Spring 2017
Petrified Forest National Park
It only took us 45 years to finally stop at the Petrified Forest. It really should have been the second National Park I visited but at least we finally got there and it was an interesting experience.
The fossil record there dates to the late Triassic Period of early dinosaurs but, of course, the petrified trees define the park. Surprisingly, the view of the "forest" is not at all impressive. The crystallization process that petrifies the wood leaves it highly brittle and the logs fracture into rounds that litter the landscape like the debris of some mad woodcutter.
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Petrified Forest |
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Fractured Fossil Tree |
But when you look closely at the specimens you realize how remarkable they are. When pure quartz crystals replace wood, the result is rather plain, but when the quartz has been contaminated by other elements (carbon, cobalt, copper, iron oxides, etc.), the results are amazingly colorful.
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Petrified Wood Samples |
The park boundary includes part of the southern portion of the Painted Desert, a colorful and dramatic badlands that arcs up to the eastern part of the Grand Canyon. The Painted Desert Inn is situated to give great views of the desert just off Route 66, but we weren't able to get reservations since they stopped taking them in 1963. Although the inn appears to be adobe, it's actually brick-and-mortar covered with painted stucco--a typical Route 66 attraction.
The Painted Desert |
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The Painted Desert |
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The Painted Desert Inn - Not Really Adobe, Just Brick, Mortar and Painted Stucco |
Route 66
If memories are the stories we tell ourselves, then nostalgic memories are the outright lies. Just watch the Disney-Pixar film Cars to see what people want to remember. Personally, I have absolutely no nostalgic feeling for Route 66. Even the fact that it's referred to as "The Mother Road" when it only goes as far east as Chicago bothers me tremendously.
Our first experience with Route 66 was in early September 1971 when the road was well on its way to becoming I-40. Our first indication that this was a different place was when we passed through the Texas panhandle and a Texas lawman stood in the middle of the road, stopping each car, inviting us all to a barbecue at the town park. (True story. We smiled, thanked him politely and carefully continued on our way.)
The highway was unfinished through almost every town from there on into California and we had to contend with local traffic, slow speed limits, and traffic lights. I have a vivid memory of sitting at a red light sweltering in 90 degree weather in a car without air-conditioning watching the road crews up on the hillside building the highway. "Hurry, hurry, hurry" was all I could think. It's not the kind of story you really want to remember.
Today, tourists ride in air-conditioned cars at 75 miles per hour on the Interstate and pick their Arizona exits to Holbrook, Winslow, Williams, Seligman or Kingman so they can experience the joy of this iconic road and that's what we did on this trip. It's a lot more fun that way.
Winslow makes an effort to preserve the spirit of Route 66 but Williams was the last hold-out against the Interstate and is still the center of Route 66 for nostalgia buffs. The shops and restaurants make for a lively place and the town is also the southern terminus for the Grand Canyon Railroad. Seligman also makes for an interesting stop. It's a little funkier than Williams and quite interesting for that reason. Route 66 still exists in a northern loop from Seligman into Kingman and it was actually a pleasant drive with all the traffic over on I-40.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Canyon de Chelly (canyon d'SHAY) is an extraordinarily beautiful place with a long history. The name comes from the Spanish adoption of the Navajo word Tséyi´ which means canyon and we now have Spanish spelling and corrupted Navajo pronunciation. (Interestingly, Canyon de Chelly would translate into English as Canyon Canyon or perhaps Canyon of Canyon or Canyon from Canyon, which is even better. This now replaces both Presque Isle Peninsula and Rio Grande River as my favorite.)
The monument actually consists of several inter-connected canyons none of which is more than 1000 feet deep (compared to the Grand Canyon's mile plus depth) so the details of the Navajo farms and orchards at the base are readily apparent. It is really impossible to decide which view from which overlook is the most impressive.
Ancient Puebloans were the first human inhabitants of the canyons and built their iconic adobe structures including cliff dwellings (there is some speculation that they didn't come here until after leaving Mesa Verde).
When their burial sites were discovered in one of the side canyons, it was immediately named Canyon del Muerto, Canyon of the Dead. (You can Google "mummy cave" to see some striking photographs of the what they found.) There are several other ruins in this North Rim area but the best known is the White House ruin in the South Rim main canyon.
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Mummy Cave Ruins |
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White House Ruins |
When the Ancient Puebloans left the canyons (early 14th Century), Hopi peoples, possibly related to them, continued farming there until aggressive Navajo tribes appeared (early 18th Century) and displaced them. The Navajo have been there ever since with a major disruption when Kit Carson led a military force that resulted in the infamous Long Walk of the Navajo to join the Mescalero Apache in exile at Bosque Redondo in southeastern New Mexico during the Civil War period. When the Peace Treaty of 1868 was signed, the Navajo returned to Canyon de Chelly which was within the boundaries of what is now the Navajo Nation.
The tribe names are fascinating. There is certainly disagreement, but "Navajo" may come from a Spanish word meaning "stealer;" "Apache" may be from a Zuni word meaning "enemy;" and of course, "Anasazi" is thought by many to be a Navajo word meaning "ancient enemy." All are insults. In their own language, the Navajo call themselves Dinè, the Children of God.
Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
I have always thought it peculiar that both Persian carpets and Navajo rugs are expected to have a deliberate mistake. My guess was that rug-weaving by hand is so complicated that a perfect rug was nearly impossible so don't expect one (which may be true), but it turns out that there is a very simple explanation for the shared tradition: Navajo rugs are based on Persian carpets and John Lorenzo Hubbell and his trading post are responsible for this.Obviously, the Navajo had been weaving for centuries before Hubbell (a distant cousin of astronomer Edwin Hubbell) was born. But as the Navajo returned from exile in 1872, they encouraged Hubble to come to the Ganado Valley to operate a trading post and help them resettle. As part of his effort to make his trading post thrive, Hubbell showed them examples of Persian carpets. He encouraged them to try new colors and patterns and worked with them to design rugs that would have broad appeal.
Today, the Hubble Trading Post continues as an operating trading post and Navajo Rugs, of course, have a world-wide reputation.
SF Giants' Spring Training
We try to do something new each time we go and this time we signed up for the Giants' Vacation Package. This is a complete package that can include air fare, car rental, hotel room, game tickets and some extras. Obviously we didn't need air fare or car rental, but we were interested in the extras and these were a little disappointing.
The package included Spring Training caps and t-shirts which were nice, but our seats at the games were nothing special: upper reserved aluminum benches, just a step up from lawn seating and the bleachers.
We were granted one-hour early access to one game but since the park normally opens two hours before first pitch, this meant that we arrived three hours before game time and got to watch the vendors setting up. The ballplayers didn't show up until later.
Finally, we had high expectations for the "Barbecue with the Giants." It was held on one of the practice fields at Scottsdale Stadium and we were quite impressed with the food which was really good, perhaps the best we had in Scottsdale. The open bar didn't hurt.
The four Giants in attendance were a relief pitcher, a prospective outfielder currently on the disabled list, a former Giant who is now a spring training instructor but was one of 2010 championship heroes, and a former Giant now a member of the Giants' broadcast team.
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Mike Krukow and some Giants' Fans |
