New Mexico to Arizona

Rita standing outside one of the art galleries in the Canyon art district.  The whirly gigs were beautiful and different from the folk American art crafted by Vollis Simpson in Wilson County (which are also whimsical and beautiful).

The entranceway to the lobby of the Inn on the Alameda with it's charming Southwestern design and decor.

Our view of the landscape along I40 in New Mexico.  This state may turn out to take the prize for most beautiful to us.

We never knew red rock could be so breathtaking in Arizona!

The Painted Desert was our first view as we entered the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.  Most of the Painted Desert region is within the Navajo Nation.

This is a cross-section of a petrified log where you can see the rings of the tree.












     While at the Inn on the Alameda, Rita met a woman from Pinehurst who was originally from Roxboro.  They enjoyed talking about home.  We forgot to mention on an earlier day that we also met a young woman from Greensboro who knew one of Rita's former teachers.  She was on her way to Los Angeles with her 2 young red-headed twin sons pursuing a career in modeling and acting for them.  Small world but I digress.
     Before leaving Santa Fe, we took a cool stroll in the Canyon art district.  There were lots of art galleries with a wide  variety of styles...waaaay out of our price range but fun to window shop.  Last, we headed to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum which held a small but considerable collection of her vast work which is exhibited throughout the world.  We left the snow-capped peaks surrounding Santa Fe and headed for Arizona.
     Close to the Arizona state line we got our third and worst hail storm.  Luckily, they don't last long.  At the Arizona rest area, Angela ran up a small hill to the rim of a canyon despite the warning, "Poisonous snakes and insects inhabit this area".  Down the highway a short distance, we crossed a small bridge over Black Creek.  So now Angela has been to Wilson County in one state and Black Creek in another state!)
     An hour away from our destination of Winslow, Arizona, we took a detour to the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert.  The Painted Desert is a long expanse of badlands hills and buttes.  Although barren, a multitude of colors have formed from lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant red, orange and pink.  Event though it was a little overcast, it was a breathtaking sight!  Then off to the Petrified Forest to see pieces of wood that had turned into stone.  The trees had fallen in the water where they were buried in the mud and deprived of oxygen.  The mineral-rich water turned them into stone.  Fascinating!
     While at the park, we talked with the park ranger and knew we had to make a disappointing decision.  He had learned that as the wildfires of Sedona, AZ grew in size, the smoke had now reached the Grand Canyon.  Rita called our hotel at the Grand Canyon and was told you could not see the far rim of the canyon.  In addition to the lack of visibility, Rita has had asthma most of her life and cannot physically tolerate the smoke.  Hard decision but a no-brainer.  We'll just have to come back sometime.
     We finally arrived in Winslow, Arizona ( population approx. 9,670 ) just in time for our dinner reservation at the La Posada.  What an absolute gem in the middle of  nowhere!