October 12 to October 18, 2002

Saturday October 12:

I went online early and did the normal  business that has not been done for 2 weeks.  Claire found a special event taking place in nearby Camp Verde, 16 miles away, so we drove there in mid morning and parked along the road.  Parking was quite crowded due to the special event.  My left calf  was quite cramped and painful, so I elected to remain in the RV and work on the webpage while Claire did the town on her bike.  I  guess the South Kaibab trail climb is making it's effects known two days delayed, but I really needed the time to finish all the web page stuff I had neglected while there was no chance of a connection to upload it.   Camp Verde days featured a wild burro and horse auction, in which animals captured from Federal lands were put up for "adoption" by the highest bidder, with final approval of the adoption depending on satisfactory checks on the animal's care and condition for the first year.  Claire enjoyed barbecue sold by the local Lions Club. We finished the left over pot pie for dinner, then returned to Walmart in Cottonwood for the night.  Claire put on the Pilates tape while I wrapped up the webpages for upload early in the morning.

Sunday October 13:

Arose at 4:30AM, uploaded webpages, sent email; By the time it was finished, 15 megs of data had been sent, two full one hour charges of the phone battery were required, and it was 11AM, BUT the webpage was fully caught up to date on both the mirror and main site.  We left for Winslow via Sedona, fueling with 87 octane gas at Giant on the way out.  Only when leaving there did we notice they had an RV dump station, but we were too late getting started to want to take time to dump.  If we had noticed a day earlier, we would have planned to use it.  The drive through Sedona was beautiful, but it was busy with an art festival.

  We enjoyed the view and proceeded through town snapping pictures through the bugs on the windshield, as there seemed to be few places to park the RV.

I was amazed that the color and architectural style of the buildings in town all seemed similar.  I wonder if this might be a tightly zoned community.  It is attractive to look at, but might be not be as easy a place to live.  Further along the highway in the Coconino National Forest land there were turn offs and we stopped frequently to try and capture the impressive scenery.  

Before we knew it we had climbed back up above 6000 ft on the frequent 15 mph switchbacks the road made on the way back up onto the Colorado plateau. The scenery was gorgeous.   

The road was quite NARROW for the RV;  I felt kind of bad for Claire who was working hard with the driving so I could take pictures.  

We arrived back in Flagstaff and decided to stop at Sam's Club as it was just off our I-40 eastbound route.  We were surprised to see that the no overnight parking signs were not evident here, and several RV's were parked.  Our plans did not include a stop in Flagstaff this night, or we would have asked for permission to stay.  We bought some supplies, and downloaded weather information from the web that might help our drive to the north during the week.  Then we continued to Winslow, a FLAT town on 4850 ft high plateau, but the Walmart parking lot was filled with trucks and RVs, so we smiled and moved right in.  Dinner was macaroni and cheese, and we both noticed feeling a bit more tired than the three hours driving we had done would warrant; ahhh, we are back up high again!  :-)  We made sure we closed all the vents and windows before retiring, as it feels quite cool as soon as the sun starts to sink.

Monday October 14:

