Crossing New Mexico (and stuff I forgot)

I really hit the road hard today, travelling about 350 miles across New Mexico.  While I was driving, I thought of a couple of things I forgot to show or tell you earlier.

As I was leaving Phoenix a couple of days ago, I stopped by the University of Phoenix Stadium.  I like to see these ball parks that I watch on TV all the time.  This is an impressive domed one where the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL play.  They also had a Super Bowl there once.

Also, I've been seeing these signs on these high-elevation roads in Arizona and New Mexico warning about elk crossings.  When I stopped at the gate at the Grand Canyon the other day and paid my park fee, almost as soon as I got up to speed again entering the park, an ELK crossed in front of me about 50-60 yards away.  It was kinda like a deer going across the road in front of you, but this animal reminded me more of a HORSE.  I didn't see any big horns, so it must have been a young one, or maybe a female (??).  You DO NOT want to hit one of these in a Ford Fiesta!

The landscape around the Grand Canyon area is what is called the Colorado Plateau.  It's a lot like what I saw in Wyoming, only the little scrubby bushes grow quite a bit taller.  This type of environment continues across most of New Mexico, where you cross mesa after mesa until you finally go over the last one and end up in the Texas panhandle.  There, it looks a lot like Nebraska--greener with more farms and cattle.  This is pretty much what I saw all day...

Spent the night in Amarillo, Texas.

The Painted Desert

The Petrified Forest National Park includes the beautiful landscapes of what is called the "Painted Desert" of eastern Arizona.  Both are just off of Interstate 40 in the northeastern part of the state.  On a beautiful two-hour drive, you see the fallen trees of the Petrified Forest, turned to rock ages ago, and the incredible colors and landforms of the Painted Desert.  If it weren't so hot, you could just stay all day and look.

Petrified Forest Pics...

Painted Desert...

Petroglyphs scratched by Indians into rocks

 At an exhibit near the end of the drive, I discovered that I was roughly following the old Route 66 on this part of my journey.  A lot of the old "tourist traps" are now dried up, but they break the monotony of driving.  Still, like Wyoming, this part of the nation has a stark beauty and a vastness that's hard to explain to somebody from the East who hasn't seen it.

The most incredible thing I've ever seen

Yesterday I drove north from Phoenix, stopping at Montezuma's Caste National Monument.  It wasn't built by Aztecs, so the European-given name isn't really appropriate, but it's a wonderful example of cliff dwellings.  The Verde Valley of Arizona was a popular trading route, and the Indians who lived here 700 years ago were farmers and traders.





From there, it was about 100 miles to the Grand Canyon.  I planned a trip to the Canyon about 20 years ago, but had car trouble on the way and couldn't complete the journey.  I'm so glad I was able to see this place, finally!  No words that I could say here can add to what anybody else has said to describe it.  It is simply the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  To walk around with hundreds of people who are feeling exactly the same thing is an amazing experience as well.  Surely, God is by far the greatest artist ever!