Travels with Debbie and Vince

Sunday, September 23, 2012

The Petrified Forest & Painted Desert National Parks

We are at the KOA in Holbrook, Arizona just for a short two day stay to see the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks. This is just a quick stop on our way to the Grand Canyon South Rim. We went to the auto races at Thunder Valley Speedway in Show Low last night. We saw 2 classes, the Budweiser Modifieds and the Dwarf cars. They also had a demolition derby. It was fun.
The petrified logs came about as follows: trees were toppled by historic floods, they were washed away, became waterlogged and sunk to the bottom of an ancient ocean. Silt, volcanic ash and silica covered the logs for many centuries, turning them to stone. On trip through the Painted Desert, we stopped at the 1937 built Painted Desert Inn, built by the Fred Harvey Company. It is still in great shape, now preserved by the National Park Service.

Our campsite at the KOA in Holbrook, AZ.

The famous Tee Pee Motel on Route 66 in Holbrook, Az.

Debbie with petrified trees

A large petrified tree fell over these rocks

Great colors

The base of a tree that they call "Old Faithful."

The Painted Desert Inn


One of the original 1937 wall paintings inside the inn

Layers of different grays, lavender, and brown in the Painted Desert

Reds, greens and browns

Millions of years of deposits and erosion

Nature's beauty

Centuries of layers followed by centuries of water and wind erosion

The remains of Puerco Pueblo

The Kiva at Puerco Pueblo

Ancient drawings left by the Puerco Indians

Say "Hello" to my little friend

Petrified wood that nature's chemicals turned to quartz

Debbie with a head of an ancient giant reptile similar to a crocodile

Thursday, September 20, 2012

La Ventana Natural Arch

We took a drive back into El Malpais National Monument today, this time down the west side. We stopped and took the trail to La Ventana Natural Arch. Then we drove up a dirt road to the top of the Sandstone Overlook. You could see for many miles. On the way back to our campground, we stopped by the 1937-1939 homestead of the Garrett family, which is about 20 miles from the closes city, Grants. There were two Park Rangers there restoring the mortar (dirt & mud) between the remaining adobe walls. They are not rebuilding the house, just fixing up what is still there.
Ranger Batik told us about the homesteaders in the area and harsh climate they encountered. While speaking he said that he was originally from Ohio. So, since Debbie is from Elyria, Ohio, we asked him where he was from. He is also from Elyria, Ohio and graduated Elyria High School too, but 15 years after Debbie. His father also worked in the U.S. Steel Mill too, just like Debbie's father. Small world!

La Ventana Natural Arch

The 1937-1939 Garrett Homestead

Miles of high desert

A view from La Ventana Natural Arch

Can you see the Horned Lizard?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

El Morro & El Malpais National Monuments, New Mexico

We are in Grants, New Mexico for 4 days. We arrived here after getting our hot water heater repaired on Tuesday morning at Traveltown RV in Sante Fe.
El Morro (The Headlands) is a huge stone monolith that rises out of the desert. This large rock formation was on one of the wagon trail routes the pioneers used when heading west. On the stone walls, passerby's made petroglyphs by carving their names and the date in the rock. Some left messages for us to read. One interesting message was left by the first Spanish Governor assigned by Spain's King to oversee this Spanish colony. He left his name and message in 1605, 15 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. Many Spainards wrote "Paso por aqui" which means "passed this way" followed by their name and date. There are also some petroglyphs left by native Indians from 1000-1500 years ago. There is a small pond there, made from rain and snow melt. It lasts the entire spring, summer, and fall. We did not see any animals here, except a snake, but did see elk and deer tracks. We walked the 1.5 mile loop trail to see El Morro and the petroglyphs.

Approaching El Morro

Debbie reading some of the writings

Most of the carvings were 1850-1880

Petroglyphs left by the ancient Indians 1000-1500 years ago

carvings of big horn sheep

Capt. R.H. Orton, 1st California Calvary, 1866

Run, Debbie, Run!

After El Morro we drove to El Malpais (Bad Land) National Monument and took a long trail to the top of Bandera Caldera, the top of a cinder cone volcano. It was hot, in the upper 80's. It was a long, about a mile, all uphill trail that was quite rewarding. We huffed and puffed all the way up, taking lots of breaks, but we made it.

We are headed to the top of that cinder cone

One of the many places we rested on the way up

A vent, half way up, spouted out hot lava

Almost there

A lava field

We made it to the top (click to see)

Afterwards we took a half mile trail to an ice cave. I was hot, in the upper 80's. Once we got there it was 70 steps down to a cave with a year round temperature of 31 degrees. (you'll notice that we have our jackets on) The water in the cave was frozen solid and there was a layer of what is called "arctic algae" on the ice. Then 70 steps back up and the trail to the parking area. We got a good cardio workout today!

The opening to the ice cave (the stairs are down below)

Debbie resting half way down the 70 stairs

See the green arctic algae on the frozen ice

A frozen waterfall

The view looking up out of the cave

Okay, it's time to get back up the stairs and back on the trail!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Chimayo & Santa Fe, New Mexico

We started the day going to Chimayo. We visited this small town known for its church, El Santuario de Chimayo. El Santuario has been called the "Lourdes of America". No one seems to know exactly how this came about. However, there are testimonies that the extraordinary has occurred. Fr. Sebastian Alvarez in his letter to the Episcopal See of Durango, dated November l6, l8l3, expressed his feelings of the people coming from afar to seek cures for their ailments and the spreading of the fame of their cures, induced many more faithful to come in pilgrimage. He did not mention any specific fact, but something was there. El Santuario has been a place of worship from the beginning - a place to pray, to thank, to ask, to meditate and to experience peace of mind as well as of body.
There are hundreds of crutches, braces and other medical devices left there by people who have been cured of their ailments. Unfortunately for you, there is a ban against taking photos, so you cannot see the inside of the church, the holy dirt, and the room full of photos and medical devices.

We then drove to Santa Fe and visited the state capitol building (the first that we have encountered that doesn't have the traditional dome) and another church, The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Then we did a lot of walking around the shopping area of Santa Fe, Debbie only buying a pink Santa Fe t-shirt. Note: the capitol building is more like an art museum. They have hundreds of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, etc. Six million dollars worth of art decorate the walls.