Standing On A Corner In Winslow, Arizona

What a great day to be in the Southwest. The weather was great, my lovely partner did her fair share of the driving, and we avoided greasy food.

Today was a great lesson in identifying a gulch, a ravine, a plateau, a mesa, a canyon, a draw, a butte, etc. Most of the river beds were dried up but apparently subject to flash floods. We crossed the Little Colorado River which would make the Savannah River look like an ocean. I still don't know what Roy Rogers or Gene Autry meant when they said, "Let's cut them off at the pass". Must be a small canyon.

We departed Gallup early this morning for Canyon De Chelly. This area was highly recommended by expert trail guides Payne & Payne. De Chelly was the first canyon that we actually entered and were totally amazed by the scenery. This canyon reminds me of Niagara Falls. You don't realize it's there until you're there. The National Park Service has done an outstanding job of managing and protecting our national parks. The rangers are friendly, professional, and quick to answer questions or offer advice. I expect that someone who acts disrespectful to the scenery would quickly see a ranger's dark side. The national park service treats these national parks like treasured gems.

After touring De Chelly we moved on to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. We were driving a 28 mile route from east to west and saw beautiful scenery, but no petrified wood. However, about midway through the tour we finally stopped at overlooks where you could view petrified trees from a distance or hike down the trail for an up close view. As we continued westward we happened upon even larger specimens. In a few cases entire tree trunks over fifty feet in length were within reach. It pays to visit the rangers station before entering the park to watch a twenty minute video that illustrates the formation of the Petrified Forest. Sadly many people ignore the rangers' warnings about removing small pieces of petrified wood. It was said that over a ton of petrified wood is illegaly removed from the park each month. As we left the west entrance to the park we saw a large company that specializes in selling petrified wood. The amount that they had on display was almost equal to what we saw on our tour. It's so tragic that some people abuse our national treasures.

After leaving the park we had to make quick stop in Winslow, Arizona to pay homage to Don Hendley and Glen Frey.

So here we are in Flagstaff for a four day visit to the Grand Canyon and other national parks and also for some much needed rest after over 3,500 miles of driving.