3 months ago Jenn, of Map&Move, and I took a weekend trip to Arizona to do research for what was then a possible Route 66 trip. Today we’ve returned with a caravan of 3 RVs and 11 friends driving along Route 66 from Chicago and reaching Arizona in 3 days: We stay true to our goals.

This was today in a nutshell:

 

The Painted Desert

Wigwam Motel

 

Backtracking, we woke up in Albuquerque, New Mexico at around 8am and grabbed breakfast at Frontier Restaurant, known for its green chili on anything.

 

 

After breakfast, we strolled around Old Town for a few hours.

 

The old town church here is the oldest building in Albuquerque, NM

 

Before heading out from Albquerque, we paid respects to Walter White’s house from Breaking Bad.

 

Walter White's house just got served

 

Afterwards, right before saying goodbye to Vishnu who had to leave the trip early for work, one of our RVs tried to yield to a police car coming from behind on its left. Unfortunately it got stuck between another vehicle coming from behind on its right, leading the RV to completely sideswipe and wreck a side mirror of a hapless car.

Once again, another accident. Luckily, the car owner was cool with it. We exchanged info and insurance information and then we were on our way.

 

After another accident involving the RVs, Jenn soothes her nerves with a Twister burrito

 

We pressed onwards for about 4-5 hours towards Arizona.

 

 

…and we got to Petrified Forest National Park just in time before it closed.

 

 

Named for its large deposits of petrified wood thousands of years old, the Petrified Desert consists of a $10/vehicle self-guided drive-thru national park where you can also see the painted desert from afar. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes to an hour to see from north to south.

 

Puerco Pueblo

 

Driving onwards we were able to catch more of the painted desert at sunset.

 

How far we'll go to get a good group photo

Petrified wood that's countless years old

 

We left the Petrified Forest National Park at around 8pm, then driving onwards west 30 minutes towards Holbrook, AZ

 

 

Once reaching Holbrook we had the whole places to ourselves with dinner at Butterfield Steak House:

 

 

…and then spent the night in the iconic wigwams at Wigwam Motel, a historic staple on Route 66.

 

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- At time of posting in Holbrook, AZ, it was -3 °C - Humidity: 31% | Wind Speed: 3km/hr | Cloud Cover: sunny

 

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