Arizona: The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park

We left Albuquerque on March 16th. This is the Historic Rio Puerco Bridge on old Route 66. Traffic no longer crosses it.


Soon after seeing the Rio Puerco Bridge, we came upon this neat old Corvette on US-40 West.


We saw quite a few trains moving cargo around New Mexico. This one was a loooong train of double-stacked containers being pulled by five BNSF locomotives. Unfortunately, we just couldn't get a clear picture of it.




We also saw a couple of these badminton shuttlecock-looking structures (silos?) along the way.


Marking the Continental Divide: (It's not a clear picture, but we expected the sign to be on the right side of the road, and it caught us unawares by suddenly popping up in the median!)


The Painted Cliffs didn't last very long, but were spectacular! On the New Mexico side of the border with Arizona . . .


and at Arizona's visitor center.


The Painted Desert is gorgeous! It swoops through the Petrified Forest National Park, where it seemed there was more Painted Desert than petrified wood!




Since there was no wind to carry the sand when we were there, the air was so clean we could see snow-covered mountains 120 miles away (although the snow doesn't show up in the picture).








A neat way to line some of the walkways in the Petrified Forest National Park:


Early Indian petroglyphs, possibly from the 1200s:


Remains of an early pueblo, on the trail to the petroglyphs:


The same Corvette we saw on US-40! We never got to meet the owner.


We read several articles about how the trees in the Petrified Forest became stone, but still don't quite understand it. Apparently, some (catastrophic?) event millions of years ago sent logs into a now-gone river where they were so quickly and deeply buried under sediment - without oxygen - that the usual decay process just didn't take place. While Bill had been to the Petrified Forest before, Karen was expecting to see whole trees and was surprised to see them broken into chunks (the result of upheaval sometime after the logs had already turned to stone). It was very odd!

Petrified log jutting out of rock:


Broken log-rocks lying in the valley below the jutting log:


Some of the chunks are actually pretty large:




A few close-ups showing citrine, amethyst, and other types of quartz, which slowly replaced the organic matter in the trees and turned them into fossils.




Barkley's favorite:


Even though they're broken, their pieces remained in-line for two large specimens in the park. The first is the Agate Bridge; the second is Old Faithful.

Albuquerque NM

After visiting White Sands, we had a short overnight stay in Sunny Acres RV Park in Las Cruces NM. Here's Bill trying to get the picnic table to go for a walk:


Waiting in line at another Border Patrol Checkpoint, this one on US-25 about 15 miles out of Las Cruces heading to Albuquerque on March 13th.


Neat little overlapping hills and nothing but creosote bushes for miles and miles.


The closer we got to Albuquerque, the more variety we saw in the vegetation, with short trees and grayish plants (maybe sagebrush) taking over for the creosote. It was strange to see snow-covered mountains beyond the desert.


In Albuquerque, we stayed at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post on old US Route 66. Pieces of travel trailer history and Route 66 history were scattered throughout the park. An old Hudson and matching travel trailer with our rig and Barkley (tiny!, by the picnic table) in the background.


Directional signs posted on our campsite:


Albuquerque was on our itinerary because Karen wanted to meet Jane Haley Clarke, owner of Morning Glory Antiques and Jewelry on the Internet and the Antique Connection on Central NE. We went to the Antique Connection on Sunday, March 14th, and found out that Jane's usual schedule in the shop is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (That sometimes happens when you're winging it and don't know where you're going to be when!) We checked out the shop anyway, and Jane's jewelry is fabulous! Although Karen doesn't collect bakelite, it was absolutely amazing to see the number and variety of bakelite pieces Jane offers. And then there's Vrba, Miriam Haskell, D&E, rhinestones, beads, Victorian, and on and on. As both a collector and a seller, Karen thought Jane's prices were fair. By the way, the rest of the antique mall is nice, too!

We returned to the Antique Connection on Monday and were happy to meet Jane, her husband John, and their friend and co-worker Sam, who took these pictures for us. It turns out that, besides antique jewelry, Jane and Karen share a passion for geneology (as does Sam!) and history in general. Jane and Bill also wondered if they are somehow related, as her Haley family is from Kentucky and Bill's is from Tennessee.



We've been wondering if we want something larger than our Catalina for the rest of our trip (six more months!), so we did some RV shopping in Albuquerque. We met two wonderful consultants: Mike Romero at Camping World and Frank Rogers at Rocky Mountain RV & Marine. If you find yourself RV shopping in Albuquerque, seek out Mike and Frank! Thanks to Frank's recommendation, we enjoyed a fantastic New Mexican dinner Monday night at Garcia's Kitchen, where the motto is "Help! Stamp out Gringo food. Eat at Garcia's Kitchen."

