Petrified Forest National Park

March 27 - 29/2015  Weather 78-80  low 44  - in Holbrook, Arizona.  Elevation 5,082 feet.  We have stopped here for a couple of nights so we can ride out and see the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert.

Painted Desert

Our first year out in the motor home we drove by this area in the spring and thought if we ever came by again we should stop; especially now while we still have an annual National Park pass.... We are so glad we did.   The national park does not have any camping but we found a close spot in Holbrook at the Petrified Forest/KOA. 

Petrified Forest National Park - Blue Mesa

The Petrified Forest is known for its colourful fossils, especially fallen trees (9 different species) that lived in the Late Triassic period, about 225 million years ago. Yes 225 million years..... Wow.  The pieces of logs are beautiful - they look like gem stones.  All spectrum's of the rainbow.

The sediments containing the fossil logs are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation, from which the Painted Desert gets its name.  

Logs are laying all throughout the park

some very large trunks laying in tact

Paleontologists have been unearthing and studying the park's fossils in more than 600 archaeological sites. In the Visitor's Center you can see a giant crocodile-like reptile and a large salamander-like amphibian that roamed the forest then.  They really give you a "Jurassic park" kind of scariness.   Even the skeletons look nasty!  Much of the park is wilderness and the Ranger's are protecting the park to the best of their ability; however theft of petrified wood remains a problem in the 21st century. 

Living Ghost Town

March 26/2015 Weather 79 sunny, night 48.  This is perfect weather for riding in the day and sleeping at night.   

the cacti flowers are so brilliant in colour you think they are fake,,,, but they are real

 

The north west area of Arizona is old, old mining country.  A short ride from our campground is the living ghost town of Chloride where back in the 1860's it swelled to 2,000 miners and now about 1/10 that size at 200.  It is a quirky little place.  Haunted by miners,soldiers, Native Americans.....???  About a dozen abandoned mines spatter around the hills of the town.  Locals have preserved many of the old wooden buildings - the 2 room jail,  the bank vault, and the Sante Fe railroad station.

original Sante Fe train station

 Luckily they did not loose them to several fires in the bygone times.  There is a mock gunfight staged during certain times of the year.  A few artistic shops, very eclectic looking store fronts.  There are murals painted a couple miles past the downtown on the granite cliffs.  Nope, we did not get to them.  2 miles of soft dirt road.  This time we asked a bit of detail before trying to see something we had heard about.  Found out someone had dumped their motorcycle trying to get to it.  No more dirt roads if we can help it!!!

metallic artsy fence entering Chloride

But no need to feel bad we saw  the artistic yards that were decorated with junkyard-style monstrosities, welded sculptures using discards such as barbecue grills, bicycle wheels, motorcycle gas tanks and bowling balls.  One yard had numerous old tractors rusting into the ground.   Even the fence entering into Chloride is unique in a metallic way! 

yard art welded and salvaged

Driving the few (4) paved streets in Chloride we decided to stop at the local bar and grab a burger which was homemade and really hit the spot - not to mention it had some stuff on the walls and ceiling to look at.....we didn't know where to look first! 

lots to look at in Digger Daves Bar

we have some Excavating friends that might get a kick out of this clock...... Hey Jim and Bonnie!!!!!

Story in the town is that American author Louis L'Amour visited Chloride sometime between 1927-1929 after the Weepah, Nevada gold rush.

 Louis had bought, and then sold a claim for $50 in Chloride.  While he was mining the town caught fire. L'Amour assisted the town citizens in a bucket brigade that ultimately failed to stop most of the town from burning to the ground.   Well maybe?  He had to get all those Wild West stories from somewhere. 

the Bank Vault

Get your groove on Route 66

Get your Groove on Route 66....  
Weather - nice day for a ride.  Sunny and high of 79 but gusty winds of up to 30 mph around Valle Verde.  Then it cleared up for the remainder of the 70 miles which were relatively straight and kind of boring....  sorry but the other section is just better cause of the winding roads along the mountain sides.  Tip:  If you choose a spot to ride on Route 66 we like the section from Kingman to Oatman to Topock much much better.

Haboob or dust storm

We hit a dust storm riding on route 66 just outside of Kingman in Valle Verde.  Good thing we had face rags to pull up over our mouth and nose.  Dirty!  They call them a Haboob which is a type of intense of dust storm that is carried on an atmospheric gravity current.  Seriously we did not make that up:) 

Hackberry General Store

1957 Corvette - Let's take this as a souvenir

the bikes are out today cruising

Once past the haboob we stopped at a cool old General Store in Hackberry.  Lots of 1950's memorabilia.  Walk around outside there are all kinds of old cars and memory jerkers and inside too.  Everyone was coming out with a souvenir.  Good thing we are in the RV we can't buy all that stuff!   Further on down Route 66 in Seligman we saw the popular old spot that is still in business, the Snow Cap Drive In.  A few of the shops are quite geared to the 1950's era and the tourists want to see that.   While we stopped in town we saw '4' big tour buses unloading and the passengers were out on foot to find their T shirts and coffee cups!

