Celebrating the Dance

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Filling in the Blanks - April 1, 2016

We left Albuquerque with a plan to stop in Tucumcari, NM at the Cactus RV. Two reasons, I had read and seen pictures on the "Travel with the Bayfield Bunch" blog and it is part of the Route 66 experience. Plus, we needed a half way point to stop for the night.

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."

~Confucius

(When we left here our next stop was Amarillo, TX at this point I did blog in real time. As of this post I am finished with the blogs for our 2nd Adventure.)

Filling in the Blanks - March 24-30, 2016

We left Sun Valley, AZ the morning of the 24th and headed to Albuquerque, NM.

The Ride

We spent seven nights at the Hidden Valley Resort in Albuquerque/Tijeras, NM including Easter Sunday. The elevation here is around 6300 feet and the temperatures were cool. We even saw some snowflakes during our stay but no accumulation.

We where in Tijeras and just down the hill was Old US Highway 66. Edgewood just a little further down the road.

If you stay on the rumble strips and travel at 45 mph you
do hear a short clip of "America the Beautiful".
It took more then one try but we did manage to
hear it loud and clear.

Route 66 through Albuquerque

The Turquoise Trail (We drove up to Santa Fe via this route.)

Stopping along the way.

The Road

There is so much to see in the area and we saw such a small portion of what is there. Part of this lifestyle, though, is enjoying our time and not pushing to see everything we can in a small amount of time. We will be back and take in more of what this area has to offer.

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."

~Eddie Cantor

Filling in the Blanks - Petrified Forest National Park - March 23, 2016

By the late 1800's interest in petrified wood was threatening this landscape. In 1895 the Arizona Territorial legislature petitioned Congress to protect this valuable scientific and cultural treasure. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation creating Petrified Forest National Monument. The Monument became a national park in 1962.

(from park brochure)

An interesting note among many interesting things about this National Park is that it is the only one that preserves a section of Route 66.

This is where Historic Route 66 once cut through the park.

Our first stop once inside the park was The Rainbow Forest Museum, Visitor Center.

Inside the museum

Outside Behind the Museum

A log is petrified when all of its original plant material is infilled, or replaced by minerals. Now this petrified forest is not made of wood, but stone.

Our drive through the park. (I am not sure the pictures are in the order of our drive.)

I read that the landscape of this park is constantly changing as the wind erodes the earth and more of the petrified forest is uncovered.

Badlands are not confined to the state of South Dakota's famous national park.

Agate Bridge
At one time people were allowed to walk across. Today to help preserve
this piece of history we are asked to stay off.

Park boundaries periodically expand to further protect important archeological and paleontological resources. The Black Forest and Painted Desert were added in 1932. The Petrified Forest Expansion Act of 2004 continues this trend of preservation and expansion.