Every year in May, my husband and I, return to our home state of Michigan for the summer. Like most snowbirds, we enjoy the warmth of Arizona most of the year, but when the 100 degree weather arrives we leave for greener pastures. We drive the 2200 miles each way and get a chance to see the changing demography of each state.
Arizona is a beautiful state. Between the desert in the south and the pine trees in the north the ever changing scenery is truly beautiful. Highway 17 climbs to an elevation of about 5000 feet. It has a lot of twists and turns and rock formations that are indescribable. As Highway 17 turns into I 40 the climb continues. Forests start to appear and the scenery is totally different. Oak Creek Canyon offers a side trip with walking trails, small creeks, bridges and beautiful shade trees. Flagstaff at a 7500 foot elevation grew around the old railroad station and maintains its small town atmosphere. It is home to Northern Arizona University and the ski resort Snowbowl located in the San Francisco Peaks. At the far west side of the state is the city of Holbrook. This is a good place to stay if you want to see the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. Both are worth seeing, but not in the rain.
Entering New Mexico you go though a virtual tunnel of boulders piled on each other. You wonder how they stay where they are, if they will fall but most importantly how did they get there. It is an awesome scene. We continue on I 40 until we get to Gallup. This is our first stop on the trip. Gallop is a small town located on old Route 66. Both sides of the street are lined with restaurants, hotels/motels, gas stations and gift shops. Trains run very close to the town and can be heard day and night. The scenery changes again and becomes longer stretches of straight highway with occasional mountain ranges. Albuquerque is a big city with almost a half million people. There are many beautiful places to visit including Old Town Albuquerque. The last town in New Mexico is Tucumcari located on old Route 66.
Although Texas is a large state we travel though only a small portion of it on this journey. As we enter Texas you see flat country with cattle everywhere. Amarillo is our second stop on the trip. The choice of hotel/motels and restaurants is plentiful. A real treat is to eat at the Big Texan where they serve a 72 oz steak. If you can eat all of it and the fixings within an hour it’s free. Good luck with this one.
We continue on I 40 into Oklahoma. We pass though many cities and towns until Oklahoma City. Stop if you get a chance to see the memorial. It is a beautiful place of meditation giving a sense of peach and love. After leaving Oklahoma City we change to I 44 into Tulsa where we will spend the night. Tulsa is an oil hub and gas is cheaper that then anywhere else on our route. .
The first big city in Missouri is Joplin. We continue on I 44 and work our way up to St. Louis. The scenery changes again as we enter the Ozark Mountains. Not nearly as high as those in New Mexico or Arizona, they are still an impressive range of mountains. We will spend the night outside St. Louis. It takes quite a while to get though the city of St. Louis. At the bridge between Missouri and Illinois stands the Arch and rest of the downtown area of St. Louis. The view is beautiful and impressive.
We are now on I 55 and traveling though Illinois. We are aiming for Chicago to rest our heads tonight. The landscape is flat with farms of crops and cattle scattered here and there. As we get closer to Chicago, the landscape changes cars and construction. We usually stay on the north side of Chicago. As you enter Chicago proper you can see the beautiful skyscrapers and the lake beyond. No matter how many times you see this scene, it is still awesome.
Our sixth day and we are almost home. We leave Chicago and head out I 94. This will take us very close to our destination. It is so nice to see beautiful trees and green grass. Michigan is a beautiful state and I am always glad to be home again. We will spend the summer here and enjoy family and friends. The weather is always changing from cool to warm to hot and lots of rain and humidity and mosquitoes. Why are we here? It will always be home.
Tags: ...
Comments (0):