The Ancient Volcano in New Mexico; Shiprock

Mixing It Up For a Few Days

As there has been a change of plans for any 2022 Summer Journey in our Camping Van, my thoughts have been a bit jumbled.  This being the case, there will probably be a randomness to upcoming posts.

(Figure 1)

As I may have related before, my wife and I are full-time caretakers for her 92-year-old mom.  Usually, the only times we can get away for a meal is either on Sunday morning or Wednesday midday, when there are visiting caretakers for four hours each of those days.  

Our chances for longer excursions are when her sister is between contract jobs in another state.  Thus was the case for our two 2021 episodes of van camping, first the "Shakedown Cruise" and then our "Northern Adventure".  The second 2021 journey allowed me to complete components of a couple of complex sets and a "singular item" of "Bucket List" goals (for which I am thankful.) 

[When time allows, I plan to finish an in-progress personal list of types and hierarchies of Bucket List items .]

The first "Component Item" was that after never having seen any of the Great Lakes, I was able to photograph and stick my hand into Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior.  The second "Component Item" is that I was able to shift four "unvisited states" to the "visited states" column.  In order, they were North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.  Plus we passed through two State Capitals, Bismarck, ND and Lincoln, NE.

The 2021 "Singular Bucket List Item" accomplished was visiting the source of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca, MN.  A few years ago, during a local tavern trivia contest, I flubbed the "In what state does the Mississippi River begin?".  I got MN and WI mixed up.  I thereby vowed, "if I ever get up north again, I am visiting the source of the Mighty Mississippi River."

This time in 2022, the "fly in the ointment" is that my sister-in-law suffered a significant shoulder injury while doing some recreational snow skiing before returning to her home turf here on the Georgia Piedmont.  This injury requires months of recuperation.  And today we found out that she requires a total shoulder replacement to have the chance to keep working for a few more years.  It will take some planning, discussions, and soul-searching to determine if we can chance getting any further away from here than for more than a couple of days before any surgery.

[This past weekend, we did escape to the Knoxville, TN area so I could attend a "beer can show" on Saturday.  On our Sunday return trip, we did accomplish a "Single Item" Bucket List item.]  

As I like the movie "Forrest Gump", I have been yearning for a visit to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for several years, at least.  The closest one to Atlanta is in Gatlinburg, TN, so we did it.  Traffic wasn't that bad for Gatlinburg and the temperatures were pleasant, so a good time was had by us.  

[On my 2nd 2015 Arizona Trip, I did visit "the place where Forrest Gump got tired of running", just north of Monument Valley, AZ/UT.  Some people have a Bucket List of visiting recognizable sites from TV, movies, or albums.  For instance, a college acquaintance visited the Manassas, VA train station pictured on the eponymous Stephen Stills/Manassas album.  While others have stood 'on a corner in Winslow, AZ".]

(Figure 2.)

My wife doesn't mess with "Bucket Lists", though she does like having new experiences, e.g., our 2022 Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. visit and our 2021 sightings of a Bald Eagle atop its nest near Lake Itasca, MN, and watching a fight between two male bison in western North Dakota, near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

So if anything is to happen this summer, we shall see.

A Few Days in Arizona ...

The purpose of his endeavor is to figuratively visit Arizona (the Grand Canyon State) for a few days and engage in studying Geology and other Earth Science-related subjects by way of posts, videos, and links.  

Arizona is important to me as I have had family connections to Phoenix (and briefly Flagstaff) for more than 60 years.  After Georgia, Texas, and New Mexico, Arizona is probably the fourth state in which I have spent the most time.

Albuquerque to Gallup, NM

Day #6 of the 2015 Arizona Trip #2 began with having breakfast in Albuquerque with some fellow beer can collectors after the previous day's show (two of whom passed away since then).  

The first geology stop of Day #6 was on the western outskirts of Albuquerque, off of I-40, for the quick photos of a portion of the Albuquerque Volcanic Field, in this case, the three southernmost of the volcanoes.  [More geology details about this area will be the subject of a future post.]  The age estimates for the volcanic field range from 170,000 to 70,000 years ago.

Figure 1.

 

Sitting atop the probable fissure-erupted basalt flows (left to right) are JA Volcano, Black Volcano, and Vulcan Volcano. The basal (presumed) fissure-erupted flows overlie river terrace deposits.

As I was trying to save time, I got off at Exit 153, Arroyo Vista Blvd North and worked my way through some neighborhoods to get this view.

Figure 2.  JA Volcano.

Figure 3.  Black Volcano.