Snowcap Drive In  

another favorite tourist spot in Seligman

Old Route 66 - Kingman Arizona

March 22- 27/2015  Weather Sunny.  Sunny.  Sunny.   What a winter!  High from 73 to 80 and low 47 to 53.  From Pahrump, Nevada we took the route through Las Vegas and Boulder City then south on hwy 93 to Kingman, Arizona.  Odd trivia???  Elevation of Kingman 3333.33 above sea level.

plaque on Powerhouse shows elevation 3333.33 above sea level

The ride from Boulder City to Kingman is a good 4 lane highway with some elevation changes but nothing too drastic.   The scenery is beautiful crossing over the Colorado River and along the rocky ledges of high desert ranges.  The desert is coming alive - beaver tail cacti, desert gold, california poppies, ocitilla, and more.  It amazes you in the spring.

Kingman is known for it's high quality Turquoise

Our destination for a few days is Kingman KOA.  This area of United States has some of the longest stretches of old Route 66 still in existence and once was a big mining area.  Kingman houses the Mohave Museum of History and Arts and Powerhouse Visitor Center. 

Andy Devine - also mentioned in Jimmy Buffet's song Pencil thin mustache

These two buildings showcase area history and development with interest to Route 66 and Andy Devine(local boy turned movie star - better known as Roy Rogers sidekick).

Before Billy's time, Survey crews in 1850's used Camels

In the 1850's Beale surveyed a wagon trail along the 35th parallel that later became much of route 66.  His manned crew used the Camel Corps. with Hi Jolly (we saw his monument in Quartzite).  This was especially interesting to Billy since he retired from that profession.  Never had a Camel !!! Ok, I am picking on him:)

replica of Mid Westerner loaded with all their life belongings headed West in the 30's

Sadly protrayed is the navigation of Mid Westerners during the 1930's Dustbowl Drought.  We were reminded of the plight of over 200,000 people during the drought and depression seeking a better life in the far West.  Most of what they went looking for did not happen as only about 18,000 stayed in California; the rest returned back to the Mid West a few years later.   The museum uses John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" to showcase the heartbreaking pictures of the journey along the dirt route 66 .

photo of family on route 66 in the 30's Dustbowl era

the make shift camps would be made to move along by authorities

On a happier note there are also exhibits of the rockin' 1950's which the Mother Road is famous for.  Everyone remembers the Happy Days show with the Fonz. 

diners and drive in's nostagia

Rallied Out?

Are you Rallied Out?   Billy and Rosey lead a pretty sedate life in the RV.  We sleep when we are tired, we eat when we are hungry and we leave when we are ready.   We stay up and read till 11:30 or midnight and sleep in till 8:30 am at least.  Why?   Because we can.   We love no schedule.  Now when you go to a Rally you will be busy with lots of scheduled events.  For one week we can handle it, but laughingly it tires us out.   Not that we are physically tired, just tired of the schedule.  :)

If you have not been to a Rally you should go, you will have fun.  If you join a group such as this FMCA Family Motor Coach Association they have subgroups of brand motor homes; thus ours is a Monaco.   It happens to be the largest subgroup in the FMCA.   A rally will take you to a place that you might normally not go such as Pahrump, Nevada.  Or this summer there is a rally in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  Things to do at the Rally? Events start every morning at 7 am and ends about 9:30 pm.  Oh yes you can be as busy as you want!!   There will be prearranged tours in the area you can take, meet and greets, book exchange, seminars, caravan tour meetings, club meetings, craft classes, golf outings, new and used coaches for sale, and this Rally had 4 breakfasts and 4 dinners with drinks plus 3 entertainment nights.

Dinner with our new friends

 As well it was at a Casino so they gave you $20 each to spend for free.  Plus vendors booths.    Monaco had two tech reps come to your coach and fix one repair (not engine or chassis related) if you had pre-ordered the part for free.  We had a door arm that needed replacing and that saved us about $70 of service work.   The cost of the Rally turns out to be a good deal since you get all the activities plus your campsite at a discounted rate.   The guys tend to congregate and talk technical and the ladies more about places to go.  Our RV campsite neighbours Juan and Deb from California were so friendly.     We were at the Monaco Coach party and this guy comes over and says to Billy "hey I know you"...... "and he did!".   He was the fellow that we met last year in a campground in Washington and he told us about the Monaco Rallies!  Great couple we nicknamed "Rally Al" and we plan and hope to see them again along our travels in the future.

