Albuquerque To Winslow

Friday, March 15, 2019

It was time to get the wheels rolling Thursday morning. The 35 mph steady winds had died down and what wind we had would mostly be a head wind. Our original plan was to lay over in Holbrook but there’s not much to do there.

We decided to push another 52 miles to Meteor Crater RV Park located 20 miles west of Winslow AZ. Although we traveled an hour longer we still pulled into camp at 1330 hours due to the time change. You see, the majority of Arizona is on Mountain Standard Time year round which just happens to coincide with Pacific daylight time. Going from Albuquerque which is on Mountain Daylight time to Winslow we actually gained one hour in time as the little hand on the clock moved back one hour.

Heading west on I-40 through New Mexico we cruise through and around flat mesas. It’s pretty rugged country all in all. We pass a number of small communities which we guess are predominantly Native American habitats. Many Indian casinos have sprung up along the highway and most of them have truck stops. Every truck stop we passed had a zillion trucks sitting in them. I think most of them had laid over the day before because of the extreme wind conditions. Along the way we passed a semi that was laying on its side, a wrecker crew attempting to upright the rig and its trailer.the Arizona border At the Arizona border is a very picturesque rest area.

At the Arizona border is the Yellowhorse Trading Post. The trading post is decorated with very colorful buildings, at least as colorful and the bluffs behind it. We didn’t stop there but we did stop next door at a most beautiful rest area. This portion of Arizona and much of the countryside we passed through in New Mexico is just drop dead gorgeous.

Eventually the mesas and red and buff striped bluffs make way to rolling plains. Surprising was the amount of snow clinging to the mesas but this is pretty high country.

The Continental Divide at Interstate 40 is over 7200 feet. I haven’t seen an elevation sign less than 5000 feet since leaving Alburqueque NM.

We stopped in Holbrook (5050 souls), seat of Navajo County. The town was founded around 1881 when the railroad was built and named in honor of the first chief engineer of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. After the railroad was established one of the largest ranches ever to exist, the Aztec Land and Cattle Company was established. That brought cattle rustlers, outlaws, sheepmen, and farmers all competing for the same land. A bloody range war ensued known as the Pleasant Valley War.

There are many wonderful sights not too far from Holbrook. El Desert Pintada, aka the Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, Hopi ruins and the Grand Canyon are within striking distance. And don’t forget Sedona with all its beautiful red rock formations nor the alpine town of Flagstaff.

Jil found a dog park on the internet that is in Holbrook and wanted to check it out. Yeah, right, I’m thinking. It probably is a dirt area full of loathed goat head stickers enclosed by a chain link fence. But by golly it was a nice sized grass area with a very large paved parking lot surrounding it on three sides. The mutzos really enjoyed the romp on real grass! We drove through Holbrook and back onto Interstate 40, driving past Winslow, continuing 20 more miles west to Meteor Crater RV Park.

Meteor Crater RV Park is pretty nice. There’s not much grass in this neck of the woods so the owners created large gravel islands between the RV parking pads and furnish picnic tables. There’s also a few trees around. The drive thru sites are adequately long. Out front is a small convenience store and a gas station. It’s a comfortable park.

This will be a good stop. We plan to visit Meteor Crater and the town of Winslow while here. More next time!