Figure 4.  Vulcan Volcano.

As I felt pressed to "get back on the road", I failed to notice that the next exit, Atrisco Vista Blvd. North (Exit 149) would have gotten me much closer to these three volcanoes.  (Going back and getting it right is now on my "Bucket List".)

[Admittedly, after I left the El Paso area in April 1991 and moved back to my native Atlanta, other than reading a few Rio Grande Rift field trip guides, with my mind than on finding work in Georgia and tending to my family, I sort of fell behind on New Mexico rift-related volcanics.]

After returning to I-40 West, a few miles later I again left the Interstate at Rio Puerco (Exit 140) to photograph a dissected (by erosion) volcano south of the freeway, as well as a basalt bluff and exposed terrace deposits near the Rio Puerco (seen below).

Figure 5.

I have yet to discover a name for this dissected (eroded) volcano, just east of the Rio Puerco and south of I-40.

Figure 6.
  

Old Rio Grande terrace deposits adjacent to the Rio Puerco (looking northward).  Not sure if the basalt flows to the right overlie more terrace deposits or not.  

Figure 7.  

A larger "basalt bluff" east of Figure 8 location.  Don't know if these and Figure 8 flows are related to the dissected volcano or not.

 Figure 8.
  

I think this was Exit 126, with its Eastern Colorado Plateau Mesozoic exposures.

Figure 9.

 

Known variously as "Cubero Volcano" or "Flower Mountain"(?), this apparently dissected volcano sits atop presumed Cretaceous sedimentary rocks at Exit 104.  This is a view of the southern escarpment facing the Rio San Jose Valley.

[I had some images of the other side of "Cubero Volcano", where I-40 "swings" behind it, but I can't seem to find them.]

The next 7 images are of young basalt flows along the vicinity of McCartys, New Mexico, on the Northside of I-40, with the best exposures between MM 96 and approximately MM 89 (near McBride Road).  I may have just pulled off at a "good flat spot" on the right (not an actual exit), perhaps 1 mile West of Exit 96.  [Hey, when a Geologist "must" have that photo, we do what we must.] 

Figure 10. 

Figure 11. 

Figure 12.  

In the foreground (above), is a wetland hosted within an apparently collapsed lava tube. 

Figure 13.  Vesicular texture. 

 Figure 14.

Between the basalt flows in the foreground and the flows capping the mesa in the background, are Mesozoic sedimentary rocks.

Figure 15. 

Figure 16.

The McCartys flows are at the extreme northern end of the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field.  The estimated ages range between 3,200 and 1,250 years old.

Figure 17.  "Tachylite"

Tachylite "texture" on the surface of a McCartys flow. Because of the lack of internal structure (as with obsidian), the glossy surface readily decays upon long-term exposure to water.  It is a sign of a really young lava flow.

South of the I-40 intersection with East Santa Fe Ave. (Exit 85) is the El Malpais National Monument, certainly a worthy photo stop.  I wish I could have stopped and had seen more in the area, but I had a bit of ground to cover that day.  (See the planned upcoming "Route 666" and "Shiprock to Aztec" posts.)  There were still many geological photos to be taken.

It would be a pleasure to spend 2 or 3 days exploring the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field as well as the Mt. Taylor Volcanic Field.  Several days of "homework" beforehand would yield more satisfying results.

[I had previously observed the geologic sights along I-40 from the Albuquerque Volcanic Field to the McCartys Basalts in 2003, during a family vacation.  I only had a chance to shoot a few photos of the Albuquerque Volcanoes, as we were on our way to the Grand Canyon and then Phoenix.]

Further west on I-40 is more Colorado Plateau strata in the Wingate, NM.  The cliff-forming red sandstone is probably the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone.  (I tended to notice the cliffs to the north of I-40.)

The "last" noteworthy geologic structure before the Gallup exit is variously called the "Gallup Hogback" or the "Nutria Monocline".

Figure 18.

Secondary Hogbacks, east of main Hogback, south of I-40, dipping westward. 

 Figure 19.

Western slope of Gallup Hogback, north of I-40.

Figure 20.

The western slope of Gallup Hogback, south of I-40.

References (more to come)

Chronic, H. (1987) Roadside Geology of New Mexico, Mountain Press Publishing Co.

A Clarification of the August Travel Diary

The original intention for the 2021 "Van Go!" posts was to be a daily posting (a "travelog") with "freshly downloaded" digital images.  [In a perfect world".]  This was a desire of mine that began with my 2nd Arizona Trip of 2015.

