Gallup to Meteor Crater is a passage across a barren beauty that's hard to describe to city folk. Big blue sky, visibility that goes to the curvature of the earth, unexpected color from a flower tenaciously making a foothold . . . we had it easy compared to earlier travelers with less reliable cars, no A/C, no satellite radio or iPods with thousands of songs played over the nice sound system . . . you get the picture.
Here are some pictures of some happy Little Plastic Trailer People making the passage.
Red hued rocks against a blue sky was a nice place to pull over and take in the sights.
Some of those sights were placed high on the rocks to capture passing the tourists. I guess it worked!
Colorful cliffs are one thing, but having the entire desert painted in front of you is truly something else. We cruised slowly through the painted desert savoring the eye candy along the way.
We stopped to look at symmetrical hills called the Teepees on our way to the Petrified Forest.
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, all the earth's continents were in a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the Late Triassic Period (around 200 million years ago) the land we know as Arizona was near the equator and covered with lush forest vegetation. Some of the trees of this forest fell and were deposited under deep layers of silt. Mineral laden groundwater seeped down through the silt and infused the dead wood with minerals. Silica crystals grew inside the cells and bit by bit the wood turned to stone.
Formerly wood, now rock, a wonder in the petrified forest . . .
These weren't even the biggest!
Just think . . . this 30 foot section of rock used to be part of a large tree in a prehistoric forest near the equator. (Sorta makes us a blip on a very looooooong timeline, doesn't it.)
Oscar thought that was interesting and was amused to see a family of dinosaurs menacing traffic along Route 66.
As if travelers along The Mother Road need to be reminded this used to be the wild west. You can still take a room at the Wigwam Motel, in Holbrook, AZ. The kokopellis on front of our trailer felt right at home.
So did the rest of the Eggs.
Further west, Oscar got all excited when he thought he'd get a chance to chase a giant jackrabbit.
Some of Oscar's new traveling buddies thought the bodacious bunny would whoop up on the little smiley dog so they thought they'd tame the wild rabbit themselves in his defense.
Sam & Gloria - - - "Rabbit Tamers"
Chris & Dianne - - - "Bronking Bunny Busters"
After hours on the road and all that rabbit wrangling, it was nice to stop and stand on the corner in Winslow Arizona and hang out with a member of The Eagles. Oscar wasn't into it much, that is until he saw a girl in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at him.
Another fine day . . . more miles behind us and a western sunset in front of us as we take it easy along The Mother Road.
To be continued . . .
Here are some pictures of some happy Little Plastic Trailer People making the passage.
Red hued rocks against a blue sky was a nice place to pull over and take in the sights.
Some of those sights were placed high on the rocks to capture passing the tourists. I guess it worked!
Colorful cliffs are one thing, but having the entire desert painted in front of you is truly something else. We cruised slowly through the painted desert savoring the eye candy along the way.
We stopped to look at symmetrical hills called the Teepees on our way to the Petrified Forest.
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, all the earth's continents were in a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the Late Triassic Period (around 200 million years ago) the land we know as Arizona was near the equator and covered with lush forest vegetation. Some of the trees of this forest fell and were deposited under deep layers of silt. Mineral laden groundwater seeped down through the silt and infused the dead wood with minerals. Silica crystals grew inside the cells and bit by bit the wood turned to stone.
Formerly wood, now rock, a wonder in the petrified forest . . .
These weren't even the biggest!
Just think . . . this 30 foot section of rock used to be part of a large tree in a prehistoric forest near the equator. (Sorta makes us a blip on a very looooooong timeline, doesn't it.)
Oscar thought that was interesting and was amused to see a family of dinosaurs menacing traffic along Route 66.
As if travelers along The Mother Road need to be reminded this used to be the wild west. You can still take a room at the Wigwam Motel, in Holbrook, AZ. The kokopellis on front of our trailer felt right at home.
So did the rest of the Eggs.
Further west, Oscar got all excited when he thought he'd get a chance to chase a giant jackrabbit.
Some of Oscar's new traveling buddies thought the bodacious bunny would whoop up on the little smiley dog so they thought they'd tame the wild rabbit themselves in his defense.
Sam & Gloria - - - "Rabbit Tamers"
Chris & Dianne - - - "Bronking Bunny Busters"
After hours on the road and all that rabbit wrangling, it was nice to stop and stand on the corner in Winslow Arizona and hang out with a member of The Eagles. Oscar wasn't into it much, that is until he saw a girl in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at him.
Another fine day . . . more miles behind us and a western sunset in front of us as we take it easy along The Mother Road.
To be continued . . .
5 comments:
Arizona is one of my favorite places to visit! It sure looks like ya'll are having a wonderful journey! We are really enjoyibg your blog!
Geri, Chuck
Scotty and DoogieBowser say "howdy" to Oscar!
Pete,
Got so excited meeting Oscar in Springfield, IL that I forgot to ask you about what camera you have been using. Your photos have been increasingly beautiful and striking. Really enjoying the trip down the "Mother Road."
Pamela and Bill
P.S. Isabella says to tell Oscar her first trip in the Fiber Stream was fun, and not to be too mean to that giant bunny. She says, "Remember, Oscar, our motto is small but mighty."
Pamela,
Earlier in the blog I used a large digital SLR. For the last year or so I've been using a compact, shockproof,waterproof digital by Panasonic, the LUMIX DMC-TS1.
I like it because of its good optical zoom capabilities and its 12 megs of data. That allows me to crop in closer without losing quality. It also has a lot of special shooting settings built into the programing.
Glad you're enjoying the Fiber Stream. Oscar says to give Isabella one of those yummy dog biscuits, "Right now!"
Pete
Thanks for the info, Pete. I've been trying to do some research on digital cameras. I'm using my mother-in-law's Kodak right now on extended loan, but I need to get one of my own.
Tell Oscar his wish is my command. Isabella will get one of the yummy treats as soon as I get home from work tonight. (It sounds like he enjoyed them, too.)
Pamela
Owner (owned by?) of Isabella
Just as side info: I like the pictures, and have been using a panasonic lumix as well, for some years now and am still happy about it (in Indonesia)! I think it would be a good choice for a compact camera with alot of easy to use functions!
Anyway, I envy your travels, it makes ma want to just take a sabbatical and rent a car and see some of the places as well! Have a lot of fun for the rest of the trip!
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