Awoke at 5AM to a cool feeling interior, but it was 58 outside and I added a jacket instead of starting the furnace; the rising sun would soon have us shedding layers of clothing rapidly.  The battery was at 70%, so there is ample computer time this morning for writing and trip planning.  The detailed trip planning has been taking a back seat to webpage work the last few days.  Now we just MUST do it or we will be in Santa Fe missing the side trips we want.  We tried at Walmart for a few things we wanted, but struck out again.  A very strange RV had parked next to us in the evening; it had started life as a Winnebago Brave, but now has a large addition to the overhang in the rear, and it looks as long behind the rear wheels as it is ahead of them.  It is largely lettered in red on a white background "Sunglasses", and in smaller letters "Gloves" and some other items. In great detail in still smaller print many of the owners religious beliefs are set forth.  Evidently he is selling sunglasses and other items.  The elderly gentleman we saw outside it had nothing to say, not even a return wave....  I watched it drive off porpoising through the Walmart parking lot; I do wonder how he handles it on the highway, with all the extra weight and wind surface in the rear.  We proceeded towards Petrified Forest National Park, and for the first time the computer routing totally let us down, and put us on a route that was really wrong and potentially dangerous.  We ended up on a gravel road on what I think was Indian reservation, with no clear way to get where we were going. We stopped, and while I tried to find the way, Claire decided we should just give up and retrace our route back to the highway without delay.  There was little chance we could successfully resist any attempt to board us by a band of  intruders in this isolated area, so I agreed.  The few buildings we had passed looked mighty disreputable.  We turned around in the road without getting any wheels off into the sand, and retraced the 6 miles we had come from the highway.  Eight miles ahead on I-40 we found an exit directly into the park; it really takes a computer to mess up that bad.  We should have checked, but the maps we have so often lack the local detail we have come to trust the computer mapping.  Petrified Forest is truly amazing.  This polished slice of a petrified log was on display in the park visitors center.

I can understand why the Park Service has taken such a hard stand against people removing ANYTHING from the park!  The route through the park took us first to the painted desert.  I was eager to see petrified wood, but this colored scenery was interesting and beautiful.

Each overlook area seemed to have it's "Raven in charge", quite tame and undoubtedly hoping for an illegal handout.

 I've gotten a bit too close for this guy's comfort now.... We stopped to look at the remains of Indian dwellings occupied from 1250-1300 AD.  

This site brought us our first up close and personal view of petroglyphs, artwork scratched into the "desert varnish" coating on the rocks by ancient peoples;  

It was an eerie feeling seeing the sketches done in this very place by people who lived 600 to 800 years ago; the only thing separating us is time.  Yes, a LOT of time, but still, only time separates us. The subjects were things important to the artist; animals, people, and religious symbols, some of which are known among the tribes today, some the meaning has been lost. Natural and man made forces threaten these images.  Oils from people's hands damage the images when they are touched, and natural erosion and resultant collapse of cliffs covers up some, such as the well known "Newspaper Rock" which collapsed in recent years covering most of the petroglyphs that were displayed there.  We moved down the road through an area filled with structures known as teepees.  These structures form through erosion of layered sediment that erodes at different rates.  

I see similarity to the way the structures form at Bryce Canyon, but these are formed in a different area and take different shapes.  We see our first petrified wood; I was marvelling at the color of the object, before I realized what it was.

The petrified logs lay on top of the sand where erosion has exposed them, but were too far from the permitted trail to touch.  I was a bit disappointed that I could not touch the petrified logs, but this pretty little desert flower was a good consolation...

We were running short of time if we wanted to get to Gallup NM for the night as planned; we drove directly to the south end of the park intending to see the long logs area; it was closed for construction.  As we needed to retrace our 23 mile passage thrum the park to return to I-40, we returned to the Crystal Forest area, and I was awestruck!  There were so many petrified logs laying around it looked like our town dump tree disposal area (when we still had a town dump).  

The colors, you must realize, are of the mineral that replaced the wood; yet from the color of some logs, along with their wood grain texture,  it looks like you could use it in your campfire.

Do be careful with that first swing of the splitting maul though, AND you'll need one heck of a match!.  :-)  This stuff is truly awesome;  it's hard to comprehend that we are in the desert looking at and touching trees that lived 225 million years ago in a Triassic geologic period flood plane....

