Sunday, May 23 --

Sunday, May 23, 2010

What a day this has been. We left this morning by nine thinking it would be an easy day of travel. The Continental Divide was not very far. I had a special interest in this because when I was teaching fifth grade this was always in our curriculum, also in reading about the pioneers coming west it was referred to very often. We pulled off the road beside a little Indian store and took pictures of the sign. The elevation was 7,275 feet, which is the highest we have ever been with our feet on the ground. At this spot we began to notice high winds.

I called my cousin, Genetta, to tell her that we might be at her place by Wednesday night instead of Thursday as originally planned. We made a reservation at Williams Arizona to stay the next two nights, Sunday and Monday, while touring the Grand Canyon. Now all was set and back on the road we went. Everything seemed to be worked out.

When we got to the Arizona state line we were told that I-40 had been closed due to high winds which blow dust and sand so badly that there is no visibility. The winds have been blowing extremely hard all day. We are now in a bit of a dilemma, not knowing what we should do. The detour route is long, 150 miles, and it is mountainous, which makes Harry very uncomfortable pulling the camper.

We decided to drive to the Petrified Forest National Park. We had no idea how long this would take or what we would do afterwards. It was a 28 mile drive with lots of pull offs and over looks. That park was something with both the painted dessert and the Petrified Forest. First we came to the dessert part which was layers and layers of sand of different colors making mounds, mountains, valleys, cones and every shape imaginable. The
beauty of it all is indescribable. They said the colors are constantly changing due to the atmosphere and weather conditions. As we drove through, there would be one scene after another stacked with layers of blue, green, pink, yellow, gray, white, and brown.

Harry drove around ten miles and wasn’t sure whether to go back or keep going, due to the extremely vicious winds. When we got out of the truck at an overlook, it was difficult to keep our footing and stay where you were standing. I told him we hadn’t seen any petrified wood yet so we better keep going. We looked at the map and it was beyond where we were. He kept trucking along and soon we began to see the pieces of logs that had petrified. These were sometimes long logs that looked to be cut into blocks about three or four feet long. We don’t know whether they had been cut or had just broken up. Mixed with these logs would be more sand, rocks, and scrub brush and occasionally some wild flowers. There was one overlook where the wood had crystallized. All along there would be one overlook after another many showing deep valleys of colorful scenery.

I’m sure driving the truck and camper with the wind beating into the side was not an easy task, but he kept trucking along until we were finished with the tour. All the time we were moving, we were also wondering about the road situation, but doubtful it had opened because the winds had not let up any.

Upon exiting the park we went into another ranger station and talked to the ranger. He doubted that the winds would die down until night and he would advise us to wait it out. He suggested staying at a little RV park that was just outside the national park. There were no facilities, just a place to park—but it was free!

So here we are sitting beside a store (Indian operated) along with six other motor homes. Harry is outside right now. We would like to go out and walk around a little to see if we can get a better cell phone signal which is now poor to non existent. Thankfully I was able to call the campground and cancel the reservation for tonight. I made it for tomorrow and the following night instead.

It feels like it is going to get rather cold tonight, but we have our nice warm trava-sack (double sleeping bag) and we will be snug as bugs in a rug!! The neighbor said they may run their generator so they can run a heater. We hope it won’t be too loud. We are praying to get to Williams tomorrow safely and without the high winds. Harry wants to get an early start. He is concerned about the high winds another road closure. No computer, only our battery for the lights, no heat, no TV, so we will be early to bed and early to rise.