May 21, 2022. Wiley CO to Chambers AZ

We started our day eating breakfast with Jeremy and Emma, then we left for the nearly nine-hour drive to Chambers, Arizona, just outside of Petrified Forest National Park. It is most interesting seeing the varied landscapes as we drive through the countryside. 

First is the arid, mostly flat plains of southeastern Colorado. No large except along the river beds, most of which had no water. In much of the southwest, rain, and water in general, is a valuable, but scarce resource. Water access is a political issue and is highly regulated, and it appears the only crops are grown with irrigation.

Next, the arid plains became rolling hills, still dry and brown, and inhabited mostly by beef cattle. We saw some deer-like animals grazing, probably pronghorn. Wikipedia describes the pronghorn as “a unique North American mammal…. The pronghorn is the only surviving member of the Antilocapridae family and it has been in North America for over a million years.”

Most impressive are the red hills along I-40 west of Albuquerque, huge sandstone shaped by wind and water. They were simply magnificent, some jagged and some rounded. We passed them in late afternoon so the sun shining on them brought out the red color even more. The picture does not quite capture the beauty but is the best we could do while traveling through.

Late afternoon we arrive at the hotel we booked. It has a restaurant attached but we are told it may not open for the evening meal because “the cook had not come in yet and we should soon know for sure.” So we carry our luggage into room 120 and drove back about 6 miles where there is a grocery store and a pizza place. It is a bit surprising to us that there are so few services along this major highway, but there are also fewer people in general. We buy a few needed items in the grocery store and order a pizza and some ice cream to carry back to eat in the hotel room.