Shooting through Arizona

On Thursday we left Albuquerque for a 350 mile drive to Sedona, Arizona.  Along the way we stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park, just on the southern edge of the Painted Desert.  There was a 45 minute film about the formation of the park, but the ranger informed us of a huge storm coming our way and we skipped the movie.

It was still sunny, but the wind was starting to whip fiercely.  We couldn't make Sedona before dark so we figured we'd try for Flagstaff.  Flagstaff was right in the storm's path, and at 7000 feet it was sure to get snow.  We were in a race against the storm so we didn't linger long... driving the 28 miles through and making a couple of stops was all we could spare.

The first thing you see in the park is a view of the painted desert.  It's a bunch of eroded earth with gorgeous multicolored stripes.  Something about layers of the Chinle Formation from a zillion years ago that were exposed as the surrounding materials eroded... I dunno, I was rushed.

Eventually you start seeing broken hunks of what look like trees.  What the?!?  We're in the desert!!  Well, a looong time ago the northeast chunk of Arizona was somewhere down around the equator, and somewhere around that time there was a lake covering it.  Then the lake went away and it became a plain.  Or maybe the plain came first?... whatever - streams on the plain carried silt and downed trees and other stuff which eventually got buried in more silt.  Minerals in the soil fossilized the trees and as the silt eroded, these fossilized logs popped out.

The thing that amazed me was how the logs were all broken up into chunks and were near each other, but somewhat scattered.  I guess that kindof thing's gonna happen after a million years of tectonic plates moving around causing a ruckus.  It was incredible how you could still make out the rings and the bark, as if it were still actual wood.

Right about now we started getting antsy about all the daylight we were burning, so we may have exceeded the posted speed limit exiting the park.  By the time we got back up to the interstate, you could see the big clouds rolling in from the left.  And we still had quite a few miles to go.

Luckily we got to Flagstaff before the storm - but after dark.  They were going to be getting a dumpload of snow and we didn't want to get stuck up there, so we pressed on to Sedona.  That drive was a real treat.  It began to rain, then it began sleet... we were on a two lane road, in the dark, with mountain curves and 6-8% grades, surrounded by tractor trailers and all their noise and spray... and my washer pump was broken.  Slow and steady won the race.

We stayed in a part of Sedona known as Oak Valley, at the Bell Rock Inn.  In the morning we saw that it had snowed quite a bit in the mountains.  I hiked Bell Rock years ago but it was too cold and wet to do it now.

I don't know what this rock is called but it was right outside the hotel and I loved the snow on it.

Sedona's absolutely gorgeous - perhaps better in sunshine, and when it's a little warmer - but it's kindof a funny place.  There's a lot of magnetic activity in the area and there seem to be a great many folks trying to capitalize on it... like this shop owner.

Look out for the crystal vortexes!!  I had trouble sleeping one night so I blamed them, but it was probably all the beer.

We found some great places to eat and there are tons of amazing hikes, so we hope to get back here in more favorable weather - maybe next spring or early fall.  After we get out of here we're going to make one more stop at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West in Scottsdale, then we're shooting on home.

White Sands and Snakes

On Tuesday morning we headed off toward Albuquerque NM, and on the way we stopped at White Sands National Monument.  Whenever I think of White Sands I always think of the missile testing range, but the national monument is a vast and gorgeous natural formation of snow white sand dunes.  We were lucky to get a visit in as the Missile Range had tests scheduled on Monday and Wednesday - which closes the monument AND the highway.

White Sands lies in a basin that's not connected to the ocean, so any gypsum in the rainwater ends up laying around on the surface.  Those crystals (aka selenite) are blown around all day long and they eventually get smashed down into a fine grain.  You can actually see the wind blowing them around, and they ripple across the dunes.

I was hoping to see some bleached earless lizards... but gypsum crystals do not hold heat well, so nobody was out warming themselves.  The dunes were cool to the touch, and don't get hot even in the summer months.  They also constantly change shape and position, often burying plants and anything else in their path.  Anna beat me in a race to the top of this one.

