Day 12

At 7:49am local,

Ken found some kind of local radio station with "Native Traditional" music and all the announcements are in Navajo (?).

Ths Southwest is in a "record setting, lethal heatwave".  We are heading to Phoenix where the temperatures are around 120F and when I checked last night at 11p, it was still 101F. It isn't getting below 92f at night.  We prepared for the heat with plenty of sunscreen, hats, gel-cooled neckbands, and plenty of salty snacks, water, vitamin water, and gatorade.   

The one question we keep getting is: Are you going to the Grand Canyon?  Well, maybe.  If we do, it will be from the north rim when we camp in either Page, AZ or Kanab, UT.  We will decide that when we get there.

8:40a local, Petrified Forest NP

The landscaping is constantly changing every couple hundred feet as we drive through The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.  Ken took photos on the Canon Rebel, but I do have a couple to share.

We didn't realize that Arizona does not switch to daylight savings, so, we are now three hours behind the East Coast!

Part of Historic Route 66 is maintained by the NPS as part of Painted Desert / Petrified Forest.

We also crossed the Santa Fe rail line.

The Agate Bridge

It was hot - 100+ hot.  It will cool by about 10-12 degrees as we head up (altitude) into Flagstaff this afternoon for the Indian cave dwellings at Walnut Canyon National Monument.  Our cool-gel neck wraps have gotten a workout today as have the "desert" hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen!

Traveling parts of Historic Route 66 has been fun.  We drove past the Teepee motel in Holbrook which inspired the Cozy Cones from the movie "Cars". Route 66 parallels I-40 most of the time - we have been traveling I-40 from somewhere east of Albuquerque and are driving by many of the towns listed in the   old Nat King Cole standard, "Get your Kicks on Route 66".

Crown Railroad Cafe on Historic Route 66 in Flagstaff, AZ is a great little All-American diner.  They have  trains running outside and model trains on a track encircling the diner's ceiling inside.  It was a fun place to refresh and renew before heading down to PHX 

Here are some sunset photos between Flagstaff and Phoenix on I-17:

Heading down into Phoenix.  Over the next 2hours, we will descend from over 7000 ft above sea level in Flagstaff to an altitude of 1000 ft in Phoenix.  The temperature will go up more than 10* in that time as well!!  Adventure is ours! (7:23p local / 10:23p Eastern)

At 8:30p local, the temperature is 107*F, about 45 minutes to our friends' house near Phoenix.