Petrified Wood, Route 66 & Meteor Crater

After a not so quiet night on the outskirts of Holbrook we head just a short distance further West to Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. At home we have a treasured slice of petrified wood from Morocco and had a taste when we saw a petrified teee in Yellowstone so we are really interested in seeing what the park has to offer.

Similar to other parks, we stop at the visitor centre to get the ‘lowdown’ on how to visit the park. It’s simple really, just follow the 28 mile road from NE to SW and stop at various locations. We check out the cataloging of various artefacts ongoing at the Centre which included some ancient stone arrow heads and also how they cut out fossils from the mother rock. 

We stop at Tiponi Point and look out across what is called the ‘Painted Desert’ stretching out before us. It’s a gentle undulating landscape where dry river beds expose layers of coloured rock - looks like a watercolour painting, just very hot and dry.

Route 66 went through this area and it was a popular tourist stop. So the ‘Painted Desert Inn’ is a refurbished pueblo inn with an unusual look combining native village buildings with 1950’s interior furnishings. Think American Diner inside an adobe building - but it really works and captures its heyday really well.

We move on further down the park road to their iconic rusted shell of a ‘Studebaker’ vehicle beside the original track of Route 66.

Then it’s further down the road to see the ‘Tepees’ and then to the Blue Mesa trailhead. Spotting our first bits of petrified wood, Alex and Emma get out to look whilst I move Wendy a bit further along to allow other vehicles to pass - thankfully it’s a one way loop.

We ‘do’ the Blue Mesa walk. It’s stunning. About 2 miles long, down to dried up river beds but through beautiful rocks of orange and blue(ish) loose rocks out of which jut massive trees of stone. The ground is littered with chunks of petrified wood in glorious shades of orange, red, yellow, green, red, purple and black. The overall effect is marvellous and to be able to just touch and feel the trees is just great. We are in awe of the quantity and quality and colours and scale of the trees abundant in the landscape. The petrified wood was created as trees fell into the river that was present here and the water in the trees was replaced by minerals over hundreds of years - it's a little different to fossilisation. It’s really transient here as the landscape is constantly evolving with each passing rain cloud or dust storm so human touch has a really minor effect. There are even old then and now pictures showing very little change over decades.

We find some trees that look like slices of Swiss rolls and can't believe how well preserved they are.

We move on to view the ‘Agate Bridge’. This is a 110 foot petrified tree under which the land has slowly eroded. The tree is now supported by a concrete under structure but will eventually collapse with time. There is a fine line between preservation and interfering with natural processes - attitudes have changed since 1911 when the structure was put in, so now it’s very much let nature take its course. Of course we can document, measure, survey, photograph the original and store details in a database - but …. seeing the real thing in the wild is great.

We finish at the southern visitor centre where Alex hands in his Junior Ranger activity booklet and is rewarded with his badge. We also see the collection of various petrified trees which have been accumulated at the centre over the long time it had been a National Park. ‘Old Faithful’ is somewhat large, being 35 feet long and weighing 44 tons.

We leave the park and head back towards Holbrook where there are several stores selling petrified wood - but not from the actual park itself! After much deliberation we acquire a companion piece to go with the item from Morocco. Holbrook itself also has a claim to fame to check out. The Wigwam car motel! It’s excellent and has tepee shaped rooms with classic 1940/1950’s cars parked outside. The motel was the inspiration for the Cosy Cones motel in the animated film ‘Cars’ and is just fun.

We even find the car which was ‘Doc' in the film. But, all the rooms are booked out so no room at the inn for the night for us.

We decide to eat in Holbrook and choose a quaint cool looking Mexican place. Big mistake! Outside was great, inside good and very busy.

But the food? Best forgotten. But the waitress was doing a magnificent job whilst her parents looked after her daughter, her work ethic was great but the food didn’t match.

So we decide to head towards Albuquerque, 233 miles away, for our next destination and find a BLM campsite to stay in en route.

