Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona

We got an early start this morning and left our skeevy Sands Motel, headed for Winslow Arizona. First stop was for a cup of coffee. Our second stop was in Gallup New Mexico where we visited the Visitor’s center and sought out another muffler man. Gallup was a pretty big town, or a small city, and had dozens of stores selling Indian artwork, jewelry and other crafts.

Yet another Muffler Man, this time in Gallup

One thing I noted probably since Missouri is the number of freight trains. Where I live in the Northeast freight trains are more or less a novelty, but out here they are a constant presence. We were right by a mainline at our last hotel and the trains ran all night. We paralleled a huge freight train leaving Gallup and drove next to it all the way to the Arizona border.

The land seemed to flatten out a bit and we crossed the continental divide. It’s funny that I always think of the continental divide as being at the peak of a mountain, but here we were crossing it at 7295 feet in the middle of a wide open plain.

Once we crossed into Arizona we were in Indian territory again, and there were Indian “trading posts”, (basically large souvenir shops) selling Indian jewelry, artwork and other crafts, at every exit.

Trading Posts at every exit

Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. We tried to get a "room" here, but the lady said they book out months in advance. Each unit has its own vintage car or truck parked outside

The Jackrabbit Trading Post has advertisements and billboards for mile before you reach it. I think we saw one back in Illinois

Our main stop for the day was the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park. We stopped at the visitor center and had lunch, then drove the 20 some odd mile loop, stopping along the way for photos and to take a short hike through the fields of petrified trees. There are of course strict rules against disturbing or taking any samples of the petrified wood, and it gives you the idea that petrified wood is scarce and valuable. Then one of the first things you see when leaving the Park are businesses selling petrified wood with vast lots covered with thousands of pieces of petrified wood, and every souvenir shop you go to is selling petrified wood and has large pieces lining their parking lots.

Petroglyphs at Letter Rock in the Petrified Forrest National Park

An assortment of petrified wood

The Painted Desert is so beautiful, these photos could never do it justice

We made it to Winslow Arizona and the modern, clean, beautiful Winslow Hotel. We appreciate it even more in contrast to where we stayed the night before. We took pictures at the Winslow 911 Memorial Park and of course, standing on a corner.