Friday, March 23, 2007
Day 80: Another day tripping to 2 National Parks
Ahhhhh……can’t believe it…..it RAINED during the night…..the sounds of the drops on the roof had me awake for awhile. And….when I did get up, the ground looked like it had been soaked, as I later confirmed when my shoes became way tooooo muddy after walking to the truck!
We left the park around 9am…..driving east for about 50 miles until we made the turn to go the final 18 miles when we noticed this large “gift and rock” shop/building beside the highway. I thought to myself….”yep…another tourist trap”….but the 1st Lady and I decided to make a stop anyway.
WELL…..I have never been in such an incredible gift shop ever. It was filled with petrified wood pieces…..of ALL sizes. There were coffee tables that were selling for $20,000.00 and thousands of other pieces of petrified wood, with the least going for $1.99. Besides the wood items, there were hundreds and hundreds of fossils still in their stone or wood settings where they were found. We remained in the store for over an hour just looking and becoming more and more amazed at the items we were seeing. I was sooooo damn impressed with the quality of the items they were selling………would loved to have purchased some of the larger petrified wood items….they were sooooo beautiful!
We finally pulled ourselves away and out of the store and then drove the last 18 miles to the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park. Once again….my age saved us more money…..as the cost for a car of visitors is $20. Our cost was FREE with the National Parks Golden Age Pass.
Immediately we began to see all of the petrified pieces of wood……from fallen trees to just what looked like wood shavings, but they were all as hard as rocks. The only way these pieces can be cut is with a diamond saw blade…..THAT hard.
We stopped at the Visitor Center and watched a short movie about the way the wood of millions of years ago…..dinosaur time period…..became petrified. Most of the pieces that are laying around now came from below the ground……having been exposed by the weather elements and just the evolving time. The exhibits there at the Center were not….NOT…nearly as great as what was for sale in the gift shop.
The movie stated that up to ONE TON of pieces are being carried away by tourists from the National Park EVERY MONTH!!!!!! Obviously that is a LOT of small pieces because you can’t begin to lift the huge pieces…..they are stone now. The people at the gift shop said that they have bought mineral rights to land surrounding the park and are digging to get their petrified wood pieces.
We spent the next 2 hours driving about 20 miles through the park….stopping and walking trails to see more of the wood/stone laying on the ground. It was interesting to see the pieces slowly emerging from the earth as parts of the wood was being exposed to the world.
Then we entered the Painted Desert National Park……the two just join without any notice other than the ground and looks of the land change. As by now it was raining again……the colors of the desert were not nearly as brilliant as they are in the pictures we saw at the Visitor Center. Soooo, this part of the day was a bit disappointing…..but, nevertheless the next ten miles was very interesting to see…….reminded me of the Badlands in South Dakota.
We exited the park…….after passing the sign that we entering the Vehicle Inspection Area. We had to stop at the gate, but we were not inspected!! We were good….and respected the law and did not pick up any of the smaller pieces.
We drove the 70 miles back to TheHowserHouse still sitting there waiting for us to return. The Park has many more rv’s this evening…….it is such a wonderful place to park an rv……..would certainly recommend it to any and all to stop here for a night.
We had just finished dinner when someone knocked on our door. He introduced himself and asked if we liked our Cedar Creek. Of course…..a rather lengthy discussion and a tour of TheHowserHouse occurred …..and I encouraged him to purchase one. He and his wife sold their house and are full timing in a travel trailer……and he wanted to get more room in an rv. Interesting conversation……..
And so…….we are set to leave Arizona in the morning after being in the state since February 5th, with the exception of 5 nights in Las Vegas. We head to Santa Fe, NM for a few days to visit some of the art galleries/museums and enjoy the ambience of this city that I have never yet seen. As we look at the calendar we feel it will be the first week in April before we return to our stick and brick……..
Even tho it was a bit rainy today…….the trip through these two National Parks was very enjoyable and educational. I have always wanted to see the Petrified Forest….and so, I can check this off of my “to see” list.
As always……..
