Petrified Forest, Winslow, Sedona, homeless or house less?

Heading north from Silver City, the landscape made some amazing changes. From mountains, to rocky riversides, and then flat desert plateaus.

Petrified Forest National Park

Forest? Not necessarily. What is here actually was a riverbed. 225 million years ago what we now see as dry desert land was lush and green rain forest. Trees upriver “died or were knocked down by wind and water, many were carried downstream and buried by layers of sediment. The logs soaked up groundwater and silica from volcanic ash and over time crystallized into quartz. Different minerals created the rainbow of colors seen in many places.”

As you look at these pictures, notice the sky. Rain showers skirted the area, but it seemed that most of the time the clouds rained, but the drops never made it to the ground.

The land the National Park is on was also once the home of prehistoric People who left petroglyphs and evidence of pueblos.

I love these hardy wildflowers.

The Painted Desert

Winslow

“Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.  Such a fine site to see.  There’s a girl, my lord, in a flat bed Ford slowin down to take a look at me”.  

The beginning of the second verse of Take It Easy.  Who doesn’t know this song?  OMG!  It’s a classic.  Written by Jackson Browne with the help of Glenn Fry and made famous by The Eagles.

I’m not sure either Tim or I knew that Winslow, Arizona was even a real place and we sure wouldn’t have guessed that the local Winslowians would commemorate this rock classic with a park.  BUT, we were driving along old Route 66 and one never knows what slice of historical memorabilia you might find beside the road.

Speaking of never knowing what you’ll find, did you know that the best preserved meteor impact site in the WORLD was just outside Winslow?  It’s amazing what you find out when you travel!  It’s about a mile across and can hold 20 football fields on its floor.  It also cost $20 a head to see it. It was cool, and offered a short movie and a 1 hour, 1 mile guided walking tour.  We decided to skip the tour and head to Sedona.

Our spot for the night was just Homolovi State Park. In the morning, Maggie was intent on something outside.

Sedona

And then there was Sedona. The sudden beauty of red rock mountains after the flat desert made both Tim and I let out a murmured “ oh wow”. But what soon followed was “Oh Shit” as we encountered the line of cars and the congestion of tourists, shops, and hotels on narrow, round about laden streets.  I have heard about Sedon for years and have always thought of it as a quaint mountain town with artsy farts craft stores, home brew joints and backpackers cruising the streets. Boy was I wrong.  This town said “Money” as in they had it and they wanted you to give them more.  Being there in a 25’ rig didn’t make driving through town or finding parking easy.  Class A rigs need to stay away!  This place is not for you.  After a couple attempts at finding parking, we managed to find lot that we could fit in.  Being who we are, we checked with Google and found a local brew pub a couple blocks away and headed off.  Sedona was just not meant to be for us.  The brewery was closed and we had had our fill.  We’d seen enough of Sedona.

Just some thoughts-

Have you seen the movie, Nomadland ? Tim and I watched one evening and found myself really getting the Frances McDormand character. I felt I understood a lot of her choices. A widow who lost her home and chose to live in her van, traveling around working in various spots as she wanted. Tonight as Tim and I spend the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot for the convenience of it, I look to both side of us. To my left is red van that appears to be a mid 90’s vintage. I’ve watched a heavy set man straightening what appears to be all his belongings inside. He has put his shades up and seems to be settled in for the evening. To my right is a senior woman eating her dinner in the front seat of her silver mini van. She is alone and has put away the map that she studied earlier. Scattered across the back of this parking lot are travelers of various sorts. Some I believe are like us, on an adventure of our choosing. We have choices. We could be living happily in our home in Clear Lake Shores or sitting on our boat. We do not have to be parked in a Cracker Barrel parking lot. It’s just convenient. I wonder if this place is just a convenience for some of my neighbors or is it more of a necessity. Do they need to find a spot for the night. Are these the homeless people I read about who spend their days and nights drifting because they have no place to go? Are they house less and prefer to live in their vehicle rather than be tied to a building? Or are they like us, enjoying being able to travel as we please and see the wonders of the US? Part of the intrigue of traveling is meeting people with different life experiences and different life expectations. It deepens my awareness of how truly fortunate I am.