Holbrook

We continued west out of Albuquerque with the sun shining, nice and warm riding conditions and not a rain cloud in sight (for a change)! We stopped for lunch in the historic Rout 66 town of Gallup. Again, we saw evidence of quirky, Route 66 themed buildings, although apparently one or two of the more historic buildings were allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and ended up being burnt down by the local fire brigade for fire practice! Such a shame!

It was only about 34 kms further up the road that we crossed the state line into Arizona. After about an hour of riding we detoured through the Petrified Forest National Park. This park is known for finds of fossilized remains of dinosaurs and also for petrified tree logs that were washed down into what once were flood plains. A mixture of silt, mud and volcanic ash buried the logs. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs, replacing the original wood tissues with silica and petrifying them. The landscape was very interesting and reminded me of the Badlands of South Dakota.

The day was heating up by this stage (it got to 98 Fahrenheit or 37 Celsius). The park is a 45km ride from the entrance to the southern exit and then it was only about another half hour ride to our stop for the day at Holbrook. 

We decided to get into the spirit of Route 66 and booked a room at the famous WigWam Motel. Each unit is made of concrete and shaped like a WigWam. Each unit has a permanently parked classic car outside to add to the 1950’s vibe of the place. Very cool and a fun place to stay!