Flagstaff, Arizona to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Not sure if we will get to Missouri by the end of this week if we continue this pattern of a state a day, for now we are just enjoying the trip!  Interstate 40 runs parallel to Rt.66, commonly called the Mother Road.  Through Arizona and now in New Mexico we have been seeing old signs for motels and restaurants along the classic road which have been left standing, also bulletin boards.

By the way, Fort Courage is now an abandoned bootleg attraction for tourists meant to cash in on the old television show "F Troop".  You can barely make out its name in the sign above.  I guess the detritus of the old highway does make the wide open desert plains here a bit less boring. This territory is the home for many Native American reservations, as the Navajo, Leguna, Acoma, Zuni, and Isela tribes.  We could see their small communities from the highway.  From what we could see from there, the homes are poorly constructed, many abandoned, or entail just small trailers.

 

Newer advertising boards give directions where to find barbecue, steak or seafood restaurants- also upscale motels with pools and spa.  And there are many signs advertising casinos.  I commented to John about how the natives must feel with those signs near their homes and they have no access or money to afford such luxuries.  John reminded me that those places are the bread and butter for the people living on the reservations.  So much for my social comment of the day!

 

We could see a fair amount of the Painted Desert as we drove through Arizona and into New Mexico.  The beautiful hues of pink and red are what gives the desert its name.

Towards the end of our journey for the day we saw the lava land of New Mexico, as evidence by the presence of large black rocks strewn over the desert floor.  Sunday afternoon we spent at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque and learned that 30 million years ago New Mexico  was covered by very large volcanoes, some 10 times larger than Mt. St. Helens.
After New Mexico our route will be taking us through part of Texas and into Oklahoma.  Unfortunately we will be leaving some of the spectacular scenery of the west behind, just not sure at this point when my next posting will be.