Winslow.  The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States.  It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing number of train passengers.  The company, with its employees including the renowned waitresses later known as Harvey Girls successfully brought the standards of food service and cuisine to the region then mainly known as “the Wild West” In 1946 the Harvey Girls popularity grew even stronger when Judy Garland starred in the film version of the “The Harvey Girls” novel.

We had a great time exploring this old hotel and its history too included a fantastic dinner themed from one of the old Harvey House menus.

Bye bye Holbrook, hello Grand Canyon!

 

 

May 9-12

In Gallup, NM a Route 66 must stop was the Hotel El Rancho. Since the 1940’s Hotel El Rancho has hosted some of Hollywood’s biggest movie makers and movie stars, including Robert Mitchum, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Suzanne Pleshette and many more. Even today the hotel continues to host movie crews.  Movies filmed in this area: Young Guns, Grapes of Wrath, Escape from Fort Bravo, Hallelujah, Superman and so many more.  Most of your early westerns, especially those directed by John Ford were filmed close by.

The hotel interior looks the same as it did in the 1940’s western deco, solid wood grand staircase only difference now is instead of the Hollywood stars roaming the lobby the walls are covered in their autographed photos.  This was a interesting place to loiter for a while and of course buy a T-shirt.

Our RV Park for the next few nights was run by the Ute Indian Tribe at the base of the Ute Mountains.  They have a casino and RV Park collocated with each other.  After arriving and getting situated we thought we would check out the casino. This is not Vegas baby!  Alcohol and firearms are not permitted on Indian reservation land so there is not a single cocktail waitress to be found.  Instead, there is free flowing coffee and soda. 

 Mesa Veda National Park in southwestern Colorado is a must see.  The preserved cliff dwellings and other archaeological sites of the Ancestral Pueblo people, who lived there from 600 to 1300 AD, with famous structures like Cliff Palace and Balcony House built into the cliffs.  We were so fortunate to score tickets to go on a park ranger guided tour of Cliff Palace.  The tour took us right into the cliff dwellings themselves.  Of course, there are many rules on where you can walk and what not to touch so they can continue to preserve for future generations.  It was absolutely amazing to walk in the footsteps of the Pueblo people.

 

Bucket list item, Four Corners Monument.  Not sure what we expected but we got to stand in four states at one time.  The original marker was erected in 1912 which was a simple cement pad, but since then it has been redone a few times to what it is today. 

Have you ever seen a John Ford western.  John Ford was a defining director of the American Western, famous for his location shooting in Monument Valley. He did iconic films like Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache and more all shot in Monument Valley. 

Now we can say we were there.  We did a 15-mile drive on a unpaved, dirt and gravel road (4x4 required) into the valley, where we were able to see the West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte that all appeared in his films.  Walter was so thrilled to be able to take the truck four wheeling in such a remarkable place, me I needed a bladder belt.

What to our wondering eyes, we found the exact spot where the movie Forest Gump filmed the famous scene of him ending his cross-country run.  You can see parts of Monument Valley in the background.  This stretch of US Route 163 is located in Mexican Hat, UT.

Last day at the Ute Mountain RV Park. We had some household or is it rvhold things to take care of, laundry, washing and vacuum out truck, get Walter a haircut, do some moderate cleaning in rv.  We can’t be on vacation every day, but we did manage to squeeze in a quick tour of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Museum.  Their artifact collection from the Pueblo people was fantastic and so well preserved. 

Until we made this part of the trip we had no idea how many times we would cross the Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona state lines.  The GPS continued to welcome us numerous times to each state.  So much so that I had to stop taking pictures of the Welcome to signs.

May 4-8

We found the “Blue Hole” while driving into New Mexico, we heard about this on a rv’ers YouTube channel, so cool.  The Blue Hole is in Santa Rosa, NM.  It is a popular, circular, bell-shaped natural pool fed by an artesian well. Known for its crystal-clear consistently cool (around 62’f), water, making a year round destination for swimming and scuba diving.  It is a major tourist attraction and training site, with water that flows in at about 3000 gallons per minute cycling every six hours.  The hole is about 80 feet deep and widens from 80 feet at the surface to 130 feet at the bottom, with a cave system at its base that is now gated off.

Albuquerque New Mexico!  Let’s start by saying when you book an RV Campground you are relying on photos and past reviews online to find the best place that suits your needs with resources and locations.  We are familiar with the KOA chain of campgrounds, so we comfortably booked one in Albuquerque.  We arrived and set up, everything seemed normal at the KOA except we noticed large fencing around the park with a coded entry gate to get in, off property was different.  Route 66 was just one block over from the KOA so we ventured out to see if we could locate some of the iconic Route 66 signs before dark. 

I have not mentioned the number of homeless people that we have witnessed from big to small towns, it has been overwhelming.  Route 66, also known as Central Ave in Albuquerque has them all beat.  Central Ave is approx. 12 a mile long stretch that has homeless people on every corner, bus stop, vacant parking lot and boarded up business store fronts and more.  We were surprised and saddened to see this.  99% of the businesses on this street had bars in the windows and some sort of metal fencing around the property for security.  Part of Route 66 ‘s attraction is to see the towns that time forgot and to see the working neon signs of businesses that had to close when the highway was officially decommissioned in 1985.   Not sure if time forgot Central Ave and its people or if Albuquerque did.  Note: We did venture into other parts of the city during our stay and found thriving businesses and people.

First stop on the menu of adventures was a drive on Kirtland Air Force Base.  Walter had to get a little Military/AFB fix but that of course was a great segway for our visit to the National Museum of Nuclear Science History.  It chronicled the history of the Atomic Age, from early nuclear research to modern applications in energy, medicine and industry.  It featured exhibits from the Manhattan Project, the Cold War and peaceful uses of nuclear technology.  Located next to the building was the Heritage Park, an outdoor area with a collection of historic aircraft, missiles and other large artifacts like the Trinity Tower.

We found Old Town Plaza the historic heart of Albuquerque, founded in 1706 and is centered around a plaza with the San Felipe de Neri Church.  It features historic adobe buildings that were converted into shops, galleries and restaurants.  The area is a preserved historic district.

The weather was giving us a bit of a fit, rain then sun, rain then sun.  Why we decided to take a trip on the Sandia Peak Tramway I don’t know, except we did not want to miss out.  The tram is an aerial tramway adjacent to Albuquerque.  It stretches from the northeast edge of the city to Sandia Peak on the ridge line of the Sandia Mountains and has the worlds third longest single span.  Remember I said it had rained, guess what it does at a elevation of 10,378 ft, SNOW.  The tram ride was about 15 minutes long.  When we arrived at the top the sky had cleared and the sun came out but the wind was raging and blowing the snow that was left on the trees through the air, but what a view.  You could see the entire Albuquerque valley floor and beyond.

Our last day was a hiking day.  We drove about an hour and a half to Jemez Springs historic site to explore the ruins of a 17^th century Spanish mission and a prehistoric village.  Then on to the Valles Caldera National Preserve (volcanic caldera) for a 5-mile hike.