Petroglyph National Monument

I'm glad I got up early to see the petroglyphs. They were very interesting and I had a lovely mile hike to see several hundred ancient drawings. Some had been vandalized, shot at, scrapped off, added to, but the nicest ones were left unmolested.

From there, I headed to Santa Fe, to see an exhibit of land-inspired art at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art. Unfortunately, as cute and authentic as down town Santa Fe was, there was not parking lot, or double set of parking meters to be found in a mile radius. I drove around the place for an hour and a half, getting more and more frustrated as I found myself having to turn around in tiny parking lots and navigating single lane, two-way streets lined with parked cars. It was only 83 degrees outside, but the trailer was sitting stubbornly at 95 degrees, a temperature my cats would not be able to handle for very long if I had to walk more than a mile both ways. The parking-trek also ate all the time to actually see anything before the museum closed.

I finally gave up and am heading back to the 40 freeway. I would like to continue on Route 66, but I realize I now have to make better time than I have been. Onto the freeways then. I expect I will mostly be boondocking in casinos and Walmarts, not bothering to set up camp unless absolutely necessary. There are more road trips in Alice's future. This little two and a half month trip was just a test run.

Geography, Geology

Route 66 (dirt section) with bullet-ridden cars. We found pieces of meteorite in the dirt next to these cars. Meteor Crater, AZ

Route 66 (dirt section), with original bridge. We had to drive over that bridge to see the ruins of Two Guns. Two Guns, AZ

Crater from 50,000 year old meteor crash. Entrance to see this crater was somewhat expensive,
and it was too windy for the Ranger tour of the rim, but the museum was excellent and well worth it. Meteor Crater, AZ

Alice Avion, Windslow, AZ

Baby Jackrabbit, Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico

Jackrabbit, AZ

Alice somewhere on Route 66, in eastern Arizona. Those rocks are all sections of petrified trees.

Pieta with Petrified Tree, AZ

Over the New Mexico border, trying to make Albuquerque before night.

Once we arrived in Albuquerque, we began gallery hoping, Mexican food eating, and tourist shop cruising. J found a little antique shop with old citrus crates from Fullerton and La Verne, our home towns. Now, they are being hauled to Indiana!

My previous post mentioned he flew out of Albuquerque. From here on, I adventure alone (with cats).

Albuquerque

I just took J to the airport and have settled for the night. I started a new book ("Spiral Jetta"), despite not having finished the other two I was working on. Maybe it is because of all the art I have seen in the last few days. Maybe I just wanted to read a perspective of someone more like me. In the morning, I am going to Indian Petroglyph National Monument (a much older art exhibit), right when they open, then pick up Alice and the cats and head to Santa Fe, which should be cooler for them. There, I'll see a contemporary Native American artist museum before hitting the road. Dropping off J has brought into blaring light the fact it is time to get back to work, and I can start digesting this trip. I even dreamed last night if trying to winterize the trailer. What dread that will be! So with this new ticking clock in my head, I travel fast, hoping to make Indiana by Friday night or Saturday, though still seeing as much as I can. I feel I've had to shortchange the Southwest, and will have to do it again in a cooler season.

The wind is howling, the lightning flashes silently, the blinds flutter. It's time to drive.

P.S. I have many images to load, but this Casino Resort has a funny idea of what qualifies as WiFi. A weak, intermitent signal doesn't count in my book.

Sent from my iPhone