Arizona National Parks Day 2

Day 2 – March 12, 2017

 Up early and ready to drive… a lot!  We had breakfast at the hotel then drove about 270 miles to Holbrook, AR.  But we made a fun and unplanned stop at the Salt River Canyon Rest Area on the way.  It was really beautiful.  The rest stop was next to the bridge at the bottom of the canyon that crosses the river. 

We walked down the steps to get closer to the river then got back in the car and drove to Holbrook. 

In Holbrook we ate at Dairy Queen, gassed up then drove to Petrified Forest National Park.  We entered from the south side of the park and the guy at the entrance station advised us to buy the annual pass after doing some math for us.  The kids declared that he was “the greatest park ranger ever”.  We stopped at the Visitor Center to get our goodies but they didn’t have the kind of magnets that we’ve gotten at the other 21 parks so after a slight internal panic, the ranger told me they had a bigger selection at the gift shop next door so we ended up with everything we needed.   The gift shop was interesting because they sold all kinds of jewelry and trinkets made from petrified wood.  And the kids got to pick up and hold an actual pay phone.  I'm not sure they'd seen one before!

We drove through the park (fairly quickly because there was still a lot to do) but we stopped at the Jasper Forest and Newspaper Rock overlooks.  The kids thought Newspaper Rock was cool because we could look through binoculars to see petroglyphs all over the side of a rock (“Newspaper Rock”).

From there we exited out of the north side of the park and drove east on I-40 then drove north on 191 to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de Shay).  It’s 100 miles NE of the Petrified Forest so we didn’t pull in until around 4:15.  It’s a national monument but the visitor’s center was closed so no magnets…

We took the south rim road down to the White House Ruins overlook, parked, and hiked straight down to the bottom of the canyon (about 1.25 miles one way).  It’s the only self-guided hike in the entire canyon and it was beautiful.  I’m not sure it’s as beautiful as my guide book said it was or that it was worth the very long drive but the hike itself was great – challenging on the way back up but very beautiful. 

The Indian ruins at the bottom of and in the side of the canyon were impressive and there were horses just roaming free and drinking out of the river. 

We hiked back up and had about a 2-hour drive back to Holbrook which was a little confusing because when we flew to AZ, we entered mountain time but then Saturday night was Daylight Savings Time but then Arizona doesn’t recognize Daylight Savings Time but then apparently the small section of it that we were in in Canyon de Chelly does so we literally didn’t know what time it was. 

However, the drive back was spectacular.  We were driving mostly west so we took in a spectacular sunset followed by a true super moon.

We pulled into the Travelodge with some trepidation because it looks nasty despite having the most stars on Travelocity.  The guy at the front desk didn’t have our reservation and was completely booked.  So I confidently pulled up my email reservation, confirming that we had a reservation exactly one month to the day, the month before…sigh….sound of money being flushed down the toilet.   

Luckily we got a room at the Days Inn which was definitely a step up from the Travelodge.  I’m not sure of what collusion Travelodge and Travelocity have going on but it’s evident!

From there (now 8pm) we went to Mesa Italiana, a restaurant that was written up in my travel book.  And for Holbrook, AZ, it was delicious.  The restaurant was full so we sat in the bar area and I finally relaxed!  We had a good meal of mozzarella sticks and pasta and it was nice to finally not feel rushed.  

See the giant moon in the background?

For the most part the kids got along really, really well.  Back to the room then to bed by 10.  All-in-all, a great day and to think, none of this has even been remotely the “good parts” of the trip.  That all begins tomorrow when we head to PAGE, AZ!!!!!   Good night!