With so many of the logs being cleanly cut into fireplace length logs, at first I thought it must have been one TUFF chain saw that cut them..... :-)

But then the literature revealed that the breakage is due to the natural forces occurring as the petrified logs are pushed through different soil layers during the formation of the earth's surface here as it is today.   We saw as much as we could in this park in half a day, and pushed on to New Mexico.  We found I-40 under construction in NM, running single lane traffic for over 10 miles, and the New Mexico Visitors Information center on this section of highway was closed.  We were disappointed, as we wanted to pick good places to stop and see in the next few days, but we continued on to Gallop and stopped at the Super Walmart.  There were a number of RV's here, so we selected an open spot among them, far away from the store.  Before we even got the engine shut off, we were approached by a man looking for "change" to get him to Phoenix.  I was a bit concerned about what he might do if we refused and made him angry, so handed him something and he went away apparently grateful.  Although exhausted, we prepared dinner and decided we needed a day off; Claire wanted to try squash candy, and prepared the squash while I washed up the dishes.  A couple soft knocks came on the door and windows; I asked who was there, received no answer, so opened the small window curtain a crack.  There appeared a very disheveled face asking for help, and offering a bandless watch.  I waved " No, No", and closed the shade.  NO WAY was I opening that door at night in this area!!  We discussed moving to another town, but it was dark and our things were pretty unsettled for travelling.  We instead finished cleaning up a bit, and moved the RV to a parking place in plain view of the Walmart store, with the door facing the store.  On the way, I braked hard once and caused a spill of the squash soaking in baking soda water.  :-(  We were over ready for sleep this night, and received no further interruptions.

Tuesday October 15:

I awoke at 6:00AM, to find it COLD inside and 40 outside.  I started the furnace and went back to bed.  By 6:30 it was toasty, so I uploaded new map data for this area into the GPS unit;  we could have used that yesterday.  After updating the log, I downloaded the pictures from yesterday into the computer.  We do not plan to spend ANOTHER night here;  there is another Walmart an hour's drive away after we get our shopping and candy making done. Claire started cooking the candy.   Matt called, an unusual event on weekdays;  they lost the only key they had to our Dodge Spirit parked on BC's parking lot.  I suggested that he contact a Dodge dealer with the VIN and try to get a key made.  He suggested that I mail a key to him.  I gathered up a key and his mailing address, and called back to suggest he call our Coachnet road service and see if they could help.  I went in to Walmart to see where I could overnight mail the key.  They suggested mailboxes etc in the next door mall.  I walked there, was asked for change by a young man who appeared from behind a large rock as I  crossed an open field between the mall properties on a path, and for $25 I overnight mailed a key to Matt. As BC is charging $10/day for parking in lieu of towing the car, I think the overnight fee is justified.  I returned to Walmart's via the longer road route.  Claire went into Walmart's while I watched the candy simmer in syrup and listened to music on the radio.  She returned two hours later with a couple pairs of jeans for me, and a report that the real Navajo code talkers were signing copies of the newly released DVD movie in Walmart's.  I needed to return a pair of jeans that did not fit, so decided to wait in line and meet them.

 The Navajo lady waiting behind me sporting a "Retired" sweatshirt actually had gone to school with some of them, and as I remarked that they looked young for WW2 vets, she said most had been in their teens when they served.  She was flabbergasted that they had actually become so famous.  I was interested in the local chat between her and her friends about their activities.  One younger lady played in a band that was marching in Tuba City, AZ over 100 miles away this next weekend, and also mentioned that she was making a dress for a wedding and was a bit concerned about the cost of the chiffon fabric she wanted;  she would need 2.5 yards at over $4 a yard.  The meaning of a dollar is much different here in this area than most of us are familiar with.  I remarked to one of the code talkers that I hoped he made BIG BUCKS for his writers cramp signing the movie covers;  he returned that the organization had so far made $5000, but they hope to negotiate for more.  Methinks they may be selling their names too cheaply.....but anyway, they sure do draw a crowd in this largely Navajo community.  I felt honored to shake their hands, and the  pride in their accomplishment and the fame must be a help to their community.  After I found my replacement jeans, I returned to find the candy finished and cooling on the stove cover, and the dishes almost done.  

