Southwest USA Trip - September 2015: Day 12 - Prescott, AZ to Meteor Crater, Winslow, Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, and Albuquerque, NM

Well today began my journey towards home. Sad to think this fantastic journey has to come to an end but then everything eventually does, right? And I can only be thankful for how great its been, the many people and places I've newly discovered, and more importantly, some of the new things I've discovered about myself.

Yes I would be lying if I didn't admit to having some initial fears of the unknown before I set off almost 2 weeks ago. Not knowing how I would feel after driving so much the first couple of days or if I'd be tired of sitting for so long. Whether or not I would be exhausted after the first few days because maybe I had planned for more than I could handle, or what if I got terribly sick or had car problems? I mean when you think about it, those are the same questions we have to deal with each and every single day of our lives. But we don't let them prevent us from living them just the same. So I accepted the realization that if something happened, I would just deal with it. Just as any other time. If I had to stop early and come home, then I'd just plan the rest of the trip for another time. So I guess what I discovered about myself is to not let fear control your decisions or you'll never make any.

I mean its not like I haven't had to face similar fears in the past and make hard decisions. As a kid who had just turned 23, in November 1985, and married just over 7 months, I accepted a job that required me and my wife at the time to pack up and move from Memphis to Detroit. Yes, Detroit of all places! And during the 1st week of November in Detroit it's COLD. But the point being made is I've never been more terrified of the unknown as I was then, but I did it anyway because I felt it was the best decision I had available to me at the time when it came to trying to start some sort of a career for myself. That's what I called scared. But after I did it and adjusted, I realized again that I could do things I previously never thought I could do.

So the biggest fear with this trip was more around doing it alone. But once I started blogging and sharing my experiences and my pictures it gave it more purpose. And knowing that I had at least 1 or 2 in the way of friends and family reading and following along and providing support and encouragement, I suddenly didn't feel alone at all on this trip. It felt more like all of us were doing it together and I was just the courier of the message through words and pictures.

So thank you all again for reading and following and sharing in my experiences and in my pictures. I'll never forget this journey but then it's not over just yet. Tomorrow I'll complete the final leg as I travel from Albuquerque back to Dallas.

But for today, my journey started with another early morning exit from Prescott, AZ straight up Hwy 89 until it connected with Interstate 40 heading East back towards Flagstaff. Once in Flagstaff, I fueled up the car, grabbed a breakfast biscuit and coffee, and kept on moving.

My first stop this morning, not very far East of Flagstaff, was the great Meteor Crater. Yes, its a real Meteor crater. I've stopped there once before many, many years ago with the family on one of our several trips to the area but I think my pictures are probably still buried somewhere on a roll of undeveloped Kodak. If I ever found all the rolls I know I never had developed, and if they could still be developed, I'm sure I'd be pretty amazed at all the great shots of the kids and trips I have locked away on film.

Once I finished with the crater, the next stop East was Winslow, AZ. Yes, Winslow!! And for course I stopped and of course I got "the" picture. There was a pretty good gathering already there and Eagles music playing constantly in the background. For all my Memphis peeps, it kinda reminded me of when you go around any of the Elvis souvenir shops around Graceland and you always have the guy dressed like Elvis and the Elvis tunes playing constantly in the background. This particular corner of Winslow has a mural and statue and sign and the whole 9 yards, which you'll see in the pictures. But its actually one of the main corners of the town so I can only image how sick the regulars get around there from all the music and tourists hanging out there all the time. But it was a photo op that I was not about to miss. Always loved the Eagles, saw them in concert last year, and planning to see Don Henley in Dallas in a few months when he comes. So I was one of those annoying tourists today too.

Heading further East towards New Mexico, I reached Holbrook, AZ. Like Flagstaff, Winslow, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and many other towns around here, Holbrook also sits right on historic Route 66. And so does the famous old Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. Its the classic Route 66 motel with the Tee Pees. It also has several old vintage cars sitting in it's parking lot. I didn't really stop but I did slow down long enough to snap some pictures. It was pretty cool because I've seen in featured on TV many times in the past when shows are talking about Route 66.

Then came the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert National Park. I just think this place is so cool. You can walk along paved paths all through the Petrified Forest and get great shots of the many petrified trees that had fallen. It's hard to believe that this used to be a living forest of trees and now its a desert. But seeing the trees petrified right where they fell millions of years ago is pretty amazing when you think about it. And some of the colors that they created when they turned to stone are really beautiful. I hope I was able to capture some of that as well.

But just after exiting the Petrified Forest section of the park and before entering the Painted Desert section, there was a little pull off beside the road that had the rusted old remains of an old car. I don't know enough about the style to tell if it was a Model T or which "Model" is was but it was good to see it and get more pictures. I thought it was pretty neat to see it sitting there.

And then you enter the Painted Desert which is just as amazing to me. With all the many different colors it always makes for a great drive with all the different overlooks and areas to pull off for pictures. It was a really beautiful day and many great locations to see during today's drive.

After I exited the Painted Desert back onto I-40, the plan was just to get to Albuquerque as soon as possible to unload everything and relax this evening before the final journey home tomorrow.

I had initially planned to stop today in Gallup and then tomorrow in Amarillo which would allow me plenty of time the following morning to go through Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just South of Amarillo, on my way home. However, I realized last week that the drive from Prescott to Gallup was pretty short and then Gallup to Amarillo would be pretty short and then Amarillo to home. So I moved tonight's stop a little further East towards home in Albuquerque. That allowed me to cut one day and one night's stay out of my trip but also means that I'm probably not going to be able to stop at Palo Duro Canyon this trip. But the nice thing is that it is a close enough drive from home to make it a separate trip sometime. And since I'll be going right past the famous Cadillac Ranch off of I-40 in Amarillo tomorrow, I will be stopping and getting some pictures.

Other than Cadillac Ranch, tomorrow's focus will be more about driving home than about making stops. But I also promised myself that when I came back through Memphis, TX, on the way home, that I would stop a get a few pictures from there too. So for the final day of travel, look for my updates as well as pictures from Cadillac Ranch and Memphis, TX.

Until tomorrow then, please enjoy the pictures from today and once again, thanks for reading, enjoying the pictures, and for following along. Oh, and GO COWBOYS!!!