The City in the Sky

We debated on leaving Holbrook due to the high winds but decided to give it a try thinking we could stop in Flagstaff if the winds were too bad. Well, after getting diesel and a stop at Walmart, we were driving down the road with the loud sound of the antenna on the roof that kept being lifted by the heavy blowing of the wind. We only got to Winslow, about 30 miles or so from Holbrook when we turned off to a state park I found online. Homolovi State Park is a very nice park with great views of the grass lands Homolovi is Hopi for Place of the Little Hills and the Hopi people of today still consider Homolovi to be part of their homeland

Driving through dust storm

      This is a place we could have enjoyed staying for a few days but we were anxious to get to Cottonwood and so left the next day. We had a little wind but not too bad and the drive was easy and scenic.
We got checked into Dead Horse Ranch State Park and got a site in the Cooper's Hawk loop which is on an upper level with wonderful views of the surrounding hills and also the town of Cottonwood.
We knew we were due for a few cold and possibly rainy days by Friday. So as soon as we were set up, we headed to the town of Jerome, or what is called "The City in the Sky". It was a well known mining town and is listed on the National Historic Register. It sits up on a side of the mountain and is a center for galleries, wineries, tasting rooms and restaurants and lodging.  There is also a State Historic Park, which is a museum devoted to mining history

     We walked around the small town and had lunch at Bobby D's Bar-B-Q Pit at the English Kitchen. I asked if we could sit outside with our dog. Dogs aren't allowed but we could sit at a table where she could be tied up on the other side of the low fencing.

 Does she look so sad. No, she got plenty of french fries to keep her happy. Their food was very good. I had pulled pork tacos Yes, tacos. Very juicy and great sauce. So yummy. Nice service and nice sitting outside though it has started getting cooler and so we didn't sit too long after finishing our lunch.
When we went back to the Park, we checked out the day area which is by the Verde River. Very nice. Maybe we will come back and walk the river front trail, which is one of the many trails in the park

        The cold weather and rain was here Thursday night and a little surprise, snow on the hills.

             A couple of pictures below including our view out our front window.

Some of the spring flowers

           We will be hunkering down in the MH for a few days while mother nature does her thing We're just happy to only have a little rain unlike others who are experiencing much worse in the mid-west.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Painted Desert, Petroglyphs, and the Petrified Forest

We made an overnight stop in Holbrook, on  our way to the Sedona area, mainly to visit the Petrified Forest National Park. We stayed at the OK RV Park, which was a private park with pull through sites and a laundry, which we took advantage of while there. After setting up, we headed straight over to the Park. We started at the north end of this 28 mile park which is the Painted Desert portion. The views here are spectacular.

 

                                                                                            

This national park is the only one that contains a segment of the Historical Route 66 alignment and part of the National Old Trails Highway also passes through it.

The park has over 50,000 acres of designated wilderness and is a great place for hiking and many interesting      designated trails are available to everyone.  One is where you can walk among the remains of a hundred room village formerly occupied by the Puebloan people centuries ago. There are also petroglyphs on the boulders and walls.
Newspaper Rock is also a place to see hundreds of petroglyphs.

     Another beautiful area is the Tepees, which are hills layered in blues, purples and grays created by various minerals in cone shaped formations. This area reminded us of the Badlands of South Dakota

  We took the Crystal Forest trail which contains many of the petrified logs. We had seen a petrified tree in one of our stops last year but nothing prepared us for the beauty of these logs with the crystal deposits within. The brilliant colors of the wood come mainly from three minerals, pure white quartz and the many colors from manganese oxides and iron oxides.

 Besides the Visitor Center at the north end, there is also a museum at the south end of the park A fascinating place to spend some time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Left of Albuquerque

We left Cochiti Lake as we make our way to Arizona and then onto California. We stopped at a Freightliner for a due oil change and also to have them look at a "low coolant" problem we have had. We weren't sure if it was a sensor issue or an actual slow leek of coolant. While they were working on the MH, we drove over to the old town area of Albuquerque. It doesn't rival Santa Fe's plaza but is a cute area with a plaza square with lots of tourist type shops surrounding it. Not that many restaurants but we found a little cafe where we could sit outside and enjoy some great sandwiches with Savannah enjoying some provided water and some of our lunch as usual. Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico with a little over a half million residents.
It is well known for its Annual International Balloon, which is probably on many people's bucket list, including ours. It's in October and hoping we will make it one of these years.

                                                                   

We had parked in a public parking lot with a most unusual pay system. There was a board with small holes, one to use coins and one for your dollar bills. The holes were so tiny, you had to shove in the bills folded as small as you could possibly could get them. Who invented this? Well, at least it worked.

                                                             

We then headed back to the repair shop and waited and waited. They couldn't find where the coolant problem is and it is a major deal to try and find it as it could be a small hole anywhere is the miles of hoses in the motor home. Ughh!!  We decided to put this off for now and take care of it after we leave So Cal. It was already dark by the time we left Freightliner and so just went a short distance to Route 66 Casino to spend the night. We then plan to make another one night stop in Holbrook, AZ to visit the Petrified Forest National Park.