Claire went out to gather the recently washed plastic anti-rattle foam sheets that had been drying under the wipers on the windshield (so we would not drive off and forget them).  She came in reporting a crack in the right windshield down low.  I looked, it was quarter sized and appeared as though a rock had hit it.  Claire said she had heard a  hard ding while driving the interstate yesterday.  We started out, and less than 10 miles on our way the crack suddenly ran 10 inches up and toward the right side of the windshield.  I guess we have another problem to solve.... :-(     We crossed the continental divide at 7224 ft elevation, and soon arrived in Grant where we found a new looking and handsomely decorated New Mexico information station run jointly by the park service and forest service.  This was quite welcome, after we had missed the one at the state line. The information we gather at these info stations is essential to our enjoyment of an area, as we have little else to guide us to points of interest along our route.  The ranger was quite informative; the town had been built to construct the railroad over the continental divide, and now is the main corridor for the southern route of the transcontinental railroads, the major winter transcontinental route.  We saw two long trains running on separate tracks about 5 miles apart when we approached the town.  I got no definite answer when  I inquired as to the major industry here now, as there did not seem to be a railroad terminal here.  There was a small petroleum refining operation nearby, but it cannot employ many.  The ranger did say finding employment was a problem....but the area is very beautiful.  It is high; the Grant Walmart sits at 6400 ft elevation.  I am quite surprised to hear in the local political ads on TV that New Mexico has the lowest per capita income in the nation. I'm sure that goes a long way to explain the panhandling we have not experienced elsewhere in our travels.   I am impressed by the appearance of this Walmart, and although we are careful to park in the middle of the lot near the store, there are no loiterers and it does not appear we will have the problems of the night before.  We bought a container to replace the cheap plastic bowl that had cracked and leaked as Claire lifted it full of squash and water while making candy; we were very lucky that had not created another disaster, as it had cracked only two feet from the laptop computer sitting on the dinette table; so much for Christmas Tree Shop plastic... :-(   The new container is Rubbermaid, flexible, and will do double duty as a storage container, as it has a cover.  Yes, it did cost eight times as much, and yes, it IS worth the difference.  :-)  We stored the finished  squash candy that had travelled today exposed on the Coriane stove countertop in it, and then Claire could prepare a brisket pot roast in the pressure cooker that turned out tender and delicious, despite her warnings that it might be tough. :-)  We watched an hour of TV, then Claire announced she would do Pilates exercises, as I announced I was turning in....my leg calves are still a bit tender, so I elect once more to pass on the Pilates.  :-((

Wednesday October 16:

Awoke at 4:30, and started the furnace.  The battery had 68% capacity remaining, even after watching TV and running the Pilates tape, so the benefits of daily driving are apparent.  The temperature under the RV has not gone below 45 degrees, although the forecast called for 35.  The ground heats up a  lot during the 65 degree sunny days, and it gives that heat up overnight to keep the RV underbelly well above air temperature.  Today we will travel to Albuquerque, visit Petroglyph National Monument, and after refueling at Flying J, hopefully stay overnight there as well.  Claire went to buy a few more things at Walmart while I called our Coachnet road service to discuss options on fixing our windshield.  They recommended we have it replaced by ordering the windshield from the National RV dealer in Yuma, and having the work done by a glass shop in Yuma. They also warned about a possibility of leaks through the crack around the sealant in heavy rain.  Stupidly, I do not have our insurance policy with us, so am unsure of the deductible on our comprehensive. The driving was pleasant on this sunny morning; even Purry thought so....  :-)

We stopped at the Flying J on the way to the Petroglyph National Monument.  It was the usual full service facility with dump, but BUSY!  We could not find a proper RV parking place, as they were all occupied by cars.  We had lunch along the side of their parking lot, then went on to Petroglyph National Monument's Boca Negra Canyon.  The broad untravelled parkway to the park had "icon" signs indicating no trucks over 5 tons; oh well, our license says "Camper".... :-)  The ranger at the park jumped out of his office and urgently directed us away from the main parking area into a side area that was marked "RV's and oversized vehicles".  We were the only ones parked here and it looked like few visitors were on hand today.  The number of petroglyphs preserved on these lava rocks is amazing!  Over 12000 have been cataloged.  Only a few can be shown here.  :-) This one is recognizably a cat...

