Adventurers in the Rockies

Chapter Twenty-six

July 25, 2016

Monday

by

Robin Bowers

Text and Photos by Author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent

Comments are appreciated at...yr.mmxx@gmail.com

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BNSF 7090 West at Baca Road.



BNSF 4347 West between Baca and Thoreau. We beat the train to Thoreau and got up on the bridge over the tracks.






























BNSF 4347 West at Thoreau, NM. We took I-40 west through Gallup but had to stop for another train.









BNSF 7318 East at West Gallup. We got off of I-40 and took St Rt. 118 west to the bridge over the BNSF mainline and waited.















BNSF 7124 West at Manuelito. We drove into Arizona and stopped at the rest area. From there it was back to I-40 to the exit for the Petrified Forest. Chris and I decided since we saw the Painted Desert going eastbound why miss the Petrified Forest on our westbound return home. I had bought an Interagency Senior Pass for our entrance to the Painted Desert so we were able to enter without any fees this time.






BNSF 4347 West at the highway bridge at the Petrified Forest. We now start our tour of the this unique National Park.






Our first stop was at the Puerco Pueblo.

Walk among a partial excavation on a 100+ room village, occupied 1250-1380 CE.






Stop at The Tepees.






From here we drove to Blue Mesa where we stopped for our first viewpoint.



















At this viewpoint, we got to see our first petrified logs on our tour.













Some views from Blue Mesa.
























More views of Blue Mesa.















A 110 ft (34m) petrified log spanning a gully.



From here we drove to the Jasper Forest.






Author.



Jasper Forest is an area with a high concentration of petrified wood.









Crystal Forest.










"Old Faithful" is the showcase log, at almost ten feet across the base.



After the Great Logs, we completed our tour with a quick look inside the Rainbow Forest Museum & Visitors Center. Afterward we exited the park on the south end and took US 180 west to Holbrook then I-40 to Winslow. We stopped at MacDonald's for an early dinner then had one last thing to do in Winslow.



BNSF main line.



Big Plant east of Winslow.



Yep, I am standin' on that corner.



About one hour west of Winslow we came upon this big ouch.




By now the rain had started to fall. We found a train and got to Maine just as one was heading east.



After that train we saw this westbound coming.



BNSF 5476 West at Maine. We then went back to I-40 and the rain got worse.  It was 50 MPH driving for over the next hour as our good driver stayed at the below the speed limit and those bad ones just flew by. Once we neared Seligman, Chris decided to leave I-40 for old US 66 with a lot less traffic. Once we were closer to Peach Springs and back in the sunshine, we stopped for a picture.



This was the storm we had come out of and with good riddance to the nasty storm. We went to Peach Springs and found a green signal and waited.







BNSF 6583 West at Peach Springs. We took off to get another picture of this train.
















BNSF 6583 West.










BNSF 6583 West near Valentine. We headed to Kingman in a dust storm.


















We chased #6583 for a few miles and as long as the road would let us.






















BNSF 6583 West nearing Kingman.






Nearing Kingman we pulled off the highway and called Elizabeth to make a reservation for us at the Best Western in Needles, CA. We decided not to stay in Kingman in a dust storm. Once on the move again, we caught up and passed our train then crossed the Colorado River and we were back in our home state.



Going through Kingman.










We checked into the Best Western and it was a cool 119 degrees Fahrenheit (but it was a dry sauna heat).

Home soon and our last day

JULY 26, 2016

    That blast furnace of Needles was still on when we packed up the car and checked out. One last MacDonald's breakfast and filling the car with gas and we were off for home. Chris got off of Interstate 40 taking US 95 to the old US 66 to show me the way the Santa Fe Railroad crossed the desert. The road was opened all the way to Ludlow and we did see some trains along the way. At Ludlow we returned to Interstate 40 and stopped at the rest area. On the move again at Barstow we took Interstate 15 to CA 60 and construction delay due to a closed car pool lane for about a mile. CA 60 took us right onto the car pool lane on CA 57 to the car pool lane on Interstate 5 to the car pool lane on CA 55 and then the car pool lane on I 405 which we got off and exited at Brookhurst. Soon we were back to my apartment. I unloaded my bags and we both commented that it had been a fantastic trip to Colorado. Chris then drove back to his home in Santa Ana.

What a great trip the adventurers had but it was so good to be home again.

Hopefully you enjoyed this report and will read about new NRHS conventions in the future.