On the Road Again

We spent the 4^th of July in Las Vegas with my parents and watched all the neighbors set off the “safe and sane” (heh) fireworks. On the 8^th, the A/C was repaired again. Unfortunately, it stopped working two days later. The following Monday, we showed up on Johnnie Walker’s doorstep, hoping that the third time was the charm. In their defense, the leak was in a really difficult spot to repair. It’s where the copper tubes attach to the coils. If this doesn’t work, I think it’s time to replace the condenser coils, if available. Keep your fingers crossed.

It turns out it was a good thing for us to be in Las Vegas. Mom got sick and ended up in the hospital. I won’t go into all the details here, but she is at home and doing fine now. We were able to be there for both Mom and Dad. It also gave Mike some time to help his brother, Cliff, repair his car.

We got back on the road again on Friday, July 17. We had an easy drive to Kingman, AZ, where we looked at some houses and property, and spent the night.

On Saturday, July 18, we continued our journey towards Flagstaff. However, all the RV parks we called in Flagstaff were full, so we ended up in Holbrook, AZ. While there, we went to the Petrified Forest National Park, which encompasses part of the Painted Desert. Not really a whole lot to see, but there is some pretty scenery.

Overview from Pintado Point

Painted Desert Inn

This 1932 Studebaker marks the area where route 66 once cut through the park.

This petroglyph is from the Puerco Pueblo part of the park. The Puerco Pueblo was built approximately between 1250 and 1380.

Layers of sediment deposited by ancient rivers in the Triassic era give the distinctive colors to the Tepees in the Blue Mesa area of the park.

This photo was taken in the Jasper Forest area of the park. There were hundreds of petrified logs in the area. Unfortunately, most were off in the distance, and I do not have a telephoto lens (just a point and shoot camera). I thought this was a more interesting view. You can see some of the logs in the upper-right corner of the photo.

Petrified wood in the Giant Logs area of the park. Petrified wood was formed when ancient trees fell and were buried by layers of silt and volcanic ash, which slowed the wood’s decay. Ground water, laden with silica, seeped through the logs and replaced the wood’s tissues with silica. The colors come from minerals in the silica, such as iron, carbon, and manganese.

The largest specimen in this area is Old Faithful, which is about 10 feet in diameter.