Most are on warmer Southeast facing sheltered locations; perhaps the folks who wintered here long ago got bored and sought something to pass the time while they soaked up the warm sun's rays? This elaborate sketch of a Macaw parrot sure beats anything I can do with my modern push button pencil.  They scratched or pecked on rock...with???

This rock with some older solid style artwork has a broken corner;

NOTHING lasts forever....  :-(   We tired of walking in the warm sun much sooner than I thought we should, but the sign had said over 5000 ft; it's that altitude again....  This view of the expanding city of Albuquerque from the mile high hilltop is revealing.

New construction has reached the road that marks the park boundary.  The park designation has been absolutely essential to prevent bulldozers from burying the artifacts here.   The crosses in this picture are interesting;  since the left one is enclosed, it is a prehistoric symbol.

 Hispanic shepherds also left Christian crosses here, at later dates, but they are not enclosed, such as the smaller one on the lower right. We spent a few hours recovering in the RV in the park's parking lot.  Purry got a walk, but preferred the shade of the RV to the warm sun, and Claire soon brought him in and started dinner preparations.  Matt called, it was  5 PM there and he had not received the key we sent overnight, even though someone had been there all day; I had been told it would be delivered before 10:30AM...grrrr!  I gave him the tracking numbers and requested he call to track it.  We started the short trip back to the Flying J, and on the way Matt called that he had received the key.  Our cellphone does not get used often other than on weekends, but we are quite glad we have it at times like this!  :-)  On arriving at the Flying J we could not make the turn from the street into the RV fuel line, too many RV's waiting.  We turned around in the truck entrance and waited in the shorter car line.  As is often the case, we had to re-enter our credit card twice to fill the tank, as most car pumps cut off at $50.  Claire requested permission to stay overnight which was readily granted, and we moved to fill propane.  I am always amazed at the labor the low dollar ($8.39 this time) propane sale requires, and often do wonder why stations carry it.  This one does have a $5 minimum charge for any propane, quite reasonable in my opinion. We moved to a level, two car parking spot, as all the RV spots were taken by cars.  The windshield crack had continued to run, growing by an inch or more today;   I decided to call our insurance company and discuss the problem, and Flying J had nice indoor pay phones I could use for the 800 number call, saving our cellphone minutes.  :-)  I was pleasantly surprise that the windshield would be replaced at no charge, and the insurance company had a special RV glass claims adjustment service that was most accommodating.  I provided the etched part number from the windshield, and my cellphone number; they will order the part shipped to their servicing glass shop in Yuma, and we will have the windshield replaced before we leave Yuma in the place of our choice by a mobile service unit that will come to us.  Sometimes things DO work out....  :-)    We watched a LOT of TV before the evening was done......but sleep did come easily again.

Thursday October 17:

I was awakened by the blast of a BIG air horn at 6:30; it sounded like a reveille horn in a factory town, but I do not know what it was; it could have been a mean truck driver too, or maybe even a train?.  :-)  It is late for me to get up, the price of TV watching; I'm glad for the alarm. The cats are out of crunchy dry food, I fix that so hopefully Claire can sleep longer. It is not so cool that I need the furnace, just a jacket.  I resent the electric power the furnace uses more than the propane, especially today as the battery is only 60% charged.  The other thing, as soon as the sun comes up we will need use power to run the fan to cool us off.  This high desert weather is something to get used to...  :-)  I write the current happenings and welcome the first warming rays of the sun; later, I'll be hiding from them.  We bought a tire checking "hickory stick" at Flying J.  It is often used by truckers, and resembles a Billy club in appearance.   It rebounds off a full tire with a characteristic bounce; under inflated tires bounce in a noticeably different way.  This should make our tire checks easier and more frequent.  After dumping and pulling through the gas line again to fill water, we departed for Santa Fe, stopping on the way at the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center. This turned out to be a pleasant collection of shops in a handsomely decorated, mural covered building.  

