1201.1 (221.8) Miles to Gallup, New Mexico

View Larger Map

Some quick-hit thoughts from the road today.

• Just outside of Winslow, there is another set of ruins like those at Wupatki. Homolovi sits on the floodplain of the Little Colorado River. In the middle of a bone dry desert, the Little Colorado creates an oasis of lush green vegetation. It is almost how I think of an aerial view of Egypt and the Nile, with the mesas instead of sand.

• A big fire was burning outside of Holbrook. The smoke could be seen for miles. Not sure what was happening, but the two Arizona Highway Patrol officers watching didn't seem too worried about it. And almost nothing stops the traffic on 40.
  

• Missing a turn for 66 at Chambers, I ended up on a 94 mile loop through Navajo Nation past Window Rock and into New Mexico. Even though I wasn't sure where I was headed, I did recognize the road from my trip 5 years ago, going the opposite way from Window Rock down to Petrified Forest National Park. The highway eventually turned down to Gallup, where I met back up with 66 and stopped for the night.

Pictures are from Petrified Forrest National Park. First is shadows playing across the Painted Desert (north of 40) carved by the Little Colorado. Second is the third version of this picture, each time I've taken it with a different car. Third is a sign and view down from the loop road into the Petrified Forrest (south of 40). Last two are views of Blue Mesa Trail.

979.3 (340.9) Miles to Winslow, Arizona

View Larger Map

Finally got a good look at Route 66 on a big loop from Kingman north of Flagstaff and over to Ash Fork. A note I wrote when I pulled over at one point:

I'm on an open stretch of 66 at Tuxton. White crosses dot the landscape from time to time, flowers, long extinguished candles, and faded pictures lie next to them abandoned long ago (or possibly yesterday) in memory and prayer.

Most of the day was spent navigating between 66 and 40. My two main sources of information on where to go are Michael Wallis' Route 66: The Mother Rode and the turn-by-turn directions to follow 66 from www.historic66.com. When 40 was built, from California to Oklahoma it essentially made 66 obsolete. The result of that is many parts of 66 have fallen into disrepair and disuse over the last decades, and there are parts that are just impassible, so 40 is the only way to keep going forward. The other result of the opening of 40 was the end of a lot of the outposts that dotted the Arizona (and going forward, the New Mexico) landscape. Two I passed late this evening, Two Guns and Twin Arrows, are nothing more than boarded up and abandoned gas stations and supply stops, relics of a bygone age of cross country travel that the Interstate, while making things a lot more convenient (which I was grateful for when I drove here 3 years ago), still leaves something to be desired and something that can't help but be missed, even for someone who wasn't alive to have seen it.

When I did my Arizona trip 5 years ago, I went to the Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff. 3 years ago, in the push to get east, I did not make the journey north. Today, I returned to the monument, which sits just east of Grand Canyon National Park, and drove around the loop road and spoke with some rangers about the park, the region, and places to see in New Mexico.

While in the park, I made sure to make a return "pilgrimage" to the Wukoki. Some of you may recognize the pictures of the ruin below as something of an online identity for me. I wrote this at the end of the trail leading to the ruin:

I'm standing below what has become my logo/identity of sorts over the last 5 years. I've used this image as my icon, and have identified with it wherever I have an online presence.

Why did I chose it? I'm not entirely sure. This outpost, ancient, standing against an open front, defies the ancient world to challenge it, and the modern world to understand it. The Wukoki stands guard at the interface between ancient and present, was here long before us, and will outlive all of our grandchildren.

But unlike the Grand Canyon or Petrified Forrest or Meteor Crater, the Wukoki isn't natural. It stands as a testament to what man can create, and makes us all today question the mark we will leave on the world, and the questions that mark will raise.

So now I'm in Winslow, Arizona, about 100 miles from the New Mexico border. One piece of advice I got before taking off was to just talk to people on the road. Tonight, that advice got me a free meal. I was walking over from the motel to an eatery of sorts across the street, when I saw a couple of guys doing the same thing. They walked around a little field, and me being me, I cut across it. I looked over at them and commented that I wondered if I shouldn't have done that. The three of us started talking, and they invited me to have dinner with them. One of the guys is moving from the Phoenix area to New Jersey, and his friend is helping him haul his stuff across the country. The one who was moving even picked up the tab for dinner, leaving the two of us to cover the tip.

Much nicer day than yesterday. With no schedule, I really settled in to just enjoy the drive. More of the same tomorrow, with more ruins, the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, and the Blue Mesa Trail. Then on to New Mexico and east.

