REVISITING A DAY ON A ROAD TRIP IN AUGUST 2013

Today I chose an old blog post to share when we were on a road trip.  This was from Sunday, August 18th, 2013.   In the evenings just before going to sleep after a day's travel, I wrote my diary entry.  It's a bit long but it is a day I remember well and enjoyed revisiting.  I hope you will too.

"At 8:30 AM we left the hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  When Gregg came out of the hotel to put the bags in the car, this is what greeted him.  

On the road at 8.56 a.m we have traveled 2,383 miles so far.

We stopped at a Whole Foods to purchase a ready-made sandwich to share and for a change instead of water, we bought a cream soda for me and a cherry soda for Gregg.  Also, sour cream and onion potato chips.  I also picked up Pineapple and Strawberry Greek yogurt and a small container of fruit.  Whatever we have left over we put back in the ice-chest and it makes a nice snack later on in the day.   We have enjoyed our picnics along the way.  

The ice chest gets packed each morning and Gregg fills it up with ice from the hotel. We travel with lots of bottled water.  There were also some neat greeting cards at Whole Foods, one of which was a Road Runner.  When the lady cashier saw the card, she told me all about this comical bird.  She said they like to hang out at the mall!

At 9 AM we saw a car broken down and a police officer had stopped to help. The car had a humongous teddy bear tied to the top of the trunk.  I wish I had that photo!  

It's beautiful country out here. We are loving it!

In parts it gets very gusty and there are windsocks to show you how windy it can get, and to make people aware that they need to grab their wheels a little tighter.  We didn't have any problems.

When we get near a community the billboards start showing up miles before.  They make for interesting reading on a long journey.

When we started out it was 323 miles to Flagstaff, Arizona.  At 9.18 a.m. we have 295 miles to go.

10.19 a.m. Since we have been driving in the desert areas, I have noticed big boxes on the roofs of houses.  Gregg said they are called swamp coolers, a humidifier that puts moisture into the house.  The air is so dry out here.  My lips are feeling it and the Chapstick is always out.  I remember that from our last visit.

Saw a train at 10.20 a.m. with hundreds of cars carrying coal.  Three engines on the front and three engines on the back, the biggest one we have seen so far. 

 10.28 a.m.  just passed the continental divide at an elevation of 7275 feet.

10.45 a.m. It seems like we are in the middle of nowhere and we stop for gas.  We are actually only 17 miles east of Gallop, New Mexico. 

We met a raven looking for a handout.  At first I thought it was a crow, but you can click on this link where it describes the differences.

11.24 a.m. we went through Gallop.  Don't know much about it, must read up.

11.40 a.m. at 2540 miles into our journey we crossed into Arizona.

11.51 a.m.  passed sign elevation 6,000 feet.

Last time we drove across country was 31 years ago.

12.20 p.m.  Stopped at The Petrified National Forest and The Painted Desert.  The Visitor Center is always the first port of call.

We met a lovely Quarter Horse called Trooper, 11 yrs. old.... 

and a very nice lady Park Ranger. Trooper was very gentle with this little girl from Germany.  

Gregg and I found a bench inside a quiet courtyard behind the center, where we started eating what we had put away for lunch, and who should start coming towards us but the Park Ranger and Trooper.  We had a lovely conversation with this lady.  We told her how much we admired Trooper being so gentle, and she said his previous owners didn't train him very well.  When she got him he was skittish and all over the place.  Now he is calm, gentle and most definitely a beautiful horse.  Later I asked her if I could stroke his neck.   When I spoke to him you could just tell he was paying full attention.  I sure wish I could remember the name of this very nice lady, but she is a credit to the park service, and so is Trooper for that matter.

Horses have the most soulful eyes don't you think?

Next stop overlooking the Painted Desert.  It is gorgeous!  We watched a girl run up the hill.

These people were waiting for her.  When she joined them they got in their car and drove away.

I was just amazed at the vastness of it all.

I shared the above photo before on this blog.

We stopped off at Rt. 66 and met a British couple from Newcastle (UK) called Michael and Patricia.  They were finishing a three-week driving tour of the United States and were going home on Tuesday.  They offered to take our photo, and we took one for them.  A young lady also came up to us (she was traveling with her family) and offered to take a photo of the four of us, thinking that we were traveling together because of our British accents.  

Here's the photo the English couple took of us....

and this is the one the young lady took with the English couple, when she thought we were traveling together.  We didn't like to disappoint her and say no, she was so kind to ask, and it is a nice memento.

Below is a photo of the young lady with her family, which I took while Gregg was taking a shot of them.  They told us they were traveling across country and were moving to Southern California to meet up with their Dad.  There was a friend traveling with them also.

That old car grill was actually attached to a concrete bench on the other side.  In the next photo there were kids who had just had their photo taken by their mother, with them sitting behind the wheel of the old rusted out car.  This was a busy stop.

The telephone poles in the background mark out where the old Rt. 66 used to be.

After everyone had gone, we were still enjoying the peacefulness of it all, and enjoying all that beautiful desert as far as the eye could see.  I spotted flowers and out came the camera again.

First is the Grey globemallow, also known as the Soft globemallow.  (Added note: Thanks plant app!  I didn't have this app up until a year ago, so I was able to add this information when transferring from my old blog.)  To continue, its botanical name is Sphaeralcea incana.  The leaves of this North American desert plant are a felted gray-green and the brilliant orange cup-shaped flowers contrast beautifully.  They appear in the Fall and its blooms attract butterflies and are valuable to native bees. I was surprised to learn that a hair rinse can be created from an infusion of this plant, to give the hair more body.  How about that then?  Always fascinated by these bits of trivia.

The yellow flowers are called Bitter sneezeweed.  It has other names, Sneezeweed, Bitterweed,Yellow sneezeweed, Fiveleaf sneezeweed, Yellow Bitterweed, Slender-leaved Sneezeweed, Fine-leaved sneezeweed and Yellow Dog fennel.  Botanical name Helenium amarum.  Bitter sneezeweed (Helenium amarum) is an annual bush that will grow from 10 to 20 inches tall. It has a strong odor and bitter taste. A member of the daisy family, it blooms in late spring or summer with yellow flowers that have brown centers. Blossoms appear at the top of the stem and attract bees and butterflies. Bitter sneezeweed is commonly found growing in fields and prairies.  My plant app said "your plant is very dry and needs watering"!

The last of the trio is California brittlebush, also known as California bush sunflower, Bush sunflower, California coast sunflower, and California encilia.  Botanical name Encelia californica.  It is a multi-stemmed, fast-growing shrub that grows best in full sunlight and sandy, well-drained soils.  The rich nectar from this species attracts bees and butterflies.  Since it is drought tolerant and easy to grow, it is often planted in gardens.  (I got good advice, again from the plant app, on how to take better care of all 'my' plants, that they all looked way too dry!)

The roads are very wavy, up and down and bumpy.  It is like riding a helter-skelter in parts.   Lots of fun!

and here are more ravens.

We saw them all over the place.  Definitely straggly-looking, and yet striking.  I could have sworn they were trailing us to the next destination.  They seemed to be following our car when I looked back, but as we gained speed they disappeared.

What do you think of those ravens Gregg?  

I can't leave without sharing some of those petrified logs.

If you want to find out more about the Petrified Forest you can go here.

We left this area at 3.00 p.m.

  

4.39 p.m. we reached the hotel for a night in Williams, Arizona."

That's it!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!