Road Trip - day 8 part 1 - Saturday

Argh! I wrote most of Saturday's adventures while Deb drove, but in an
effort to relieve my burgeoning mailbox, I fear I deleted it! Here we go
again!

Deb jumped out of bed and into the shower at 7:45 and I finally got the
inspiration to get out of bed after some darling child rode his
skateboard around the upper deck of the motel (where ARE the parents of
these kids!?) I looked out the window to find that it was snowing pretty
good outside. We got ready and stopped by the "hot" continental
breakfast, but the room it was in was wall to wall people. We didn't
feel like fighting our way in so we opted for some McD's instead.
I should mention before I forget, that apparently much of the highway
here used to be Route 66. Every little gift shop has books and souvenirs
of it. They appear to be very proud of their Route 66 out here!
We started out East on I-40 to find the Petrified Forest / Painted
Desert National Park. It took us about 1-1/2 hours to get to Holbrook
where we exited to start the park from the southern end. The snow had
quit not long after we left Flagstaff but we were peppered with a little
rain now and again.
Once in the park you are immediately treated to mile and miles of fallen
petrified trees. Partway through the park is a large tree that had
fallen creating a natural bridge across a ravine. As you move further
north the instances of petrified trees diminishes but the painted desert
becomes more prevelant. The Painted Desert seems to be hills worn away
by water and weather to reveal many different layers of rock, each with
distinct coloring. As we headed north the rain got progressively heavier
and heavier each time we stopped.
At the northern end of the park was another visitors center (all the
National Park venues are still run by the Fred Harvey company) and this
one had a little cafe, of which we've become wary, but as we were
famished, we took a chance. Hunger may have played a part in it but we
thought the food, as well as the service was very good. The staff were
probably all Hopi Indians but much more pleasant than the Navajo's we've
run into the last couple of days (and I don't mean that Navajo's aren't
nice, but they are a bit standoffish, and put me in mind of our Amish
folks back home.)
Rather than take the highway back to Flagstaff, and more highway south
to Phoenix, we opted for a smaller road that crossed the mountains on a
more direct route into the Phoenix area. The route started to climb and
we eventually got to over 7,500 feet, along with lots of snow and fog.
Once again Deb was driving but she took it easy and soon we were coming
down out of the mountains and into Page. We climbed once again but not
nearly as high, weaving our way around mountains. As we started down the
other side we were treated to forests of Saguaro cactus (the tall ones
that often look like they're "flipping you off") surrounded by little
yellow wildflowers. We soon started to notice Prickley Pear, Mesquete,
and Chollo Cactus as well.
Deb had remarked during our journey that she had expected Arizona to be
all dirt desert and cactus, and rather flat. I have to admit, although
lived there for 4-1/2 years, I'd forgotten how scenic it could be.
As we got into Scottsdale (NE of Phoenix) I was finally able to get an
internet connection, I looked up a favorite restaurant from my
childhood, Pinnacle Peak.

To be continued...

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