We complete our journey to Albuquerque around lunchtime, grabbing something at Wendy’s diner. Then it’s on to our destination, the Atomic Museum.

The museum has recently moved to its site and originally documented the story of atomic weapons. In the nearby area is the Los Alamos laboratory where ‘The Bomb’ was developed and the test site at Alamogordo. Of course, the film ‘Oppenheimer’ has recently been released providing more background to the museum.

The museum is fascinating! One display is of the testing of plutonium half spheres to check their criticality. Know as ‘tickling the dragons tail’ the very simple methods and bravery of the scientists come to the fore especially compared to the remote manipulators and hot cells of today. One slip of the screwdriver and a massive dose of lethal radiation would be created. Steady hands and nerves most certainly needed!

The museum has a beautiful balance about the whole story, providing all points of view and not being judgemental about the Bomb and its use.

Alex captures our feelings of the fat man and little boy that were dropped on Japan - there was actually a well balanced analysis of the devastation and tragedy as well as the need to end the war.

A display of children’s toys from the 1950’s with an atomic theme is fascinating for showing what was considered normal at the time. It shows people’s interests and also plays upon the global fears of the time. One child’s toy includes samples of radioactive materials!

Outside there are lots of aircraft, ranging from the B-29 Super Fortress to the B-52 Stratofortress used for potential nuclear delivery and an impressive collection of missiles and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and their payloads. Seeing a dummy British atom bomb (WE177) and a Thor missile in RAF markings touched upon the part the UK played during the Cold War. They even have the massive fin from a decommissioned strategic missile submarine! They even have an example test rig for how the fat man bomb was tested.

But the museum is well balanced and had exhibits covering the modern use of radioactive materials including nuclear medicine. We left just as it shut for the day and moved on into downtown Albuquerque.

Wandering around the historic area of Spanish style streets was great, apart from Alex deciding to run, miss his step and smash into a wooden pillar. The resultant huge egg on his eyebrow and forehead was treated with some ice from a local restaurant about to open, thank you!

So we really needed a beer. A lovely bar with a balcony and cold beer was great and provided a backdrop to a few family card games and we get a taste of the Mexican flavour and style we will encounter when we move south on our trip.

Then we move on back towards Holbrook, stopping at a Walmart for supplies and, as time was getting on, we stopped in a truck stop for the night.

Talking together earlier, we had decided that after a long time on the road we actually needed a bit of a break from travelling and seeing the sights and also from van life! So, our destination is Las Vegas for a 3 night hotel break!!

Moving on the following morning we take a very short detour to Meteor Crater in Arizona. Out of the relatively flat lands a hump rises in the distance. The hump turns out to be the uplifted rim of the meteor crater. The crater is impressive all the more so for being an impact site in flat land and is the second largest after the dinosaur ending yucatan crater. The depth is amazing particularly when you spot a life size astronaut in a spacesuit at the bottom of the crater looking just like a tiny dot in the landscape. Alex enjoys the visitors centre and the 4D cinema experience of the impact of the meteor! Boom!!

After the crater its then a very long drive across Arizona and into Nevada. A brief glimpse of the Hoover Dam at sunset heralds our arrival in Las Vegas. I had hoped to drive across the Hoover Dam again (last did it in 1986) but the Americans have built a new road and bridge across the Colorado river (a bypass) to protect a piece of critical national infrastructure. 

Cresting over a ridge we are greeted by the sight of Las Vegas at dusk with the ‘strip’ clearly visible and the city stretching about 15 miles from the strip towards the road we are on. What a huge expansion has occurred over the past 37 years. 

We find our hotel, park Wendy in their car park and off to Reception. Emma’s negotiating skills come to the fore when we realise there are ‘resort fees’ to pay on top of the inclusive price already quoted. Result is an upgrade to a better part of the hotel complex and a much bigger room. Las Vegas, we have arrived!!!

Guy