Monday, 9/4/2023
We took off from Albuquerque at 72° and clear blue skies and began heading west on I 40. The traffic was backed up on the eastbound side and we discovered it was due to a loose steer on the highway. Two patrol cars were literally herding the steer down the highway as the long line of traffic inched behind them.
At 10:18 AM we cross the continental divide at 7140 feet. Low evergreens and mesquite lined the highway. It was 82 degrees when we reached the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. It was very worthwhile adding the extra time and miles to drive through that national park. We stopped at an overlook of the Painted Desert. We also stopped at Puerco Pueblo to hike a little bit and saw the Agate Bridge. We hiked in a “garden” of strewn petrified longs at Jasper Forest. It was absolutely fascinating! We found the Jasper Forest Trail because of our National Geographic hikers book. Thanks to those tips, we saw very few people walking in that area with us.
We stopped briefly in Winslow Arizona for a classic photo. It was hard for me to shake off the resulting ear worm! It didn't help that Woody insisted on listening to versions of the song by the Eagles and Jackson Browne!
We arrived in Flagstaff around 3 PM. We went to Basha’s for a few groceries and got the car washed. We checked into our Airbnb in a lovely neighborhood. It was too bad we had no hot plate or kitchen sink. We walked Porsche in the neighborhood, loving the unique, creative, “no cookie cutter” feeling.
Woody cooked supper on our camp stove outside. There were a few bothersome, tiny mosquitoes. I was exhausted, but the bed felt like sleeping on a cloud.
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