Arizona-From Plains to Mountains-State 13 of 49 on our Adventure -Part 1

Eric & Lora Benz
May 1, 2018
6 min read

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Welcome to Arizona. Arizona became a U.S. state on February 14, 1912. The state was the 48th state admitted to the U.S. and the last of the contiguous states to be admitted. Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. Northern Arizona features forests of pine, douglas fir, spruce trees and also is part of the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is a desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered across large portions of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.

This is Lora and I first trip to Arizona. My sister, Jocelyn, her husband Gerard and their children, has been living in Chandler, AZ for almost 30 years.

The distance from Isleta Lakes & RV Park in Albuquerque, NM to Sun Valley RV Park in Sun Valley, AZ is 236 miles. The route takes about 3 hrs 22 min. We are headed to Sun Valley RV Resort (formerly Root 66 RV Park) in Sun Valley, Arizona.

The drive is all highway driving. The scenery ever changes along the away with amazing rock formations and mountains.

Sun Valley RV Resort is off the famed Highway 66 which is actually Highway I-40 now. The campground is under new ownership, which we are seeing is a trend when researching campgrounds before we visit an area. Our reservation is for 3 nights (Apr 24th through Apr 28th.

At first sight there is not much to see. There are vast open ranges on either side of the highway. On occasion we will see a single or a local spatter of random campers in the middle of vast fields like true nomads isolated from society.

A quick search of TripAdvisor there are a few attractions under 1 hr. The campground host and daughter of the owner suggested one day to visit the Painted Desert, one day to visit the Petrified Forest, and the last day visit Winslow, AZ.

After setting up, we decided to drive to the nearest town. Holbrook was founded in 1881 or 1882, when the railroad was built, and named to honor the first chief engineer of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The history of Holbrook goes back to before Jamestown Settlement. It was a wild-west Cowtown. Many hired cowboys were wanted men hiding from arrest. Rustling of cattle and horses over two million acres plagued the Hashknife Outfit. With cowmen, sheepmen, farmers, rustlers and outlaws competing for the same land, a range war ensued.

On September 4, 1887 Commodore Perry Owens, the Apache County Sheriff, came to Holbrook to arrest Andy Blevins (A.K.A Andy Cooper) for horse theft. Blevins had also recently bragged about killing two men and had killed many more, including two lawmen. Sheriff Owens went to the Blevins house, which still stands, knocked on the door and when Blevins asked what he wanted, announced he'd come to arrest Blevins. Blevins resisted arrest and a shootout occurred. Blevins, two brothers, a friend, and Blevins horse were all shot - all died except one brother. Owens emerged unscathed despite being shot at from a half-dozen feet away. Owens single-handedly taking on four men made him a western legend rivaling the Earp Brothers and Texas John Slaughter as lawmen of the west.

There are not many options in Holbrook if you want local food. Tom and Suzie's Diner is on the historic Old Route 66 that passed through so many towns in its hay day. The staff were happy and excited to hear about our adventure. We ordered sandwiches. The sandwiches were large, so we ate half and saved the other half for later.

After lunch we drove deeper into town. TripAdvisor listed the Navajo County Historical Museum. The museum is a hidden gem.

The admission is free. The museum is deceiving because when you first enter, it appears the museum is on only one level. Each room has an exhibit about the region.

Lora asked about the restrooms and discovered the jail on the way. The jail is really old and has original sketches and notes from the prisoners. There are newspapers on display from when JFK was assassinated.

What many people may not know is there is an upstairs to the museum. There is nothing that would suggest there is more there. The courtroom, library, judges chamber, national park tribute and ranger tribute are all upstairs. There are bunches of court recorders used throughout the courts history. In the courtroom there is a wall dedicated to the September 4, 1887 arrest of the Blevins Brothers by Commodore Perry Owens, the Apache County Sheriff with I added to the story above.

After the museum we stopped by Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Co.. The establishment was loaded with petrified trees of all sizes and shapes. The store was comprised of a gift shop, high-end petrified décor and furniture, and a museum display. The price range is significant. When polishing a petrified tree there is a range of colors and crystals that emerge from the center to the bark.

We headed back to the camper to end the evening. When the sun was setting we walked to the entrance of the RV Park to get a few sunset pictures.

As usual the evening was windy, we were shielded on the rear by a former motel in the middle of the RV Park. Our goal today was to visit the Petrified Forest. We Googled if pets are welcome to the park, so we can bring Bella Bee. The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert entrance off Route 40 is just 15 miles east of Sun Valley.

We did not know how long we would be at the park, so we packed one of the water backpacks and Bella’s portable water dish.

Our expectations were blown away by the beauty and size of this ancient forest and painted desert. I can only imagine how these trees were toppled. Was it a meteor, volcanic ash, or ice age? In the towns there are petrified rocks, jewelry, and furniture for sale. I recommend starting The National Park just off I-40 east of Holbrook. The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are on the same route.

The park route is approximately 24 miles and worth every bit of the drive. There are many places to park and be amazed by the sights. Route 66 used to pass through the park, but when Interstate 40 was created the route changes. The is a maker with an old car where the Route once existed.

There is also an Indian settlement preserved with petroglyphs symbols etched into stone in two specific locations in the park.

It is amazing to see large petrified tree trunks jetting out of the multi-colored hills just as they fell thousands of years ago. Depending on the tree the colors inside the tree are spectacular. There are no viewpoints outside the National Park to see this beauty, so make the time to drive through if you can.

The next day was our last full day in Sunny Valley. We ventured out to the west towards Flagstaff, Arizona. Our first stop was Winslow, Arizona. Winslow, AZ home of The “Standin’ on the Corner” Park. Its an Eagle’s Tribute to the song “Take it Easy”. The song has the lyric “standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine site to see, it’s a girl my lord in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”! The park features a life-sized bronze of a guitar carrying balladeer, a girl standing on a corner, and a mural that depicts the girl in a flatbed Ford.

The center of the corner has a Route 66 sign painted on the road. There are many visitors taking pictures next to the statues and mural. The local museum is closed on Mondays so were unable to visit the museum. Lora picked up some Route 66 items and a hat.

Another 17 miles west on Route 40 is the world’s best preserved meteorite impact site on Earth. Meteor Crater is the result of a collision between an asteroid traveling 26,000 miles per mph and planet earth approximately 50,000 years ago. The movie gives the example of traveling from New York to the meteorite impact site in 5 minutes. Meteor Crater is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. They have a outdoor observation trails, air conditioned indoor viewing, wide screen movie theater, museum, and an Astronaut Memorial Park at the Visitor Center located on the crater rim. NASA used to train at the site for their moon landings during the Apollo missions. There is also wreckage of a plane that had crashed in the crater. The meteor crater is a hidden gem nice to visit. We were unable to walk out onto the actual rim due to high winds exceeding 90 mph at the top.

After the Meteor Crater we headed back towards home. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Winslow before heading home to end our day. We had another great day of sunset. The smoke from the forest fire south of Winslow really lit up the sunset.