Life is GREAT…..and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
We left the park around 9am…..driving east for about 50 miles until we made the turn to go the final 18 miles when we noticed this large “gift and rock” shop/building beside the highway. I thought to myself….”yep…another tourist trap”….but the 1st Lady and I decided to make a stop anyway.
WELL…..I have never been in such an incredible gift shop ever. It was filled with petrified wood pieces…..of ALL sizes. There were coffee tables that were selling for $20,000.00 and thousands of other pieces of petrified wood, with the least going for $1.99. Besides the wood items, there were hundreds and hundreds of fossils still in their stone or wood settings where they were found. We remained in the store for over an hour just looking and becoming more and more amazed at the items we were seeing. I was sooooo damn impressed with the quality of the items they were selling………would loved to have purchased some of the larger petrified wood items….they were sooooo beautiful!
We finally pulled ourselves away and out of the store and then drove the last 18 miles to the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park. Once again….my age saved us more money…..as the cost for a car of visitors is $20. Our cost was FREE with the National Parks Golden Age Pass.
Immediately we began to see all of the petrified pieces of wood……from fallen trees to just what looked like wood shavings, but they were all as hard as rocks. The only way these pieces can be cut is with a diamond saw blade…..THAT hard.
We stopped at the Visitor Center and watched a short movie about the way the wood of millions of years ago…..dinosaur time period…..became petrified. Most of the pieces that are laying around now came from below the ground……having been exposed by the weather elements and just the evolving time. The exhibits there at the Center were not….NOT…nearly as great as what was for sale in the gift shop.
The movie stated that up to ONE TON of pieces are being carried away by tourists from the National Park EVERY MONTH!!!!!! Obviously that is a LOT of small pieces because you can’t begin to lift the huge pieces…..they are stone now. The people at the gift shop said that they have bought mineral rights to land surrounding the park and are digging to get their petrified wood pieces.
We spent the next 2 hours driving about 20 miles through the park….stopping and walking trails to see more of the wood/stone laying on the ground. It was interesting to see the pieces slowly emerging from the earth as parts of the wood was being exposed to the world.
Then we entered the Painted Desert National Park……the two just join without any notice other than the ground and looks of the land change. As by now it was raining again……the colors of the desert were not nearly as brilliant as they are in the pictures we saw at the Visitor Center. Soooo, this part of the day was a bit disappointing…..but, nevertheless the next ten miles was very interesting to see…….reminded me of the Badlands in South Dakota.
We exited the park…….after passing the sign that we entering the Vehicle Inspection Area. We had to stop at the gate, but we were not inspected!! We were good….and respected the law and did not pick up any of the smaller pieces.
We drove the 70 miles back to TheHowserHouse still sitting there waiting for us to return. The Park has many more rv’s this evening…….it is such a wonderful place to park an rv……..would certainly recommend it to any and all to stop here for a night.
We had just finished dinner when someone knocked on our door. He introduced himself and asked if we liked our Cedar Creek. Of course…..a rather lengthy discussion and a tour of TheHowserHouse occurred …..and I encouraged him to purchase one. He and his wife sold their house and are full timing in a travel trailer……and he wanted to get more room in an rv. Interesting conversation……..
And so…….we are set to leave Arizona in the morning after being in the state since February 5th, with the exception of 5 nights in Las Vegas. We head to Santa Fe, NM for a few days to visit some of the art galleries/museums and enjoy the ambience of this city that I have never yet seen. As we look at the calendar we feel it will be the first week in April before we return to our stick and brick……..
Even tho it was a bit rainy today…….the trip through these two National Parks was very enjoyable and educational. I have always wanted to see the Petrified Forest….and so, I can check this off of my “to see” list.
As always……..
Life is GREAT…..and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Day 79: Meteor Crater Natural Park, AZ
Well…..there was some sleet last night…but it didn’t last or stick on the ground. This morning was a great, clear morning. We had a leisurely morning as we were only going to move 70 miles down the road, so we had a couple of cups of Fr. Roast coffee and tea…..and then I began the task of checking the tire pressure on all 8 tires, and then unhooking the umbilical cords of TheHowserHouse from the power source. By 10am we were on the highway heading east….and after going thru some snow flurries in the foothills of the San Francisco Mts. which hover over Flagstaff…..we arrived at Meteor Crater RV Park, just off of the I-40.
