3 August 2010

We left Albuquerque the same way we'd come in, negotiating the miserable intersection on Coors Blvd outside our motel, where no U-turns or left turns are possible. But we made it back onto I-40 for 40 miles before we needed gas; a good warm-up leg.

The stamp for the El Malpais NM is at a generic New Mexico visitor center just off I-40, which Boyd recognized as having been a stop on an earlier trip to North Carolina with his wife. There was a prairie dog town right outside the balcony, with a smattering of varmints visible; the ranger said a mangy coyote had recently been harassing them.



A few miles farther down the interstate was the turn-off for the actual El Malpais area, as well as the El Morro National Monument.

 

There is an extensive cliff face at El Morro, where travelers going back hundreds of years have left graffiti noting their passing. The popularity of the site is explained by a reliable waterhole, one place for many miles where it was possible to stop and recover.



We had two options for getting back to I-40; I chose the one that kept us on two-lanes longer and it was perhaps a bit shorter. In any case, once we got back onto the interstate I started thinking about gas again. The gps isn't very good for finding amenities out in the boonies, the stations it found on the route seemed at extreme range, although we could probably make it.

But then there was a sign for the Petrified Forest NP, with a gas station indicated. Where did that come from, and why wasn't it on my list of parks to stop at? Is the visitor center perhaps 50 miles north? (I remember riding through the Painted Desert [which is coexistant] more than 25 years ago, but don't remember many details.) Nope, the visitor center is right off the road, it's huge, with tour buses, mobs of motorcycles, swarms of tourists, a Fred Harvey restaurant and even a post office. So we got a bonus stamp, as well as a tank of (87 octane) gas.



Now we're heading for Flagstaff, and points north, with apprehensive glances toward some nasty weather seemingly building there, when all of a sudden there's a sign for the Walnut Canyon National Monument, and I run through my litany of huh?s again. Once off the interstate, we note the sign says "3 miles," and notwithstanding the first officious ranger we encountered this trip at the entrance kiosk who wants to see some ID along with my Golden Age passport, we find a gorgeous canyon, with hiking trails and a picture window overlook for the less adventurous.



Back on the road and almost immediately the turn-off for 89 north, which we take--for about a mile. Remember those dark clouds to the north? A couple of lightning zaps, and I pull over. "Wanna quit?" "I was hoping you'd ask!" So back down to a Super 8, where we got everything buttoned up, and even groceries shopped for before the storm came through.

I'd been hoping for a six park day, given the two we'd stumbled across, but I'd rather not ride in a lightning storm. San Diego is a fairly easy two day ride from here, even if we go up and get those two parks (which we don't really need--we're at 48 right now).

States: New Mexico, Arizona

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