Holbrook, AZ-Albuquerque, NM (pop. 448,607)/N. Bernalillo, N.M.
Sign of the Day: "It’s a Great Day at KOA"

We decided on taking a KOA Kabin in Holbrook last night. The sky was threatening and the wind rough with cool temps. Forecasts all around the area were for cool temperatures day/night and possible rain. This cool weather is about a month early, the KOA manager tells us. Arriving at the KOA at 6:30 p.m. we unpacked some of our things and settled in the cabin. This particular KOA serves a small menu for dinner, hamburgers/cheeseburgers, hotdogs, chicken and steak, cooked in the courtyard by the owner’s son and another employee. They also offer a $1.99 pancake breakfast from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. We all opt for a burger, beans and potato salad. Linda talked about making chili tonight but the KOA dinner worked out much better. We were all tired after a long, cold and rainy ride today. The moon is hazy when we arrive, but by 10:00 p.m. the sky has cleared and the stars are the brightest they have been since we left Chicago October 1.

Pulling away from the friendly folks at the Holbrook KOA we get on 40E and head back 4 miles to the Petrified Forest National Park. Linda and I drove the 28 miles of the Forest in 2000 when coming through Arizona on Route 66. We learn from the tour book that in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside selected forests as Petrified Forest National Monument and in 1932, 53, 200 or more acres as Painted Desert were bought and added to the monument. In 1962, the monument became a national park, and in 1972, 50,000 acres in the park became the first designated wilderness of the National Park System.

This is a beautiful drive with varied landscape and scenery. A few miles into the forest we stop at an overlook, the Crystal Forest and Trail. Pat and I walk the 0.8 mile paved trail. On either side of the trail are colorful petrified logs that once held glassy amethyst and quarts crystals. They do not look like wood. Rather, the silt, mud and volcanic ash washed over the logs causing them to resemble rock. It’s hard to imagine that human life could once have inhabited these parts. Today "washes" are dry and the vegetation doesn’t appear as though it was ever edible. The Puerco Pueblo was occupied twice, though, from 1100-1200 and 1300-1400. When Spanish explorers arrived in 1540, they found no one. Ancient petroglyphs can be found near Puerco Pueblo and throughout the park. You can see them through spotting scopes at Newspaper Rock overlook.

The park brochure describes the area as a "high, dry tableland that was once a vast floodplain crossed by many streams. Tall, stately pine-like trees grew along the headwaters." The trees fell and were washed by streams into the flood plans. The logs were covered by silt, mud and volcanic ash and this blanket of deposits cut off oxygen, slowing the decay of the logs. Silica-laden ground water seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Through this process the silica crystallized into quartz and the logs were preserved as Petrified Forest. Two hundred twenty five million years ago in the Late Triassic Period there were crocodile-like reptiles, giant amphibians, and small dinosaurs living here.

There are picnic shelters in the park but no camping, except in the backcountry, with a permit. There are three visitor’s centers, a Fred Harvey restaurant/gift shop, the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark and Rainbow Forest Museum.

Most Baby Boomers would remember the name Fred Harvey if they traveled with the family by car during the 1950s-1960s. When the Fred Harvey Company officially took over management of the Painted Desert Inn at the Petrified Forest in 1947, Harvey envisioned his restaurants as being "the most refined in the West." Initially he hired "rowdy boys" as waiters and soon found they didn’t fit the image he wanted to portray. He then placed a newspaper ad looking for a more "civil group of people;" namely, "young, unmarried women" to work for him. Responding to the ads, many girls were looking for the "adventure, freedom and excitement" they thought the job would offer. These women "stood on the foundation that Harvey built," reads the park newspaper.

Before leaving the visitor’s center a truck with Pennsylvania plates pulled up beside our rig, "You’re from Indiana. I didn’t think anybody was from Indiana," he says to Linda. Thinking he was from Indiana himself, we discover he and his wife in a rather beat up Sierra truck hauling a car packed to the gills are from PA. He asked about our sign on the car, where we were headed and if the dogs were retired racers. Linda tells him about our trip across Hwy 50 and fundraising for NDSDF. We hand him some information. He shares with us some highlights about old Gallup, N.M.

"Richardson’s," he says, "you’ve got to stop at Richardson’s. It’s an old store with everything from Indian rugs, turquoise jewelry and antiques. The owner is Bill Richardson. He’s 86 years old and he can tell you everything you want to know about Gallup, the Indians who live there and their crafts."

He tells us about the different Navajo rugs, made by local Indians; that they range from $200 to $21,000 and that you need an escort into the back room to look at them. "Some turquoise belts are as high as $7,000" he tells us, but the things in Richardson’s range from in expensive to expensive, he assures us. "Some of the artists are there on site," he continues, describing them to us. "You can talk to them. If you want to buy jewelry or rugs right from the Indians and save money, I can give you a name and phone number of a woman whose mother makes some of this stuff and you can buy it right from her, direct. If not for his wife, we’d still be talking to this kind, informative stranger.

I’m at the wheel when we approach Gallup, N.M. I pull off at exit 16 and go through the old historic downtown area. My traveling partners aren’t interested in stopping at Richardson’s so I regretfully forego this New Mexico relic. We stop for gas and more coffee to keep alert and we’re on our way back to 40E headed for Albuquerque.

Although some would classify our Hwy 50 trip a "vacation," it’s been a working vacation, in more ways than one. The fun of Rving and camping is really when you are not in a hurry and you can spend more then one night somewhere. Setting up and breaking down our campsite, although not "hard," is time consuming and "work." Continually re-arranging and tidying up the car is work, as is doing the laundry, making meals, washing dishes and forever searching for yet, another misplaced item.

Writing is also work, and the best writing is done when one isn’t rushed. Looking for Internet ports can also become a chore. All of the above tasks are more easily tolerated when time is not in short supply.

There’s much to do in Arizona during the fall, reports the Northern Arizona News Bureau Travel News. Some of the things you can experience in the Rocks Communities include:

Flagstaff: The 10^th Annual Northern AZ Toys for Tots Bed Race in Flagstaff, Autumnal Equinox, The Ralleye Arizona 500 Car Rally, and Fiesta Days. The Bed Race features a bed race parade, collegiate bathtub race, king and queen contest, marching band contest, classic car show and 5K and 10K runs.

Williams: Grand Canyon by Train, Cruise the Loop-Route 66 (car events in Williams), and Stroll the Mother Road (walk along historic Williams district).

Page/Lake Powell: Slip into the Slots (hiking the slot canyons and red rock country), Bull riding, an Octoberfest celebration for motorcycles sponsored by the Modified Motorcycle Assn. Of Arizona and The Americans Motorcycle Club, a Pumpkin Fest and Hot Air Balloons (November).

The population of Albuquerque seems much larger than 448,607. At least that’s what 4:30 p.m. traffic would tell us. Mall after mall has come to poor Albuquerque. We’re saddened, but that’s progress, I guess??

We set up camp and Linda and I go into town to find a supermarket for something for dinner. We’ve got our hearts set on steak (we are in beef country), and after perusing a local super mart decide to head for Raleys (the big one-stop-shop vendor in these parts) and find our steak and potatoes. Linda cooks them on the grill and they taste pretty good. We’re all very tired tonight and will probably sleep pretty well.