As we explored the wondrous dunes our ears were bombarded by the ridiculously loud rumble of military jets.  Turns out, right next door is Holloman AFB - home of the 49th Fighter Wing that flies the F-22 Raptor.  We watched them screaming across the sky, doing touch-and-go's, and flying in formation.  There was one flying super high and crazy fast - it appeared to be rolling and twisting and you could see the vapor appear and disappear as it went.  I was rapt.  My phone camera failed me miserably, so I stole this F-22 with wingtip vortices off the interweb...

After we left, while driving alongside the White Sands Missile Range on Route 70/54, a tank crossed the highway up ahead of us.  How often do you see that?  The driver looked really serious so I didn't stop for a picture.

The next day we hit Old Town Albuquerque... founded in 1706 by the Spanish, it's 8-10 blocks of adobe buildings centered around a square.  The architecture and colors were beautiful.

There were a lot of shops selling junk, but we found one cool non-profit shop selling goods produced by local elderly craftsman.  I can get behind supporting that kind of business.

We came upon this Christmas tree made of used water bottles.  Damn I hate those things!!  (the bottles, not the trees)  But I figured this was a nicer alternative to letting them collect in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch <EOR>

Passed by the Rattlesnake Museum, so being a pessimist I had to see what kindof crap they were peddling.  It's apparently the largest collection of different species of live rattlesnakes in the world.  There were poisonous creatures everywhere, and tortoises roaming free on the floor.  

We spent 20 minutes waiting for gold fish that was eating off the back of a snapping turtle's head to venture into it's mouth.  He never did.  Then we were entranced for hours by a presentation of David Attenborough's "Life in Cold Blood".  Turned out to be a fun visit.

Wow.  We've travelled 7300 miles in nearly 6 weeks, and our time is almost up.  In the morning we're kicking off the trek home with a big drive out to Sedona, Arizona.  But we've got a few more things we want to see along the way!

etc, etc... That's how we drive in Texas!!

Left Louisiana and headed to Marshall Texas.  While Marshall has some great BBQ, it has absolutely NO beer selection... after a long drive all I wanted was a locally made beer.  I drove to 4 supermarkets, 4 liquor stores and a pharmacy before finding a 6-pack of micro brew... a Real Ale Brewing Company variety pack.  It was tasty too.

From Marshall we popped up to Jefferson... a very cool little town about 15 minutes north.  The original draw was the historic buildings, such as this one...

But as it turned out there was also Kitt's Conbread Sandwich and Pie Shop that specialized in corn bread sandwiches... that's right, sandwiches with corn-bread instead of regular bread, you can do that!  They were awesome, and so was the key lime pie.  Jefferson seemed to be an antique shopper's paradise.

BIG Drive across Texas to Fort Worth to see the Hegerfelds.  Chris is an old friend from high school and it'd been 3 years or so since I'd seen him.  We really just wanted to see their dogs, and their awesome neighborhood that's packed with bunglalows.

Chris and Shannon took us to this awesome lunch place in Ft. Worth... it's an empty lot that got filled with a bunch of food trucks and picnic tables.  We had deelicious tacos and some local brew.  Then we headed down to The Stockyard, where they used to ship and process cattle, and where they now sell beer on the sidewalk.  Every day they walk these longhorns down the street to give folks a little show.

As we were leaving the Stockyard, there was a guy in a jeep next to us that was really antsy to get going.  He jammed on the gas, jumped the sidewalk and flew off the curb onto the road, spinning out and sticking his arm out the window making the "horns" formation with his hand.  At the stop light he leaned out, all smiling (and likely drunk), and yelled "SH*T YEAH!!!  That's how we DRIVE in Texas!!" and then peeled off.  Awesome.

We realized we are starting to run out of time, so we left Fort Worth and made another big drive all the way across to Carlsbad.  There's absolutely nothing out there but oil wells, tanker trucks, pumps, natural gas flaring, and the stink of all that.  It reeeeally smelled like crap out there and I thought the drive might never end.

