Summer Vacation Trip - Day 6

We were up early in Needles and were ready to go by 0600.  Mollie insisted on getting breakfast (burritos) at Jack-in-the-Box and then we headed east.  Our three hour drive on I-40 took us across the Colorado River into Arizona and across a pretty desert that continuously sloped higher.  By the middle of the state, we’d entered an alpine forest and Mollie mentioned how it looked like Wyoming (“I like it here”).  We stopped for gas (it was much cheaper than California prices) in Lake Havasu at 0640.  Mollie was excited because she saw lots of pronghorns.  We also saw a huge dead elk on the side of the road (it must have caused a nasty accident).  It was another amazing day of weather, with a crystal blue, cloudless sky and temps in the low 60s.  During the drive, we had lots of conversations about relationships and current events.  Just before we arrived in the Flagstaff area, we discussed her possible visit with her friend, Zack (from Texas), in Baltimore over the July 4th weekend.  By 0930, we had reached the Walnut Canyon National Monument, located about 10 miles east of Flagstaff.  We’d somehow missed it during our trip to the area in 2010.  There was only one (short) access road and a small parking lot, so we were lucky to arrive early (they were denying entry about an hour later).  We went into the visitor center, which was perched precariously on the edge of a rocky bluff, and got a NPS Passport stamp for Mollie.  We then walked on a trail that descended more than 700 steps into the steep ravine.  Almost 1000 years ago, the ancestors of the local native population built cliff dwellings and we were able to walk among several of them on and “island” perched above the canyon.  We saw lots of pretty birds, flowers and cacti but the resident mountain lions were elusive, despite Mollie’s many attempts to find them with our binoculars.  After we (somehow) made it to the top of the cliffs again, we walked on the shorter and flatter Rim Trail.  The cicadas were out in force and very loud (Mollie didn’t like them).  We also saw the ruins of a Sinagua Pueblo building the whole park was an interesting place.  After almost two hours visiting, we departed to the west, bound for Flagstaff.  Our plan for the afternoon was to stop at two parks (Sunset Crater and Wupatki) that we’d previously visited so Mollie could get the NPS passport stamps we’d missed before Mollie bought her book in 2016.  As she had been for several days, Mollie was a great help with directions and finding places for food, gas and lodging.  We stopped for a nice lunch (Culvers) at 1130 and then drove north on US-89.  First, we stopped by Sunset Crater National Monument visitor center and got another NPS Passport stamp.  Since we had visited this park back in 2010, we didn't dally for too long.  However, we did stop at one of the pullouts to walk the “A'a Trail” and got a great view of the iconic cinder cone for which the park is named.  We were soon back on the Loop Road that connects the Sunset Crater area to Wupatki National Monument and were granted our first look at the Painted Desert.  We were actually surrounded by that view for the rest of the afternoon.  Upon arriving at the Wupatki visitor center, Mollie got another NPS Passport stamp.  We went on a short walk through the remnants of the impressive Wupatki Pueblo.  The "Blow Hole" was particularly interesting, and we stopped momentarily to marvel at the ingenuity of the Natives that inhabited the area close to a millennium ago.  After the walk, Mollie grudgingly reported that her sneakers had worn out so badly she had nothing to wear.  At that point, I pulled out the “Walmart shoes” that I’d bought for her (under protest) and made her bring.  She wore them with little complaint, actually...  We left the park at around 1330 and backtracked to I-40.  We then headed east until reaching the town of Winslow. Mollie took a few photos of the “man on the corner” and other landmarks.  We got gas at the Pilot on the eastern edge of town and Mollie had fun cleaning the car windows with a long squeegee (1545).  Back on the Interstate, I encouraged Mollie to text cousins Chuck and Kathy to tell them about our trip (she did and they exchanged responses for a while).  After only about 15 minutes of driving, we arrived at the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park.  Our first stop in the park was at the Painted Desert Visitor Center, where Mollie got another NPS Passport stamp and I got water.  While she was inside, she asked the Volunteer Ranger where we might be able to find wildlife inside the park (the answer was that there probably wouldn't be any and this displeased Mollie).  When she returned to the car, we began to drive through the park and were treated to some more beautiful views the Painted Desert.  We stopped at several of the park's many pullouts to take pictures.  Eventually, we arrived at the Blue Mesa and Mollie was happy when she saw two pronghorn antelope, admiring them through our binoculars.  We drove another quarter mile or so to reach the Blue Forest trailhead; we got out of the car and followed a paved pathway which took us down into a small canyon.  We got our first real look at the petrified wood the park contains.  However, the desert sun was beating down on us with a vengeance and some particularly annoying visitors spoiled the silence that we had enjoyed at the beginning the trail, so we turned around and headed for the car.  By then, it was about 1730, so we decided to head towards the park exit.  As we backtracked, Mollie kept her eyes peeled for any other pronghorns or animals that could have shown themselves on the horizon, but her search was unsuccessful.  We were tired and had been on the road for almost 12 hours so we decided to stop early for the night.  We found the nearby (Mollie called it “quaint”) town of Chambers and checked into the Day’s Inn at 1840.  We ate dinner (snacks) and I went for a swim in the hotel pool.  Meanwhile, Mollie wrote the first Facebook post of the trip (she needed to “blog” for an IB graduation requirement).  We had no idea what time it was because all the clocks said something different.  We spent the rest of the evening resting up for another long day of adventuring.  Bed was as around 2230.