Flagstaff/ New Mexico/Fort Stockton

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We are now in Fort Stockton, Texas.
Our trip from Flagstaff has been interesting and looking out the car window our heads continue to swivel.
In Flagstaff we were as close to the Pacific Ocean as we will get!!
Another 469 miles to Los Angeles!!
However , we headed east from Flagstaff.

Our first stop on the 20th April was Winslow, on Route 66.
The Eagles put this town on the map with their song "Standing on the Corner"; so we stood at the same corner ; the store at that sme corner had tons of Route 66 tourist stuff!
The same town has a gorgeous older hotel called "La Posada"; it is fashioned after a Mexican hacienda and was designed by Mary Jane Colter, a contempory architect of Frank Lloyd Wright.
We toured the lobby; and the entire downstairs. Built in 1929 this place is similar to the Grand Hotel on MacKinaw Island , Michigan. Over the years the rich and famous have stayed there. And the rich from LA came there there by train I believe long before road travel would have been available.
It is still available for travellers to stay in; one lady registered while we were there ; she was charged $800.00 for 5 nites. This would be a very relaxing spot to stay I believe.
After another short drive we were able to drive thru the Petrified Forest National Park and see the rock resulting from the trees changing , now millions of years old. We have pics of these and I do believe a pic here is worth a thousand words!!Needless to say the colours in these rocks were gorgeous. They were formed in the Triassic time of history and the dinosaur remains of this time are on display. The drive thru is 28 miles long; we were there about 2 hours , stopping and looking at the lookout points; then we left that park area on highway 180, heading east on a very deserted road. The view was more of wide open spaces as far as the eye can see; and truly lovely to drive thru.
We spent the nite in Saint Johns, Arizona. This is a very small town; workers were up the next morning by 5 am (daybreak) and off to work.
We left at 7:30 am that sae morning, Apr 21 , and the drive that morning thru a bit of AZ crossing into New Mexico was truly one of our nicest of the entire trip. We went thru the San Francisco Mountains; and spring was coming alive with wildflowers at the side of the road. Along the river side cottontail trees were a light green; and we saw a group of elk at the side of the road around 8 :15 am; this drive led us to Silver City; we were there around the noon hour , and Rick somehow drove right to the Gallery Co-op I'd seen listed in the AAA tour book. This downtown was filled with interesting shops. There was an array of paintings , crafts, jewelry and photography, something for everyone's taste. We went in 3 or 4 galleries and an antique store. Probably a great place to live or visit.
By 3 pm we were in Las Cruses, New Mexico. This city has 75 000 people there.
It was plenty warm there, maybe 75 or so (F). Our motel room had a great view of a courtyard area, consisting of a pool, not open yet, and very active with birds. The grackle were plenty noisy and the mourning doves delightful. I found a nearby takeout restaurant serving Asian food. It was called "Pacific Rim"; I got a meal for under $5.00 of teriyaki chicken , rice and fresh veg. And enough food for 3 meals for me. Las Cruses reminded me of Santa Fe. It sits at the base of mountains. And also has many adobe coloured buildings. However, unlike Santa Fe, nLas Cruses is a aqricultural area and gets it water from the nearby Rio Grande River.
Today (apr 21) leaving Las Cruises we passed many state troopers (cops!!) and pecan orchards, and a humungous dairy farm. We were on interstae 10 and this road led us to Fort Stockton.
We went though a "border Patrol" check, where all vehicles were stopped, just 100 miles east of El Paso. One tropper had a dog on a leash, checking all vehicles for drugs; and both patrol employees were looking for illegal immigrants.
There is an outside pool where we are in Fort Stockton (Super 8) ; I was in 20 minutes!!Long enough as the water was very cold!!It was like swimming in the river at home when one wonders whether to go in or not!!
Time to get a few groceries. Take care all.

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