Rolled into Carlsbad - a crap little town with very expensive hotels - and after looking at a "budget" hotel that was an absolute dump we found a historic bank building that had been converted to a hotel.  For some reason I was thinking we'd be in t-shirt and jeans weather, but it was COLD.  I needed a hat (since I shaved my head) and there was snow on our car in the morning.

Headed off in the morning to Carlsbad Caverns... totally different from Mammoth Cave but still incredible.  It didn't hurt that our tour only had 5 people.  Photos couldn't do it justice, you just have to see it yourself.  Here's an attempt at a shot of the "drapery" formations on the ceiling.

After the caverns we shot on over to Las Cruces - via El Paso - to get in a good position to visit White Sands in the morning.  El Paso is across the Rio Grand from Juarez Mexico, which you can see from the highway.  Both cities are complete and total dumps in my opinion, but Juarez is worse by a healthy margin on account of the whole cartel related killings part.

It's monday night and we just got back from a local brewery/restaurant - High Desert Brewing Company - and had an very good meal and some great beer.  The Pats were killing the Texans and I didn't have the heart/guts to announce to the crowd that I was a Massachusetts boy.  Turns out tonight is our anniversary!  Neither of us ever really knows quite what day it is.

To Cajun Country

After leaving the everglades we spent a night in Fort Myers and checked out Sanibel Island the next day.  Took a spin through the Ding Darling wildlife refuge hoping to see some more Roseate Spoonbills, but only saw some massive white pelicans. Lame. Ding Darling is dead to me now.

The next day we headed up to Crystal River where we kayaked with manatees!  We saw a mother and her calf swimming together, but the springs too crowded with people so we paddled out of there. Nearby we found a secluded spot with 4 manatees that were basking in the sun, and very quietly lingered a few feet away for about a 1/2 hour. Sadly, every manatee we saw had numerous scars and cuts - one had a nasty sawtooth'd tail.  We couldn't get any good shots of the animals, so I stole this one...

Spent the next day driving backroads through Alabama - there was a LOT of cotton being grown out there.  I had no idea.  This was one of the fields.

Around noon we stopped at Conecuh National Forest and talked to an old guy from Alaska named Jim.  He regaled us with tales of salmon runs, catching 20 pounds of shrimp in 10 minutes, and other ways of living off the land. We tried to go for a long hike but none of the trails were marked... we did find a large yellow bellied cooter (turtle) that was walking into the road, so I picked him up and carried him down to the water.  I love how they stick their feet out when they're loungin around.

That night we had amazing bbq - 7.99 for a 1/2 rack of perhaps the best ribs I've ever tasted!

Spent the next day driving Mississippi backroads this time.  So many of the towns in Mississippi and Alabama are hurting badly... most of the downtown retail spaces are empty, and at least one downtown was entirely deserted.  We stopped for lunch in Natchez - a beautiful town - and checked out the Mississippi river.

There was no real great place to spend the night in Mississippi so we drove on to Beaux-Bridge Louisiana, through perhaps the most intense and spectacular lightning storm I've ever experienced.  There was so much lightning in the sky... I wish I could have captured it.

In the morning we took another long drive on local roads to get a feel for the area.  There were dozens of slow moving trucks hauling freshly harvested sugar cane.  Stopped at this amazing bakery in St. Martinville... it was run by an old Cajun woman who was speaking french with one of the customers.  She gave me a blueberry donut... best donut I've ever had.

Later that day we went for a hike in Fausse Point State Park - saw raccoons climbing trees, more gators, and Anna almost stepped on this Cottonmouth.  It's December, so these suckers are cold and can't move that fast... so it wouldn't have been able to flee if we'd gotten too close - and you know how it goes with cornered snakes.  Look at those cheeks!

Finished off the night with some tasty Sazeracs and a fantastic dinner at Cafe Des Amis where we listened and danced to some Zydeco music.  There was a fabulous painting of a horse - named "Richard" - done by a local artist... it made Anna happy so we picked it up.  Hmm... maybe she's got a good painting of a goat.