We browsed extensively but mostly deferred buying until we had seen the Santa Fe market; we will return through here on the way south. The weather was showery, a better day for driving than anything else.  Even in the rain, there are interesting things to see; can you guess there the Rio Grand river flows?

The cottonwood trees, now colorful in their autumn finery, grow along the riverbanks, clearly revealing the presence of water; the drier land is left to smaller desert plants.  We found a Tourist Information Station on I-25 as we approached Santa Fe, and we stopped.  They said there was a parking lot downtown that MIGHT take our RV, but their limit was usually 30 ft.  They suggested parking at Walmart and taking a city bus down town.  :-))))  As it was early afternoon and the day was not useful for much else, we decided to drive to the parking lot, and see how far it would be to bike down there from Walmart.  The old town streets are narrow, and the driving is not easy, but we find the Walmart is a bikeable 4 miles away, and find a spot in their parking lot for the night.  Since it is early, I decide to fix the overhead cabinet supports by gluing the overstressed holes, and re-drilling them.  Gluing can be done this evening; re-drilling must be done in the morning after the epoxy sets. The rain stopped for a while, and I removed the generator air cleaner to wash the prefilter, dry it, and reoil it.  Re-oiling must also await the morning, after drying is complete.  We plan an early start for the downtown parking lot in the morning, and I plan to finish these jobs before we depart.  Claire does Pilates while I work the web page.  Soon my drooping eyelids signal that it is time to retire.

 Friday October 18:

I awakened at 5:30, and started the furnace.  I returned to bed and slept until 6:30, when I drilled and reassembled the cabinet supports.  I was pleased to discover that the 300 watt inverter would power the drill nicely, after I realized I could not run the generator until I re-oiled the air cleaner, a job I wanted to do in daylight; so much for my planning....  We completed the chores and left for Old Santa Fe.  We were excluded from one lot, but they sent us around to what appeared to be the "Exit Only" from the same lot, where we could park all day until 7PM for $10.  It was well worth the price for the convenience of being able to return to the RV for lunch and rest breaks.  The day was cloudy and threatening showers, but Santa Fe looked interesting enough to risk getting a bit damp, and there were plenty of shops to duck into if it rained.

St Francis Cathedral is an imposing part of the usually low old Santa Fe skyline.

The interior is quite impressively decorated, but the alter had construction stages erected, thus the attractiveness was temporarily marred.  The old city is steeped in REALLY old historic buildings I was surprised to find in the west;  this governor's palace dating from 1610 is now a museum.

The patio area of the Governor's Palace is a market place for local artisans.

Some of the old buildings are converted to restaurants and stylish shops offering local crafts.  This one includes a pleasantly planted Spanish courtyard with tables to enjoy one's food.

Loretto Chapel with it's Miraculous Stairway is also quite prominent, towering over most other  old city buildings.

We did not enter, so cannot comment on the interior.  Of course there are many places to shop;  I gave up and returned to the RV long before Claire dropped; I could work on the webpage, and leave the shopping to her.  :-)  See, the local parking lot really WAS worth the fee.  :-)  We ate leftover dinner and finished the dishes before leaving for another overnight in the Walmart lot.

PLANS:

We will move to see Bandolier National Monument tomorrow, then let the weather determine when we move south; the next stormy weather is not forecast before Tuesday, so we should have that long to see the local places of interest before we move south to Alamagordo and El Paso, then west along the Mexican border to reach Yuma by Nov 15.  We need a week there to prepare for storage before flying home.

As always, ENJOY;  we are!  :-)