Bill & Sandra Wayne's Personal Pages

Our trip west, September 2002
Day 4, September 2
Silver City to Grand Canyon

We left Silver City on US-180 at 7 AM, MDT, and gained an hour when we crossed the border into Arizona. This stretch of the trip started between the Mogollon and the San Franciso Mountains. One rest stop was at a little store in Glenwood, NM (website link forthcoming). Along the way, we saw some interesting mountains. Here's some roadside shots:

Mogollon Mountains from the road
Mogollon Mountains from the road
San Francisco Mountains showing different rocks and (maybe) some fire indications
San Francisco Mountains showing different rocks and (maybe) some fire indications
Another view of San Francisco Mountains from the road
Another view of San Francisco Mountains from the road

We arrived at the south end of Petrified Forest National Park around 10:30 PST, having gained an hour. First, we stopped at a rock shop and browsed before heading to the park. Lots of pictures from this park:

Log field near visitor center
Log field near visitor center
Sandra at big log near visitor center
Sandra at big log near visitor center
A large log field
A large log field
View near visitor center
View near visitor center
Logs sticking from a hillside
Logs sticking from a hillside
Log field with raven
Log field with raven
Log field with view
Log field with view
Log bridge, supported
Log bridge, supported
View of 'teepee' formations
View of 'teepee' formations
Nice view at Anasazi site
Nice view at Anasazi site
Kiva at Anasazi site
Kiva at Anasazi site
Village foundations at Anasazi site
Village foundations at Anasazi site
Close-up of Sandra at the big log
Close-up of Sandra at the big log
Close-up of raven in a snack nook
Close-up of raven in a snack nook

The northern part of Petrified Forest National Park has some nice views of the Painted Desert:

Great view of the Painted Desert
Great view of the Painted Desert
Sandra planning her next picture
Sandra planning her next picture
Desert with clouds and distant volcano
Desert with clouds and distant volcano
Another view with clouds
Another view with clouds
More paint, more clouds, more volcano
More paint, more clouds, more volcano

We left the park about 1:15 PM and headed west on I-40. Had lunch in a Navajo-run McDonalds near Winslow. Turned off for the Grand Canyon on US-89n at almost 3:30 PM, so skipped Sunset Crater and Wupatki parks. Turned off on AZ-64 toward Grand Canyon at 4:15 PM. Because we took so many pictures there that evening, you'll get them on another page.

Got to the Holiday Inn in Tusayan just outside the main entrance at 7:15 PM and had diner at an overpriced and underserved restaurant. We'd been warned, but the place recommended looked too lah-de-dah. Our mistake.

Total miles for day: 477. Time from Silver City to Tusayan: 13:05.

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