Albuquerque to Peach Springs Arizona.

---

The road west from Albuquerque is once again mainly restricted to the I40 as it actually covers most of it. There are small sections that shoot off but only for a few miles and then they return to the faster interstate highway. This was however not a problem as which ever road you choose going west out of New Mexico is stunning.

We had a good 500-600 miles to cover today, so taking the fast road was the best option anyway and we really enjoyed speeding past the small settlements either side with the pastel red colour of the hills and the San Francisco mountain peaks on the horizon.(not actually in San Francisco which is confusing!)

The first stop was about 240 miles into Arizona (about the same distance from mid cornwall to London!) just before the town of Holbrook is the Petrified Forest National Park. This is a 28mile loop with dozens of spectacular stops displaying some of the most amazing geological formations I have ever seen. Part of it was actually used as a settlement 2000 years ago where you can still see the petroglyphs scratched into the rocks by the tribe that farmed the

land. Got lots of panoramic pictures that I will try and upload.

After ending the tour we took the 180 highway that connected us back up to the I44. We could then join the route 66 for a few miles into the town of Winslow where we got the obligatory pictures next to the statue mentioned in the famous Eagles song (im sure you've all heard it!)

It was hot today, I saw the car outside temp reached 105f which for us back in Blighty is over 40 degrees c! So we were happy to be back in the air conditioned car to speed on for the last 140 ish miles for the day. It took us off onto the 66 for the longest uninterrupted section so far and also the straightest.

After passing through a lovely town called Flagstaff, the scenery had now blended into a fresher green of the trees as we ascended out of the desert. At this point of around 7500 feet above sea level, we descended on a straight road atleast 15-20 miles long on into the Hualapai Indian reserve on the west side of the Grand Canyon. We

were disappointed we didn't get time to see Monument Valley back east, but we will try to get to see as much of the canyons tomorrow before we have to move on again!

---

Comments

[Tony Austin]

Flagstaff Arizona
I'm really liking the pics of the 'badlands' - keep 'em coming. I think Zoe spent some time in Flagstaff after she was at the Grand Canyon, and liked it there also.