Getting to Holbrook from Gallup

It started out as a day getting from point A to point B along route 66.... interesting enough in itself seeing the countryside and the old road. We crossed the New Mexico border in to Arizona spending a little time at the border. I am the "designated" photographer- the others all take photos but I take many of the "drive-bys" as I like to call them. There is many an opportunity for a drive-by as we motor down Route 66- something that flies past us as we are driving that is interesting but really not worth stopping for- someone will say "Oooh look at that" and I will either grab and snap it or be in the process of photographing it as I have noticed it too. Usually indicating to the other that I have "Got it!" or that we were going to fast and "missed it!". It pays to have an SLR with an 18mm to 200 zoom lens!
But I digress... at the border I was leaping in an out of the car like a gazelle trying to get a photo of both of the border signs without getting run over or Sue getting booked or crushed by a truck., got them.
The landscape seemed to change dramatically again- I remember when we went from Texas into New Mexico last trip it was such a contrast. This time it was a contrast too and we stopped at the first trading post and rocky outcrop lingering over the incongruous figures placed along the roof of the buildings.
Content to continue on and admire more scenery we kept with the directions of the Route 66 guide and as we were crossing from one side of I-40 to the south Frontage Road we saw the Apple Dumplin restaurant. We decided it looked like a good spot to have some lunch. Basically in the middle of nowhere- nothing else seemingly nearby but the place was pretty full with just one waitress and someone mysterious (we didn't see them) in the kitchen managing it all.
The decor was "western" lots of photos and ropes, table cloths with plastic over them making for easy cleaning and pairs of old cowboy boots on the legs of each table. We ordered some sandwiches to share and while waiting for it all a man at a nearby table asked us where we were from and we had a short conversation about Australia and Route 66- he lives near another section of the road and his friend he was having lunch with lived further up the road- so a pleasant little chat and a bit of a wait and some very large meals arrived- we were very glad we were sharing! We decided we couldn't leave the place without having a "dumplin" and shared one of those too. A very pleasant meal and when we went to pay the chatty man from the next table had already paid our bill- we were going to leave a tip for the waitress but he had done that already and was long gone from the place. How nice was that! We couldn't get over how generous he was and we have no idea of who he is. The waitress said he's "lovely"".
So feeling replete we headed in to Holbrook to perhaps stay at the Wigwam Motel- we visited the Tourist Information Center and were convinced to go to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. And wasn't that a great call!
The National Park gates shut at 6pm so we had about an hour and a half to drive through and walk around a little.Our first impression was that the Petrified Forest did not sound very appealing as it comprises stone log fragments scattered over a rather remote and otherwise featureless section of Arizona desert. Apparently it comes as a disappointment to some who expect the trees still to be standing in thick rocky groves instead of lying flat in sections as they are. The petrified logs are extremely beautiful with most unexpectedly bright colors, and the park is in a section of the scenic Painted Desert so it is well worth our visit.
The patterns in the rocks that make up the Painted Desert are visible in the eroded soft sedimentary rocks due mainly to hematite (red), limonite (yellow) and gypsum (white), and the colors are especially striking at sunset- as it was nearly sunset we were really lucky- lucky in our timing and lucky that we made the effort to go and see it all.
We stopped along the way at the Crystal Forest. This was once strewn with especially beautiful logs, which had crevices containing clear quartz and purple amethyst crystals, but all the best specimens were removed by souvenir hunters long ago. It was this theft that prompted local citizens to petition for the creation of the then National Monument, which was established in 1906 - National Park status was not achieved until 1962. A few small crystalline specimens can still be seen, amongst other more typical logs, by the paved 0.75 loop path that has a few short steepish sections across ravines. We walked and looked and photographed in awe of the amazing colours and beauty of the area.