I woke up this morning feeling spectacular. There was iced coffee in my mouth. Whenever there is iced coffee in my mouth I generally have a feel good attitude. If I can get some coffee within 40 minutes of getting out of bed I am golden. It doesn’t necessarily have to be iced but that is my preference so that’s what I diligently search for once checked out of where I am staying. I’m getting good at it.
I left Flagstaff this morning and headed up route 40 east towards New Mexico with thoughts of Sedona flitting about in my head. I liked Sedona. I might go back and see what it has to offer me. It’s a little ways from Flagstaff. It’s actually located in a beautiful area. If you want the lower desert it’s not that far. If you want the forest, it’s again, just an easy drive away. It’s high enough that the heat won’t literally kill you, but low enough so that when it snows it melts very quickly. There are horse stables everywhere. The town is large and bustling enough to give you that lively feeling, but not so it makes you feel drowned out and insignificant. I didn’t see a Walmart. It was very artsy. The scenery is knock your socks off beautiful. Red rock and all that. It’s a decent ways from the airport. Just saying. I looked up cost on CL and it seems okay. No big deal anyway. The only drawback I could find is that it’s dusty. Since I am not afraid to get totally filthy, I’m not even sure if that is a drawback or my compulsion to find something wrong with anything you present to me. Hey, at least I am willing to admit it. Besides, I’m sure once I am there I’ll find a way to rip it to shreds just enough to fill that need in me. I would love to get a nice little home right outside of the city, town, whatever you want to call it, so I can finally have the private life style I adore.
Anyway… I stopped at the Meteor Crater and it was a very large hole in the ground. Extremely large. As I walked up to see the crater I was breathing heavily and got all concerned with my health until I remembered I am at a higher altitude than I am used to. It’s good for me. As I was driving around in this area I saw dinosaurs. Since I am not easily impressed I blew them all off waiting for the real and better ones. Those *were* the real and better ones. Oops. Better luck next time huh? I’ll explain them to you since I have no pictures… They look like huge fake dinosaurs. There.
After the crater I went and stood on a corner in Winslow Arizona. I felt pretty solid while doing it so I don’t consider it a waste of time.
Next I drove the wrong way for a long time. I took route 77 thinking that was where the Petrified Forest was. After not seeing any signs I turned back and went the right way by following the actual signage. I like how all these routes simply go where they go. There’s no confusing it for a different route, it’s just hundreds of miles through nothing with no turns or anything like that to confuse you. There is the occasional stop sign at the end but I’m stop sign savvy now, so it’s cool.
The Petrified Forest National Park is huge. I spent most of the day there driving about and taking pictures. What an incredible place to see. Just awesome. The wood of the trees looks like rock with beautiful colors all throughout it. Fantastic. There are “forests” throughout the park with this “stone” wood lying about. It’s prettier close up. The first place we parked had a trail so I brought Jim along to enjoy the walk amongst these old natural ruins. He wasn’t as impressed as I was and just wanted to hunt but at least he didn’t pee on any of the trees. Good boy. However, I forgot he doesn’t wear shoes and by the end of the walk he was freaking out a little and looking pathetic. Oops. Since I left his boots at the pearl I am going to get him some more tomorrow. I put my bare foot down on the cement and I am surprised he made it as long as he did to be honest. Stoic little bastard. From then on he happily stayed in the car while I ran about and took pictures of everything. Flickr man, seriously!! About 3/4 of the way through I had filled my memory card and ended up turning the backseat of the truck into a little office. Out came the laptop and in went the pictures. I lounged on Jim’s bed while I waited. It was very efficient and relaxing. Anyway, The Painted Desert is also in the park and again, wow. I spent the whole time just getting over what I was seeing to again not believe what I was seeing. Totally and completely worth every second of my time. When you first pull in and pay the person at the booth ($10, not bad) you are given a little slip of paper telling you what is not allowed. It also expected that you will tattle if you see anyone else breaking said rules. Now I am not usually the type to support contraband. Um, yes I am. Just kidding, I’m not. I am. Okay, I try not to. I don’t, I love it. No, in all dead seriousness it’s not okay. Maybe sometimes. Like when you are me and want something and no one is looking. Like maybe then. But otherwise, it’s not okay. Well, until it is again. It’s about the size of a nickel but it is what it is making me the master of contraband.
While driving about I saw Jasper Forest, The Blue Mesa and Newspaper Rock. I got you the best close up of Newspaper Rock that I could get. I had to use provided binoculars to see the rest of the drawings. All of these places kicked ass. The painted desert itself was all around as I drove through offering a spectacle of color and landscape that blew me away. A couple of times I ended up at turnoffs with people and twice I traded taking someone’s picture if they took mine. I try to speak with the older couples or the single person as speaking with most families can get a little hectic. I am still horrified at what most people think is a decent family vacation. They don’t look like they’re having fun and I often wonder why they do it. You know that schlep saved up all year so they could all be tortured and miserable. Blech.
Just as I was leaving the park it started raining. Driving in the rain is boring as hell and the Beasties stepped up to plate today to rock me back to route 40 and out of the rain. The perfect ending to the perfect day. Ahhh...
So now I am back in NM. I was going to stop in Gallup for the night but I wasn’t very impressed with the place. I’m going to just figure out the pow wow stuff online some time soon since Gallup is not what I want to wake up to. It’s basically angry Navajos and hitchhikers. Lot’s of reservation area. Oh yeah, and they don’t have a PetCo? WTF is that? The sooner we find a PetCo (Petsmart, whatever, who cares) the sooner James has protection for his delicate feet. I kept going until I almost killed us and then thought that was a good sign that we should settle in somewhere. I don’t know if you can appreciate taking pictures while barreling down the highway. Sometimes I just don’t want to stop and I take a chance while hoping for the best. It’s even harder when texting at the same time. I am a multitasking genius until I get sleepy. Then I am just an erratic driver that should get a room at the next exit. We’re at Grants, NM for the night all tucked in tight. We spent a little while walking about and actually scared up a mouse. Jim gets so insane over the idea of prey that he completely loses it and runs about like a maniac with this scary crazy look in his eye. I tried keeping track of the mouse but we lost it due to Jim’s lack of focus and the tendency mice have to go underground. Bummer. I have a plan for the next time though so whatever runs out in front of us in the future is a goner.
Enjoy the pictures and I’ll see you soon.
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