Above/featured: Northeast on US-60/AZ-77, through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, just outside of Show Low, AZ.
The following takes place entirely on travel day 16 in the American Southwest. Departing Tucson, Arizona, we headed north and east on AZ-77, US-60, and I-25 into New Mexico for Santa Fe, New Mexico. We drove through a variety of landscapes in east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico for a total of 856 kilometres (532 miles).
October 2018.
The following takes place entirely on travel day 11 in the American Southwest. The previous day was a long one on the road: from Flagstaff, we drove north on US-89 and US-89A next to Echo Cliffs and Vermilion Cliffs, and ending up at North Rim for our first-ever visit to the Grand Canyon.
After overnighting at Cliff Dwellers Lodge, a new day began with a stop at the Rock Houses nearby, then retracing the previous day’s drive back to Cameron, before turning west to spend the rest of the day at the Desert View section of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. That began our first-time visit to the South Rim which we visited over a period of two days.
Total distance from Cliff Dwellers to Flagstaff (via South Rim): 217 mi (349 km).
Above/featured: Vermilion Cliffs loom over the new and old Navajo Bridge at left and right, respectively (X70).
The following takes place on the first half of travel day 10 in the American Southwest. From Flagstaff, we’re heading north on highway US-89, past Cameron, through the northern limit of the Painted Desert, and next to the Echo Cliffs. At Bitter Springs, the highway splits, and we head northwest on US-89A to Marble Canyon, where Navajo Bridge crosses over the Colorado River. The highway continues west into the Arizona Strip, below Vermilion Cliffs, past Cliff Dwellers, and into House Rock Valley.
Above/featured: Continental Divide. Rising to the north are red Entrada sandstone cliffs (Iyanbito member) from the middle Jurassic period about 170 million years ago. The cliffs are part of a geologic formation extending from northwest New Mexico into northeast Arizona, southeast Utah, and west-central Colorado.
The following takes place entirely on travel day 9 (12 Oct 2018) in the American Southwest. From Santa Fe, New Mexico to our destination Flagstaff, Arizona, the day-long drive began on the short leg I-25 south to Albuquerque. This stretch of I-25 is along a part of the colonial road El Camino Real and parallel to the pre-1937 alignment of the now-famous highway US route 66 (US-66). In Albuquerque, we turned right onto I-40, heading westbound for the New Mexico-Arizona state border and beyond. The total distance was a little over 650 kilometres (400+ miles).
• Historic Route 66 (US DoT Federal Highway Administration)
• New Mexico US-66 Association
• Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona
• Why Route 66 became America’s most famous road, Vox on YouTube, 16 Aug 2019.
Above/featured: Welcome to Pie Town. The 2018 Pie Festival was held on 8 September.
The two words reach your eyes and enter your brain.
Pie Town.
The questions are immediate.
What? Who? Why? How do I get there? Is there really pie?
A sense of calm eventually prevails, and that’s when planning begins. Because there’s firm promise: “oh there will be pie.”
Fast forward to our drive through the American Southwest over three weeks in October 2018, and our adventure is drawing to a close.
With morning sun and excellent conditions, we’ve departed Tucson for a long drive for which there are three goals. One, we must arrive in Santa Fe by tonight to catch our flights out the next day. Two, we have to stop in Albuquerque for a return visit and chomp on a spicy stuffed sopapilla at Mary & Tito’s Cafe before they close at 8pm. Three, we’re desperate to visit Pie Town which by design is on the way to Santa Fe. We’re on the road for over 300 miles (480 kilometres) through Arizona, into New Mexico, and to Pie Town, and that’ll be followed by another 220 miles (350 kilometres) to Santa Fe.
The car continues to roll along the paved undivided two-lane highway on a stretch of lonesome landscape with short stubby hills and tall grassy fields for company. US-60 is nowhere as famous as its northerly US-66 counterpart; both are historic national highways. As some have noted, driving present-day US-60 comes very close to similar conditions on US-66 in the latter’s bygone heyday.
The miles add up, and the hours tick by. Isolation is punctuated by farms, ranches, and small towns. We’ve made notes about the towns, because there’s always a need for fuel: gas for the car, snacks and drinks for the occupants. Small towns may not look like much on first approach, but I know the welcome greeting and warm atmosphere are in store as soon as we step inside a shop or restaurant.
Our destination in New Mexico isn’t “nowhere.”
Because there, pie awaits.
Fotoeins Fotografie 