We checked in for two nights…..at a great price of only $12 per night. Then after hooking up TheHowserHouse to the power source, we had a light lunch. It was quick….and then we drove the five miles through the desert to the Meteor Crater……and the incredible museum.
The crater is sooooo huge….I have seen it from the air as I was flying to the west coast one time, but seeing it down here was …….well, just damn hard to believe. If you walk around the rim of the crater, it is 2.5 miles……it is almost one mile across, and it is 700 feet to the bottom of the crater. A 150 foot meteor crashed into the ground here around 50,000 years ago……and this crater is the first crater to be certified as a true meteor crater and one of the very few to have been left undisturbed over the years.
We took a hiking tour around part of the rim…..and then an hour later we returned to the museum. It is a fabulous museum with sooooo much info on meteors that have crashed into the earth…..and some wonderful hands-on exhibits.
We spent over three hours this afternoon at the crater and museum…..and we could have spent twice that amount. But the afternoon was getting late and it was about to rain…..so we thought. So back to the RV Park and TheHowserHouse. It is a really great little rv park with VERY wide streets and very nice sized sites for rv’s. We would certainly stop here again!!!!
We had a light dinner and some vino/dark red medicine…..and then this evening I just have been attempting to get my pics onto the blog. NOT all of them…..way tooo many for that, but trying to get some on since I have Wifi tonight…..YEAH!!!!!! I will continue to post some pics from the travels of TheHowserHouse this week…….tonight just check below this post!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow: Petrified Forest National Park….and…Painted Desert National Park about 70 miles east of here. We will just make it a day trip and leave TheHowserHouse here. Then on Saturday we drive to Santa Fe, NM for 2-3 days or more. I have reservations in an RV Park there……always want to not have to drive around looking for a place to unhook TheHowserHouse…so I make reservations when I think they will be necessary.
Today…..another great day……this week has been a week of “great days”!!!! And…..with that in mind…..
Life IS Great….and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
We checked in for two nights…..at a great price of only $12 per night. Then after hooking up TheHowserHouse to the power source, we had a light lunch. It was quick….and then we drove the five miles through the desert to the Meteor Crater……and the incredible museum.
The crater is sooooo huge….I have seen it from the air as I was flying to the west coast one time, but seeing it down here was …….well, just damn hard to believe. If you walk around the rim of the crater, it is 2.5 miles……it is almost one mile across, and it is 700 feet to the bottom of the crater. A 150 foot meteor crashed into the ground here around 50,000 years ago……and this crater is the first crater to be certified as a true meteor crater and one of the very few to have been left undisturbed over the years.
We took a hiking tour around part of the rim…..and then an hour later we returned to the museum. It is a fabulous museum with sooooo much info on meteors that have crashed into the earth…..and some wonderful hands-on exhibits.
We spent over three hours this afternoon at the crater and museum…..and we could have spent twice that amount. But the afternoon was getting late and it was about to rain…..so we thought. So back to the RV Park and TheHowserHouse. It is a really great little rv park with VERY wide streets and very nice sized sites for rv’s. We would certainly stop here again!!!!
We had a light dinner and some vino/dark red medicine…..and then this evening I just have been attempting to get my pics onto the blog. NOT all of them…..way tooo many for that, but trying to get some on since I have Wifi tonight…..YEAH!!!!!! I will continue to post some pics from the travels of TheHowserHouse this week…….tonight just check below this post!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow: Petrified Forest National Park….and…Painted Desert National Park about 70 miles east of here. We will just make it a day trip and leave TheHowserHouse here. Then on Saturday we drive to Santa Fe, NM for 2-3 days or more. I have reservations in an RV Park there……always want to not have to drive around looking for a place to unhook TheHowserHouse…so I make reservations when I think they will be necessary.
