Hello All! I hope you are doing well. It has been about 6 months since my last blog post. Karla and I spent the winter and spring in Sedona, AZ enjoying time with friends and the for the most part nice weather. Of course, we flew back and forth for our quarterly medical visits. I am happy to report that while there have been challenges, Karla's health is steady.
On Friday, we packed up RVMakes3 and headed east. Our plan is to travel "The Mother Road" as much as reasonably possible. "The Mother Road" was derived by Federal Highway System Board Member Cyrus Avery, often called the Father of Route 66. Several significant migrations color history. For example, from 1828 to 1887, the U.S. government began a series of forced migrations that took American Indians off their native land and onto the Trail of Tears to walk to the Indian Territory.....a route that is now part of "The Mother Road".
As we cruised through Winslow, AZ, we paused at "The Corner". Karla (pic 1) was "standing on the corner in Winslow, AZ, what a fine site to see" (The Eagles "Take It Easy" released May 1, 1972). We followed that with a visit to La Posada Hotel (pic 2) to cool off for a bit. The La Posada Hotel - the Resting Place - embodies the vision of Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the hotel's renowned architect and Fred Harvey, an infamous hospitality entrepreneur. Built in the 1920s, the Hotel was to be the finest in the southwest. Winslow was chosen because the Arizona Headquarters of the Santa Fe Railroad was ideally situated for a resort hotel. You can visit www.laposada.org for more information.
Saturday began with a morning walk into the Petrified Forest National Park. On our mile stroll we encountered an antelope, snake, and porcupine.....all were quite a surprise. Later that morning in RVMakes3 we toured the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert. The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived about 225 million years ago. Beginning about 60 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau was pushed upward by tectonic forces and exposed to increased erosion. The park's rock layers have been removed by wind and water exposing the petrified wood. Petrified wood forms when fallen trees are buried in wet sediments saturated with dissolved minerals. The lack of oxygen slows decay of the wood, allowing minerals to replace cell walls. This process takes millions of years. In addition to petrified logs, fossils found in the park have included Late Triassic ferns, cycads, ginkgoes, and many other plants as well as fauna including giant reptiles called Phytosaurs, large amphibians, and early dinosaurs. . Phytosaurs, were likely the top aquatic predator and resembled and lived similar to modern crocodiles spanning over 17 feet in length (pic below).
Tomorrow we travel to Albuquerque, NM where we will boondock at a micro brewery (Harvest Host). We plan to travel "The Mother Road" as much as reasonably possible on our way there. We are looking forward to exploring Albuquerque and enjoying what it has to offer.
We look forward to seeing each and everyone of you soon. And, as always (we are) coming to a driveway near you! More to come. Take care!
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