around usa with happy travel
10.12.16 Albuquerque – State of New Mexico
We met at Old Town Plaza – center of Albuquerque old town. Street parking was available.
I don’t know why, but I really liked this staff. The incredible nature and spirit of Mexico. The prices are just great! Just here in the Old Town Plaza shops you can buy a route66 bracelet at the best price. I must say that it’s not only a bracelet, but also a lot of interesting things. There was not much time in detail to study goods in different shops, so in the already accelerated mode we knew we ran from the door of one store to the door of another. As a result, we bought cool magnets for relatives, sucked with live worms, measured different ponchos and hats, in general we were real tourists. One poncho, by the way, I still bought. Now I wear it instead of a scarf and just love it! Everyone asks where I bought such beauty, and I so proudly report that in New Mexico.
Next legendary place was – El Rancho Hotel.
Here we walked the floors in the hope of finding the familiar names of the legendary actors who lived in the rooms. The search was unsuccessful and we, disappointed, went for lunch at a restaurant at the hotel. Andrei and I sat at a separate table so that no one was alone, for one it turned out a small date. Of course, we ate burgers and drank beer. Have a bite and again on the road!
Our next stop was the indescribable beauty of the place – Painted Desert Visitor Center Arizona.
Painted Desrt spans over 93,500 acres and extends along over 160 miles.
Begins approximately 30 miles north of Cameron (Arizona) near the southeastern edge of the Grand Canyon to Petrified Forest (translated as Petrified Forest) about 26 miles east of Holbrook, Arizona. “Painted Desert” got its name from a variety of colors, ranging from lavender to shades of gray with bright red, orange and pink colors. This is a long expanse of Besland hills and hills, and although it is barren and harsh, it is a beautiful landscape in the colors of the rainbow.
It took millions and millions of years for nature to create this natural canvas of an unimaginable design, which some describe as a multi-colored layered cake. Due to the shifts of the earth’s crust caused by temperamental volcanoes and earthquakes, and the complete flooding of fresh and sea waters, a real array of elements breathed life into this area. The colorful deposits of bentonite clay and sandstone laid in elegant layers nourish the Arizona atmosphere in an ever-changing manifestation of colorful splendor.
* 1 acre = 4 ore: = 4,046.86 m²
We were so impressed to see what we were seeing there. Our journey had continued to Petrified Forest National Park WOW! WOW! WOW!
The petrified forest is known for its fossils, especially the fallen trees that lived at the end of the Triassic period, about 225 million years ago. The deposits contained in the logs are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle form, from which it was called “Painted Desert”. Starting from about 60 million years ago, the Colorado plateau, of which the park is a part, was raised up by tectonic plates and suffered increased erosion. All the rocky layers of the park above Chinle, with the exception of the geologically recent ones found in parts of the park, were removed by wind and water. In addition to the fossilized logs, the fossils found in the park included late Triassic ferns, cicadas, ginkgo and many other plants, as well as fauna, including giant reptiles called phytosaurs,
large amphibians and early dinosaurs. Paleontologists have been searching for and studying the fossils of the park since the beginning of the 20th century.
Are you asking if we brought a piece of history with us? Of course we did:) Next stop – Wigwam Motel
Incredibly interesting motel idea. It’s a pity our overnight stay in the wigwam was not included in our tour, but I think in the future the guys could consider this option. Each wigwam is 4,267 meters in diameter and 9.7536 meters in height. Inside there is a shower, toilet and heating source. Unfortunately, we were not able to get inside, but who cares – here are few photos and information with prices.
Last destination for the day was Jack Rabbit Trading Post.
Jack Rabbit Trading Post – is a souvenir shop along I-40 in Arizona, west of Joseph City.
First opened in the 1940s, Jack Rabbit Trading Post is still working today, experiencing the ups and downs of Route 66, as well as several different owners. Much of this prosperity is due to smart marketing: the original owner, James Taylor, put up billboards throughout Mother Road, from Arizona to Missouri, tactics,
which many tourist traps copy to this day. Hand-drawn signs depicted the store’s iconic logo, culminating in the final billboard “HERE IT IS” (HERE IT) – a billboard next to the trading post. Jack Rabbit Trading Post was also mimicked at Disney-Pixar’s Wheelbarrows in 2006. “HERE IT” sign was shown with the Ford Model T instead of the jackrabbit logo.
At Jack Rabbit the sun was already setting, we were very tired and it was time to go to our next hotel inFlagstaff >> Rodeway Inn & Suites.
For your information, Flagstaff is a city in Arizona surrounded by mountains, desert and ponderovy pine forests. It’s the gateway to the San Francisco Peaks, where Arizona’s highest mountain (Humphries Peak) and the Arizona Snowball ski resort are located. So later
an hour and a half we arrived in the winter. By the time of arrival at the hotel, the temperature in the street was only +2. The next day, according to the plan of the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. On the way to Flagstaff, there was a proposal to meet the dawn at the Grand Canyon. The dawn of October 13 was scheduled for 6:42 in the morning, it took us 1.5 hours to get from the hotel to the Canyon, which meant that the rise was at 3:30. After much discussion, having weighed all the pros and cons, tired, sick and abnormal, we decided on this experiment. That is why, upon arrival at the hotel, everyone scattered around the rooms with one single purpose – to have a SLEEP. After all, after rising at 3 in the morning, we planned to hang out at night in several Las Vegas casinos.
