The road out of Gallup passes through the mountains on a pretty narrow road. The landscape is breathtaking. I have never really spent a lot of time outside of cities and this trip has really opened my eyes to all the different types of places that are out there - from cornfields, to forested mountains, to wide, dry deserts. Although we haven't really camped on this trip, I think we are definitely more open and excited about doing that in the future.
As we neared the border into Arizona, there were a bunch of these trading posts along the cliffs - this one had some murals painted on the cliff and some weird fake animals set up on the plateau part above the shop.
And another new state!
At one point, Route 66 actually went through the Painted Desert, which is now a national park. We did the loop through the park, which was seriously incredible.
Not hard to see why they call it the Painted Desert - these striped hills and cliffs stretch out as far as you can see. It's not hard to imagine the millions of years they took to form - I wouldn't have been surprised to see dinosaurs walking around or something.
This was an old car rusting away in the desert in tribute to the old 66 road - they left up the old phone poles too.
We also decided to detour through the Petrified Forest - Route 66 never went through here, but I bet some families would have driven through just to check it out.
It's so trippy to see these stone logs strewn all over the ground. Some of them are still in long pieces that really look like fallen trees and some are chipped up so it looks like stone mulch.
It's funny - when I heard "petrified forest", I imagined a kind of burnt out forest, like old blackened trees still rooted in the ground. But the theory is that these trees were actually floating in a long gone river - uprooted by storms or something - and then the river dried up and the trees dried and heated and turned to stone.
This was an old car rusting away in the desert in tribute to the old 66 road - they left up the old phone poles too.
We also decided to detour through the Petrified Forest - Route 66 never went through here, but I bet some families would have driven through just to check it out. It's so trippy to see these stone logs strewn all over the ground. Some of them are still in long pieces that really look like fallen trees and some are chipped up so it looks like stone mulch.It's funny - when I heard "petrified forest", I imagined a kind of burnt out forest, like old blackened trees still rooted in the ground. But the theory is that these trees were actually floating in a long gone river - uprooted by storms or something - and then the river dried up and the trees dried and heated and turned to stone.
The colors in the wood is really beautiful, even without being polished like the pieces you see in the stores and souvenir shops. It was cool to see this "in the wild".
And here we are at our most anxiously/excitedly awaited motel - the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. This is actually owned by the son of the guy who built them and he keeps these classic cars in front of the teepees to give it that old time feel.
It was strange to see our car parked with so many old vehicles - for the first time, it didn't really stand out in the lot. I love this picture - it's like being transported back to the 50s.
And here we are at our most anxiously/excitedly awaited motel - the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. This is actually owned by the son of the guy who built them and he keeps these classic cars in front of the teepees to give it that old time feel.
It was strange to see our car parked with so many old vehicles - for the first time, it didn't really stand out in the lot. I love this picture - it's like being transported back to the 50s. We hung out in front of our teepee, chatting with the neighbors and having a couple of drinks. We were befriended by the local kitty - black and white, just like our buddy! She was a real sweetheart and Ryan snuggled with her for awhile before she abandoned us for some people down the way.
Lovin' our teepee!
The sunset was insane - the whole sky was on fire and we watched it move across the sky changing practically every few seconds. Best one so far.
Awesome picture - so surreal to see these teepees.
We had some BBQ at Bubba's and then walked over to a nearby bowling alley. We weren't quite sure what to expect after we asked the Wigwam proprietor about local options and he mentioned this place and said he hadn't been there since he was a teenager - which must have easily been 40+ years ago (we found out it was built in 1954).
The sunset was insane - the whole sky was on fire and we watched it move across the sky changing practically every few seconds. Best one so far.
Awesome picture - so surreal to see these teepees.
We had some BBQ at Bubba's and then walked over to a nearby bowling alley. We weren't quite sure what to expect after we asked the Wigwam proprietor about local options and he mentioned this place and said he hadn't been there since he was a teenager - which must have easily been 40+ years ago (we found out it was built in 1954).
Once again, we were the only ones there and this place was pretty ancient. No computer scoring and the shoes I had on had to have been several years older than me.
Even so, I held my own and came within 4 points of beating Ryan - ugh! Ryan says: Ha Ha!
Even so, I held my own and came within 4 points of beating Ryan - ugh! Ryan says: Ha Ha!
1 comment:
Wow, that sunset was unreal! So beautiful.
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