Barkley's ready to head out of town with a nice blue Hudson and Va-Ka-Shun travel trailer or a green Hudson rig:

White Sands National Monument

We left Brantley Lake State Park behind on March 12th and headed north on US-285. The first highlight of the day's travels was Artesia, an interesting little town we might like to visit someday.

Land of the Sun movie theater in Artesia:


In Artesia, we turned west onto US-82 and began an ascent through Lincoln National Forest, which changed as we climbed from desert with nothing but creosote bushes, to hills with junipers and other vegetation and a running creek and spotty snow, to tall pines - an actual forest! - and snow piles at the summit. Cloudcroft perched there and looked like a nice little town and ski area, but the two-lane road kept us moving through, and it was gone in a flash. Warnings about the climb to and descent from Cloudcroft were posted numerous times along the way, and emergency ramps were provided for runaway big rigs.

One of our purchases at Big Bend National Park had been a National Parks Pass for $80, one of the best values on the planet! It gained us entrance to the White Sands National Monument, with no additional fee. White Sands is a unique spot on the earth; it's a basin surrounded by mountains and has no river or other waterways to drain it. As a result, the gypsum that is washed out of the mountains by rain collects in the basin, forming long crystals which break down into the white gypsum sand. Sand dunes with no water in sight. It was amazing!

White Sands National Monument with snowcaps in the background:


Parked in the "play area" where people and their furry friends are allowed to walk on the dunes.


The boy and his mister:


White sand:

Carlsbad

Tuesday, March 9th: High winds fought us as we traveled from Big Bend to Carlsbad and grew stronger when we arrived at Brantley Lake State Park in the afternoon. At 25 miles per hour, with 40 mph gusts, they buffeted the trailer and ripped doors from our grasps. Outdoor activities were next to impossible for several days, but the timing was alright because Bill had a bad cold and was happy to just curl up and sleep whenever he could. Apparently, high winds occur fairly frequently, as signs with flashing lights warn of their dangers.

The ranger who checked us in at Brantley Lake was very nice and helpful, as all the others have been on our journey. We've been extremely pleased with the State and National Parks. Our campsite at Brantley Lake:


A roadrunner at our campsite:


Every now and then he ruffled his feathers. It made him look like a completely different bird.



The main drag through Carlsbad (US-285, entering Carlsbad from the south) was disappointing, almost depressing, and definitely not welcoming. Many of the buildings are dilapidated, litter (sometimes in piles!) seemed to be everywhere, and it just felt dirty, with an overall air of neglect. Added to that are about 2000 traffic lights which always turn red upon a vehicle's approach. We drove the road three times: once to get to the state park where we stayed, once to get to Carlsbad Caverns, and once to get back to the park. So, we encountered traffic lights at least 60 times (no longer exaggerating) and made it through without stopping three times. THREE TIMES! (For two of the three, the light was actually red, but that's a different story.) Very little about the main road makes Carlsbad inviting, and that's a shame.

Two bright spots on the main drag are the court house and a hotel, whose name we can't remember. Unfortunately, the light wasn't quite right on any of our passes to get decent pictures of them. A road paralleling 285 to the east looked promising, with antique and gift shops and an old movie theater, as did a pedestrian/bike trail ran along the Pecos River, but the wind kept us from trying these.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is beautiful. The drive winding up to the caverns reveals canyon after canyon full of cactus, yucca, and small trees, but the sun didn't cooperate for getting pictures. Of course, the caverns were wonderful. We took two self-guided tours with rented audio sticks - which looked like long TV remote controls - that enlightened us about how the caverns and their decorations were formed, the names of the various kinds of decorations (stalactite from the ceiling, stalagmite from the floor, columns, curtains, draperies, soda straws, etc.), Jim White, the caverns' early explorer and champion, and much more. For instance, there are no springs in the caverns; all the pools are made by rainwater seeping through the ground above, one drop at a time.



These looked like angel wings:


Draperies, with crystals in their folds:


The Lion's Tail:


This looked like the Michelin Man to us, but we didn't see a name for it:


The Chinese Theater:


Although Bill enjoyed the caverns, he liked the Caverns of Sonora better, because they were so alive - with water continuously dripping everywhere, so everything was growing - and colorful.

Sitting Bull Falls is in Lincoln National Forest, but we saw very few trees there. The falls are 180 feet tall, and don't always run, so we were in luck.


The pool and tufa formations, which are like the decorations in a cave, but made on the earth's surface.


Much of the land between the state park where we stayed and the falls is open range land, and it was odd to see cows grazing on the side of the road. The first one we saw was a bit scared by our presence, walked behind a (skimpy!) bush, and stayed there until we moved on.