Blenheim Gals

Another lady on our bus tour was reading our name badges and home town.  "I know Blenheim" she said.  We were skeptical that she really did.   Then she exclaimed "I was born there and lived there as a little girl".   Can you believe how small the world is??? 

Death Valley National Park - Scenic Drives

west entrance to Death Valley

March 20/2015  95 in Death Valley in the Winter......  Hot and sunny.   Seriously you need to carry lots of water with you when visiting Death Valley on a Motorcycle (and some nutritional snacks).  Drink every time you stop.  The heat is intense and you can get dehydrated.   Also wear proper jackets in layers.   We started out from Pahrump to the park in our leathers, then went to jean jackets and ended in light long sleeve shirts to keep the sun from burning our arms. Plus plenty of face sunscreen.   

Mountain dandelions carpeted the drive up to Dantes View  (they are actually a flower!)

We came back using our National Park Pass to drive two scenic drives that our bus tour could not take, no vehicles over 25 feet. 

on top of Dantes View - walk out to the peaks, longer than it looks, and you get a bit winded climbing

looking 5000 feet down (about 1 mile) at the salt flats in Badwater Basin

looking across the valley at Panamint Mountain Range at 11,049 feet

Dantes View climbs to a lofty perch of over 5,000 feet and the temperature is 20 degrees cooler than the valley floor.  At the top you can walk out onto the peaks and see the valley below.   Incredible view of the salt flats and alluvial fans below and across to the snow topped Panamint Mountains.    The drive is about 13 miles up to the top, the last 1/4 mile is hairpin and about 15% incline.  Hang on!
Driving back down is as pretty as going up, the rock formations always look different.    From here we went to the intersection for Badwater Basin and headed south to the one lane, one way Artists Drive, it is about 9 miles long and you have to enter from the south end.  Both of these scenic roads are all paved, no dirt sections, good for Bill :)

entering Artists Drive

winding along

The colours come alive like a painters palette on Artists Drive.   It is a narrow winding drive through badlands that have been tinted by the interaction of various minerals, sediments and volcanic debris.  We have never seen so many colours in a short drive.  Various shades of brown, yellow, red, orange, green, with pastel pinks and lavendars.   I know it seems like a long drive to get back and see 9 miles but it is so worth it.  Death Valley has seeped into our unconscious.  Can't seem to stop thinking about it and the pioneer wagon trains of 1849.  Incredible. 

look at the myriad of colours

nice spot to see the painters palette

end of the drive

All the ride back to Pahrump we had the visions of these arid yet hauntingly beautiful scenes in our head.  Every National Park in the USA continues to amaze us.  Thank goodness these incredible lands were preserved for the public to see.

In the Middle of Nowhere

March 20/2015 Weather Sunny high of 85 in Death Valley Junction, California.

in a dusty old mining town, this entertainment venue is still open

There are some strange and unusual places which you could say are in the middle of nowhere???? Riding through Death Valley Junction (population is 6) we spotted this aging white adobe hotel and opera house.  Intrigued by how this came to be we stopped today on our motorcycle.  The motel has 20 rooms still in operation (each room has hand painted murals) and the opera house was having a show tonight. 

inside the opera house

Marta Becket’s life story is well known to lovers of dance and desert lore. Born in 1924, as a girl growing up in New York City she studied dance and theater and enjoyed substantial success.

Marta Becket's Autobiography

But it was a fortuitous flat tire in 1967 in Death Valley Junction that changed her artistic and personal life forever.  Marta and her husband were camping in Death Valley when the situation occurred with the tire; she noticed a rundown community hall that once had been used as a theater by the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the care-worn mining town.
In a moment her vision was clear: She would reinvent the hall as the Amargosa Opera House, listed now in Roadside America.com.  In the early years of the theater there were few visitors sometimes none at all so she began to paint an audience on the wall.  Characters from the past including kings and queens, Native Americans, bullfighters, gypsies, and more took shape.  After four years of painstaking work, she then began painting the ceiling with cherubs, billowing clouds and ladies playing antique musical instruments..
It was a theater company of one; that played to an equally creative mural of dignitaries of her own creation and often to capacity crowds of tourists and desert rats.

Motel in the background, Plaque dedicated to Marta's life at her 90th birthday

Marta's ballet costumes are on display in the Motel lobby

National magazines and newspaper feature writers made their way to her door. In 2000, filmmaker Todd Robinson’s “Amargosa” about her remarkable life was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary.  This place has also been featured on the Travel Channel - Ghost Stories.   This remote historic place is still having performances today; however Marta gave her last performance in 2012.  She celebrated her 90th birthday August 2014.

Mural painted by Marta - in the Motel lobby