Part 1: The Many Faces of Arizona (day 4)

February 8, 2009 at 10:21 am Leave a comment

Yesterday we meandered all over the diverse landscapes of Arizona. I can’t believe that everything we saw yesterday was in one state. I have been to Arizona before, but did not expect to see all of this wrapped up into one state. I felt like I was in different states at times. We went in search of Route 66, to the Petrified National Forest, Flagstaff, Sadona, and ended at the Grand Canyon. Here is our route.

First story of the day: The Search for Route 66
So I read online that there was this really picturesque section of Route 66 between Pinta and the Petrified forest. So instead of taking 40 to the Forest, I wanted to take Route 66 from Pinta. We started driving from Gallup, NM and quickly got to the Pinta exit. Getting off the exit, the road twisted a bit and then the cement ended to just a dirt road. The truck stopped…what to do? The website didn’t warn about a dirt road or traitorous travel to get there…Should we keep going or turn around? Knowing me, Justin knew I wanted to keep going, so without saying a word, the started to drive forward. Both of us silently worried that this treasure hunt might come to a bad end with us getting stuck in the mud in the middle of the desert or with nowhere to turn our tahoe and Uhaul around if the road ended…

Pinta Rd turned to dirt

The dirt road looked worse to the eye than it actually felt. It was pretty smooth as long as you drove slow. It also helped that our nav showed the roads that we were embarking on so that gave me hope that Route 66 would still be there as the website explained. We got to Route 66 to find the shell of a road. Most of the pavement had disintegrated to crumbles of pebbles making it like a gravel road. We looked at each other and continued on. This section of the old Route 66 was one lane with not much forgiveness. It was very narrow and the small to large bushes/plants, etc. growing through the pavement along the edges made the road even skinnier. 5-10 mph is as fast as we could go. Noticing that I-40 was an earshot away and we could see all the cars whizzing by off in the distance, Justin was not enjoying the adventure as much as I was. I wanted the authenticity of the real Route 66, not the remade commercialized version.

Remnants of Route 66

We kept forging ahead as the tire marks of other brave souls showed in the gravel ahead making both of us believe other people have traveled this road recently and made it. My secondary goal for this trip down Route 66 was the ruins of the Painted Desert Trading Post, a popular stop along Route 66. After driving 5-10 mph for 3 or so miles, we finally made it.

From the trading post, the Petrified Forest was about 4-6 miles away or we could turn around to head back to 40. We decided to keep going forward. The road got even more narrow and less traveled as went forward. We passed over a bridge and by an old wooden house which I imagine would have been where the owners of the Trading Post lived. We kept going as there was really no turning back at this point. The road had no shoulder and the bushes on the edges would have made it impossible to turn around. Then what you would expect happened. We came to the closed gate of the Petrified Forest – no entry! UGGGGG. Luckily others came to the same result as there were tracks of other cars looping around to head back. I wish the website would have mentioned this tiny, important fact. So we headed all the way back to Pinta Road. Thank God for no flat tires, crumbling bridges, or other mishaps as it would be hard to explain to a toe truck how to pick us up. It was a crazy little trip, one I won’t forget.

More to come about the rest of the day later…..