Today…..another great day……this week has been a week of “great days”!!!! And…..with that in mind…..
Life IS Great….and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Day 78: A day at two National Monuments.........
The morning routine was carried out flawlessly……..as it should have been after 78 mornings in TheHowserHouse on wheels. It was sooooooo damn windy ALL night long…..that occasionally TheHowserHouse shook and would wake me up. By morning….it never did get very chilly…..the winds had settled down.
We left for Flagstaff and the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which is just a few miles north of town around 9am. It was quite cloudy and then the wind began to return….and even just driving the truck the 30 miles to Flagstaff became a bit of an effort to stay on the road.
Turning off of Hwy 89 North…north of Flagstaff……we soon found the first pull-off to view the many volcanoes in the large area. We then stopped at the Visitor Center for the National Monument drive……and spent some time there reading and viewing presentations on the activity of the volcanoes in this area about a 1000 years ago. I had NO idea that there sooooo many volcanoes in this area of the country. All of the mountains that we have been viewing while in this area are VOLCANOES.
We began the 34 mile drive……and stopped at many of the pull-offs to take some of the walks that are provided for better understanding of the destruction that volcanoes can make…..with the molten lava and the thrown chunks that litter as far as you can see. I have been at other volcano lava areas and while there seemed to be more lava at the other places…..this was definitely IMPRESSIVE!!!!
Of course, the 1st Lady being a ex-science teacher….she was really excited about the lava rocks, the splits in the lava, and the destruction of the ground and plant life in this area. She kept talking about the scientific theories of things like this…….hmmmmm. I enjoyed the landscapes of the lava rocks, the tall cone shaped mts., and just trying to visualize how it must have looked during the eruptions!
From there, we continued the drive until we reached the Wupatki National Monument which has several areas of “houses” of these Native American tribes. We went to the Visitor Museum….and then took a walk through the area where not only a large pueblo type house was fairly intact, but so was there ball field, and the meeting house. It is really a great place to visually study these remains…..and to learn more of how they lived. It never ceases to amaze me when we begin to talk about dates for these early tribes……just how far behind they were in comparison with the Europeans during of that time period.
My mind then goes to the way we just took over their land, their lives, and their other properties. I could get on my soapbox and deliver a scathing sermon about what our government did to these Native Americans…..but, I need to respect my blood pressure at my advancing age. There seems to be some degree of relevancy to what we are now doing in Iraq!!!
Returning to Flagstaff by mid-afternoon, we drove Route 66 into town and stopped at the Railway Depot downtown and stopped in at the Tourist Office to gather some info about their downtown arts and crafts area. We walked for several blocks stopping and stepping into some of the arts stores as well as other stores. There are MANY restaurants and cafes and watering holes throughout the area…….and so we inquired among the people in the stores as to a good place to dine.
We were urged by several to go to the Mountain Oasis……and they were correct in their review of this place. The 1st Lady and I had a glass of wine to begin with as I knew it was time for my evening dosage of my dark red medicine. I ordered the Penne Pasta with grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and a wonderful basil cream sauce lightly covering the ingredients. I also had a bowl of soup: pumpkin pie soup!!!! Yep…..and it was delicious. There was some crunch in the soup……some small chips of celery and onion, but yet the soup had an overall sweetness from the pumpkin. GREAT!!!!
The 1st Lady had a small salad along with Linguine with garlic shrimp and spinach. I tasted it and it was just wonderful…….lots of garlic which I love!!! We had made some great choices from a rather limited menu……but by not having to prepare many menu items it allowed more time for individual preps and wonderful presentations for their cuisine. They had an extensive wine list………but, I stuck with my cabernet sauvignon and it was quite good!!
A quick stop at Walmart…..and then we headed back to Williams and TheHowserHouse. Tomorrow we leave for east of Flagstaff with the rv……and plan to visit the Meteor Crater that is there. I will talk more about it tomorrow evening…….
It has been a much, much cooler day with very little sun……but our day trip to the volcano lava beds and Native Am. ruins has made the day a very good one.