638.4 Miles to Kingman, Arizona

Greetings from Kingman, Arizona!

View Larger Map



So that's the map of day 1. 638.4 miles in total, working my way south and east to Kingman, Arizona. For those of you in the Northeast, that's like driving from Boston to Washington, D.C., turning around, and driving back to New York.

A couple of scary moments on the way to the Arizona border. As I was driving through Fresno on 99, some genius decided to toss a bunch of cans in the road. I wasn't able to avoid the first one, running my left front tire right over it. Nothing popped or swerved or deflated, though, so on we went southward. Then, as I hit the ramp from 99 to 58, a squirrel chose that moment to run across the road in front of me. Now I've spent a lot of time on the archery range in San Diego, and had many opportunities to hunt rabbits. On the Golden Gate Park range in San Francisco, there have been a few chances to take out some of the local cats. Never tried it, though. So today, I see the little creature run out, and hit the panic button. But this squirrel's timing was spectacular. He ran out in front of my car, stopped IN BETWEEN my tires, and then, in my mirror, I saw him run the rest of the way across the road, narrowly avoiding the tires of the big rig that was following me.

As I was driving down 58, I took a little detour to see the Tehachapi Loop, a feet of engineering that allowed trains to cross the Tehachapi Pass (elevation 3,793 feet). The loop is a circle of tracks that crosses itself such that a 4,000 foot long train will cross over itself by 77 feet, over a tunnel below. The road itself winds its way above 58, starting southeast of Keene, California, and runs into Tehachapi itself. Pictures below are of the historical marker above the Loop and the Loop itself, a bench perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley below, a flag painted onto a rock across from the bench, and two houses, one also sitting on the edge of a cliff. The detour is about 4 extra miles, and I don't know how much in elevation. But with no time schedule to keep, was absolutely worth it.

After winding through Tehachapi, I continued moving east on 58, then a short run north on I-15, and then split off onto I-40. And apparently, I'm starting a tradition of being pulled over on the first day of my road trips. When I drove from San Diego to Boston, about 10 minutes shy of the Arizona border, I was pulled over for speeding. Today, I had a nice little chat with an officer of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. As I was driving up to the 15/40 split (where the speed limit is 70), I was driving just shy of 60. The reason was because I was following a big truck and did not want to go around him, since the split was coming up, and I didn't want to miss it. I was also being tailed by a guy, and so naturally I slowed down a little bit. So I take the turn onto 40, and as I get onto the road, I pick up my directions to check the mileage to Needles, California (that's just a border town, not any actual destination on this trip, for those of you who were wondering). I saw that I had passed a Sheriff's SUV, but didn't really think twice about it since I wasn't speeding. And then behind me, I see him following me with lights flashing. I pull over to the side of the road, and up walks the officer. Apparently, when I checked the mileage chart (while also looking at the traffic because I don't really want to die on this trip), he was concerned that I was "driving distracted." At that interchange, he has seen drivers reading books, working on laptops, and doing god only knows what else. He was nice enough to give me some friendly advice (especially since, as he said himself, I wasn't doing anything that he could actually cite me for), but warned me that an officer not as nice as him might have given me a ticket for felony stupidity (again, his words, not mine). If someone with Westlaw access could do me a favor and tell me what it takes for "felony stupidity," I'd really appreciate it.

After a stop in Ludlow for some food, fuel, and water, I kept on going across the desert as the sun went down behind me. Sharp mountain peaks turned orange, with purple shadows creeping across their faces. The sun became a wide orange swath of sky in my mirror, and the road ahead of me got darker and darker. I drove quickly across Needles (again, that's just a border town), and finally crossed the Colorado River into Arizona. My original plan was to get off of 40 and start taking 66 until I found a place to stop for the night. That didn't happen. Since it was completely dark, and I was ready to get out of the car for the night, I decided to stay on 40 until I got to Kingman, about 66 miles up the road (a seemingly appropriate number) at the Arizona speed limit of 75. About 5 miles shy of Kingman, I ran into another chance to get on 66, however, and this time I took it, driving the last stretch on the Mother Road (per Michael Wallis' title) into Kingman, where I've stopped here at the Arizona Inn for the night.

Mileage rates for the day (up through Ludlow, since I can't check the rest until I fill up tomorrow): 30.09 miles/gallon.

And finally, some pictures from the Tehachapi loop road.

Where I'm Going

View Larger Map


Between Needles, California and Chicago, I will not actually be following the specific interstates. Instead, I will be following (as close as possible) old Route 66.

Out with the Old and In with the New

Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island

Iwo Jima Marines Memorial, Arlington, Virginia