Stop 9 - Flagstaff, Arizona

We've shifted another time zone and are now in Arizona time - a full 8 hours behind the UK. Its weird travelling through time zones so often. Here, it is 2.30am. I've left it until now to do this blog as it is the only time I could get a wi-fi signal. Such dedication to the cause!

Arizona has not disappointed. So much so that I am struglling to know what to write. There is a great line in the film "Contact" starring Jodie Foster that best summarises my predicament. Another, highly intelligent, planety has contacted Earth with instructions to build a machine to travel there. We, the earth dwellers, debate long and hard about who we should send. The greatest astronauts are considered and filtered until one is chosen. Upon travel she discovers that the machine transports the occupant to their own personal Utopia. The beauty of what see sees is indescribable and she remarks to herself "They should have sent a poet". That's how I feel about describing what I've seen so far in Arizona. In particular in travelling through the Petrified Forest and I know from a text from Matt and Katie that there is more to come in Monument Valley. I can hardly sleep!

We left Gallup and drove through Defiance. It was there that our mileometer crossed the 2,000 mile mark and a degree of regret descended as we knew we were now well into the trip and the end was in sight - but not before we had seen what we were about to see. We drove onwards through Manuelito and at last crossed the State border into Arizona.

We were now travelling through Navajo Indian territory and the number of associated trading posts bore testament to this. We called at a number of them and most of our gifts for the folks back home were purchased in them!

We have now managed to find a way to upload videos via links to You Tube and this is just as well because we recorded a great number of them on this section of the trip. As soon as we've had a chance to go through them all we'll start amending these blogs to contain the links. Anyway, sticking with what we've got for now, we drove on through Lupton, past Allantown and on to Houck. Here we decided to execute another "Dirt Option" and drove the post 1931 route via Co Road 7250. It was section that carried us for 20 miles or so, across the Querino Canyon bridge and on into Sanders. It was wonderful.

We then drove on to Chambers, past Navajo and on to the Painted Desert / Petrified Forest. We did this because a section at the North end of the Forest is in fact where the abandoned 66 ran so of course we were going to drive it. But when we go there we decided we;d drive the whole 30 miles out through the South end before getting back on the 66. This we did in rapture and videos abounded. Can these pictures give an idea? I doubt it but I'll try:

The drives inbetween these stops were even more breath-taking. We kept stopping though! One picture I wanted to get was of the many dry rivers we had encountered on the journey since Chicago. There are many of them. It is so hot here. And so hard to believe that these rivers will run full again (and they're not small) and in some cases like in the mountains above Santa Fe will actually freeze solid in the Winter. Its all big scale stuff over here!

We stopped by at the Painted Desert Inn which is a faithfully restored version of the very Inn that was in this very spot in 1924 and as a popular stop off point on Route 66 itself, and containing the original wall decor.

The rest of the Forest activity was of course video based and the drive through it just so rewarding. When we exited at the South end we rejoined 66 at Holbrook. There we passed the WigWam Motel which is a genuine motel where all the rooms are all concrete Wig Wams. It was built in the 1950's and still operates in the identical way today.

On to Joseph City from here and through past the Jackrabbit and into Winslow. We stopped at both. The Jackrabbit is an Indian trading post which advertises itself as "If you haven't been to the Jackrabbit you haven't been in the South West" so obviously being gullible tourists we had to call in! It was a worthwhile visit and a few more souvenirs were acquired - including some Petrified Wood from the Forest we'd been in. You mustn't take it from the forest itself - and we didn't.

In Winslow is the "Standing on the Corner" statue which is dedicated to the classic Eagles song "Take It Easy". You know the one? "Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona got 7 women on my mind....". It was written (not by the Eagles but by Jackson Brown I think) on this very corner as an exhortation from the hippy author to the patrol cars trying to move him on! We bought a few more souvenirs in here.

It was also on this corner that I managed to get my now customary shot of the Route 66 logo emblazened in the road itself - except the one here is BIG - much like the county its in. Texas was big too and it amazed me. But Arizona is big in another way. It's hard to describe but its big in its silence, its vast open silence and everywhere has this feel - even the town of Winslow, Arizona.

We moved on to Winona and were now close to our destination. But first we thought we'd visit the famous Meteor Crater, the site of a massive meteor impact which left a huge hole in the desert. That was pretty interesting stuff and the boys really loved it. We learnt a lot about meteors, meteorites and the eco and solar systems. It really was a very enjoyable and educational couple of hours in there. And the hole in the ground was pretty impressive too - a mile in diameter and all from a 150ft wide but very very heavy meteor.

The 1st picture below is of Cory and Sean holding or touching an actual fragment of the Meteor itself. The second is Pand at the edge of the hole and the 3rd is Cory investigating further! I know that this little visit was a highlight for them and I was glad to see how much they enjoyed it.

That brought and end to the day and we left Meteor City to drive on into Flagstaff where we checked in, went down for dinner and then relaxed over a beer or two in the hotel bar. I am now up in the middle of the night typing this so its back to bed for me in a minute before we get up fairly early again to drive the 200 miles up into Monument Valley on a detour from 66. I am very much looking forward to that and can only wish I had a poet in the boot!