I understand my pics of the last two nights have not been able to get from me through cyberspace to you…….soooo sorry about that!!!! It is this damn slow pic sending through my cell phone…….as the Wifi sucks!!!!! I will get them on……slowly!!!
Life is Great…..and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!
We left for Flagstaff and the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which is just a few miles north of town around 9am. It was quite cloudy and then the wind began to return….and even just driving the truck the 30 miles to Flagstaff became a bit of an effort to stay on the road.
Turning off of Hwy 89 North…north of Flagstaff……we soon found the first pull-off to view the many volcanoes in the large area. We then stopped at the Visitor Center for the National Monument drive……and spent some time there reading and viewing presentations on the activity of the volcanoes in this area about a 1000 years ago. I had NO idea that there sooooo many volcanoes in this area of the country. All of the mountains that we have been viewing while in this area are VOLCANOES.
We began the 34 mile drive……and stopped at many of the pull-offs to take some of the walks that are provided for better understanding of the destruction that volcanoes can make…..with the molten lava and the thrown chunks that litter as far as you can see. I have been at other volcano lava areas and while there seemed to be more lava at the other places…..this was definitely IMPRESSIVE!!!!
Of course, the 1st Lady being a ex-science teacher….she was really excited about the lava rocks, the splits in the lava, and the destruction of the ground and plant life in this area. She kept talking about the scientific theories of things like this…….hmmmmm. I enjoyed the landscapes of the lava rocks, the tall cone shaped mts., and just trying to visualize how it must have looked during the eruptions!
From there, we continued the drive until we reached the Wupatki National Monument which has several areas of “houses” of these Native American tribes. We went to the Visitor Museum….and then took a walk through the area where not only a large pueblo type house was fairly intact, but so was there ball field, and the meeting house. It is really a great place to visually study these remains…..and to learn more of how they lived. It never ceases to amaze me when we begin to talk about dates for these early tribes……just how far behind they were in comparison with the Europeans during of that time period.
My mind then goes to the way we just took over their land, their lives, and their other properties. I could get on my soapbox and deliver a scathing sermon about what our government did to these Native Americans…..but, I need to respect my blood pressure at my advancing age. There seems to be some degree of relevancy to what we are now doing in Iraq!!!
Returning to Flagstaff by mid-afternoon, we drove Route 66 into town and stopped at the Railway Depot downtown and stopped in at the Tourist Office to gather some info about their downtown arts and crafts area. We walked for several blocks stopping and stepping into some of the arts stores as well as other stores. There are MANY restaurants and cafes and watering holes throughout the area…….and so we inquired among the people in the stores as to a good place to dine.
We were urged by several to go to the Mountain Oasis……and they were correct in their review of this place. The 1st Lady and I had a glass of wine to begin with as I knew it was time for my evening dosage of my dark red medicine. I ordered the Penne Pasta with grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and a wonderful basil cream sauce lightly covering the ingredients. I also had a bowl of soup: pumpkin pie soup!!!! Yep…..and it was delicious. There was some crunch in the soup……some small chips of celery and onion, but yet the soup had an overall sweetness from the pumpkin. GREAT!!!!
The 1st Lady had a small salad along with Linguine with garlic shrimp and spinach. I tasted it and it was just wonderful…….lots of garlic which I love!!! We had made some great choices from a rather limited menu……but by not having to prepare many menu items it allowed more time for individual preps and wonderful presentations for their cuisine. They had an extensive wine list………but, I stuck with my cabernet sauvignon and it was quite good!!
A quick stop at Walmart…..and then we headed back to Williams and TheHowserHouse. Tomorrow we leave for east of Flagstaff with the rv……and plan to visit the Meteor Crater that is there. I will talk more about it tomorrow evening…….
It has been a much, much cooler day with very little sun……but our day trip to the volcano lava beds and Native Am. ruins has made the day a very good one.
I understand my pics of the last two nights have not been able to get from me through cyberspace to you…….soooo sorry about that!!!! It is this damn slow pic sending through my cell phone…….as the Wifi sucks!!!!! I will get them on……slowly!!!
Life is Great…..and I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!
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