Another special National Park!

The Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

(Sightseeing)

April 28, 2017 - May 1, 2017

From Globe we drove to Show Low, AZ where we spent the night at a lovely state campground - getting the last site that was long enough for our motorhome and car.  We spent the night there then headed to Holbrook, AZ which put us in good position to visit the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. We drove over the next day to see the sights.

Part of the Painted Desert which derives its name from the multitude of colors ranging
from shades of lavender to shades of gray to shades of red, orange and pink. It consists
mostly of  barren badland hills and buttes but the colors make it a very beautiful place.

More Painted Desert

The Painted Desert Inn, built in 1920.  Originally it was built of blocks of petrified wood.
During the depression in the 30's the CCC added the adobe facade.

Interior shots of the Painted Desert Inn.

Check out the ceiling!

Isn't this right out of the 30's.

Sorry this is so blurry.  Just to give you an idea of the prices:
Plain Ice Cream: 15 cents
Chocolate sauce: 20 cents
Lemonade, Ginger Ale, Club Soda, Lime Ade, Coca Cola, Root Beer: 15 cents

The inn, of course, looks out over the painted desert.  In it's day it must have been quite the place to stay.

The Petrified Forest NP has many fine examples of pictographs.

There are lots of badlands in the Petrified Forest NP.
This is probably also considered painted desert but the colors are very muted.

When this petrified tree fell it bridged a ravine where it has lain ever since.
The CCC added the concrete support in the 30's in order to preserve the bridge.

All those tiny looking dark rocks in the valley below are chunks of  petrified wood.

Some petrified wood chunks up close.

An especially colorful piece of petrified wood.  The colors come from different minerals.

Another colorful piece.

The center of this tree was rotten when the tree fell.

Examples of long lengths of trees are relatively rare.
As you can see this tree has broken into pieces due to weathering.

Another long length of tree from it's base.

There are numerous shops around Holbrook where you can buy Petrified Wood.
This is one of the larger ones.

Examples of using petrified wood in your garden.

Examples of pieces large and small.

This petrified wood was next to the office in our campground.

Heading in a NE'erly direction - away from the heat!

Globe, Arizona

(Sightseeing)

April 26, 2017 - April 28, 2017

We hadn't traveled in such a long time it felt sort of odd to be on our way again.  We didn't go to far the first night.  Globe was about a 3 hour drive.  It's in the heart of mining country and was named for "a large globe or ball of silver, perfect in shape, and about 9 inches in diameter. It was 99 per cent [sic] pure and valued at over $12,000".  This "globe" of silver was found by a miner in 1873 and the race for silver was on.  Silver mining was big here till the veins ran out.  Now copper is king and of course it's now done by open pit mining rather than underground shafts.

Picture of one of the big open pit mines near Globe.

Next 3 pictures show the tailings created by the waste rock from the mine.
It's not only unsightly but these piles block any potential views.

We expected to only stay the night before heading on but we found several interesting things to do in Globe.  The first was Besh-Ba-Gowah, a partially restored pueblo ruin established by the Salado people which they occupied from 1225-1400 A.D.  It's located just on the outskirts of Globe.  They had a really nice museum with wonderful examples of Salado pottery and baskets and explanations of how Besh-Ba-Gowah was used by different peoples after the Salado people abandoned it.

They had rooms where various activities (such as pottery making, basket making, etc.) were preformed.

I can't quite get a grip on the amount of effort it took to get
all this rock to the sight, then build all the walls.

In addition to the museum and the ruins they had an ethno-botanical garden which showed the types of plants used by the people who once lived here.

Cotton plants

Agave which was used extensively for rope, sandals, clothing, baskets, etc.

This tree wasn't marked but I think it's a Pomegranate. 

Doreen using a mano to grind corn on a metate.
It does the job but it's takes a long time to get an amount sufficient for a tortilla. 

Still not completely ground but nearly there.

Our next stop was the local Historical Society Museum which we enjoyed.  We didn't take many pictures there but we did get on of this old vacuum cleaner because it was unlike any we'd ever seen before.  Imagine dragging this "labor saving device" around the house.   The washing "machine" to it's right also took a lot of manual labor but it beats banging your cloths against a rock or scrubbing them on a washboard.  The picture of the open pit mine at the beginning of this installment was also taken at the museum.

The museum also houses items of genealogical interest and the day we were there quite a few people came in looking for information on their ancestors who one lived in the area.  Laura swung right into action helping one woman understand how city directories worked.

We also drove out to see (Teddy) Roosevelt Lake and Dam which is about 34 miles from Globe.  It's a big lake (actually a reservoir) and from the numerous campgrounds marked along the road it clearly gets a lot of use from local boaters and fishermen.  TR himself dedicated the dam when it was finished.

Park of Roosevelt Lake

Roosevelt Dam
The original dam was built of hand hewn rock.  The dam was reinforced and raised after the 9/11
attack. You can still see some of the original rock just above the waterline in this picture.  The
individual pieces are huge!

Backside of the dam.
The original hand hewn rock was covered over with concrete when they reinforced and raised the dam.

The road alongside the lake use to traverse the top of the dam but after 9/11 things changed.
The bridge in the background was built to carry traffic past the dam rather than over it.

Going over the new bridge.

Globe made for an interesting stop and if you were only to see Besh-Ba-Gowah it would be more than worth trip.