The reality is that after a day of travel this summer, whether we stopped at a campground or a motel, after dinner and showers, we are "wiped out".   

Even five years ago, when traveling by myself during late July/early August, when I sometimes drove solo 500+ miles in one day (650 miles on the 2nd day of that 2nd Arizona trip), I was wiped out after dinner (whether it be at a local restaurant or a PBJ sandwich and a beer in the motel room).

Most of the time, I manage to download the day's photos and make some (cryptic) notes on a legal pad, in a composition notebook, random scraps of paper, and/or on Post-It Notes. 

And also doing some web surfing to check upcoming weather and seek info for the following day's plans.  (I usually prefer to avoid anything more than a just quick look at the day's "political news", so as not to inject unneeded angst into our escape.)  Also, putting coherent thoughts "to paper" (and self-editing) takes time.

These things being the case, after-the-fact postings and editing are not intended to be deceitful, rather they are intended to present a chronological recounting of the journey, perhaps to encourage others to keep records of vacations for future reference.  (I greatly regret not keeping notes, especially during my 1974 road trip, which was instrumental in my gaining the confidence to leave Georgia for grad school in El Paso in early 1977.)

A Few Notes About Our Upcoming "Van Go" Adventure

The concept of daily geo-travel blogging came to me while traveling between Phoenix and Atlanta - in 2015.  (More about that in a bit.)

[For the purpose of clarity, some of my posts were started and/or finished before and/or after the posted date.  There is no intent of deception in my endeavors here.  As for sudden changes in font size, I don't know why this happens.]

First the "backstory" (blame the coffee and forgive the length):

To recap significant events during the first half of 2015, the most significant was the passing of my first wife Marla on May 1, after an extended decline in her health.  Transpiring during this time also was the preparation of moving to Phoenix by my daughter's family, due to my son-in-law having gotten a job there.

As it was, my wife, son, and I lived in the basement apartment of my daughter's home, in the "mother-in-law suite" (as it is usually called).  Aside from being with her Mom during her final health decline - though we didn't consciously know it - my daughter and her husband wanted to let their older son finish the school year in our church's pre-Kindergarten before this momentous move. 

Meanwhile, my son-in-law had gone ahead to Phoenix a couple of months earlier to begin his job and to find a rental home (he would fly back to Atlanta on most weekends).  Aside from her other duties, my daughter also had to supervise the moving process.  They intended to keep the home, as the Phoenix move was not intended to be permanent.  The home had been in our family since about 1969 or so.

After Marla's passing - we think from a stroke - home events shifted to the final moving preparations for my "upstairs family members" and their older dog, who was better with the kids.  And after a few days off, my son-in-law had to return to his job.  With that concentration of events, my daughter didn't even have time to properly grieve over her Mom's passing and that had an extended effect on her, even after they moved.

During a "kitchen table discussion" with my daughter and her in-laws, plans were revealed that included shipping her SUV and their dog to Phoenix, so the family could fly, instead of enduring a cross-country drive with their two young sons. 

Feeling my own sense of apprehension of the coming changes, while my son had a measure of autonomy with a car and his job, I was the one who faced the prospect of being alone.  After searching for a way to temporarily forego the expected emotional vacuum. 

Because of an at-home back injury, I had given up my part-time job as a Land Survey Assistant in March of 2015.  [I suppose "someone" intended for me to be available to take care of Marla during her last couple of months.  As I like working outdoors, I regretted giving up the job, but "life had other plans".]

With not much else to do, I volunteered to drive the SUV and ferry the dog for the almost 2,000-mile trip, rather than their going through the hassles of shipping the dog and SUV.  The idea was accepted, though as our family had not taken any cross-country vacations in a few years, I wasn't keen on doing it alone.

My son wasn't interested in the idea of a road trip with his Dad (so it goes), so I started asking close friends.  Due to their own work and/or family responsibilities, most of my friends were unavailable.  The only affirmative reply was from my long-time (since 1988 or so) beer can-collecting friend, Neal. 

Because my daughter needed the SUV for her and the kids in Phoenix, Neal and I needed to get cross-country fairly quickly.  And summertime traveling with a dog is a challenge, especially with the heat during gas and food stops.

So the basics of "2015 Arizona Trip #1" were;

1) Get to Phoenix quickly - which we did in about 2 and a half days;
2) Chill out and recharge with the family in Phoenix for a few days and visit some breweries, go to a local beer can show, and see some sites; and
3) Rent a car for the return trip, with plans for visiting and photographing interesting places along the way and visiting some of my wife's relatives.

For a variety of reasons, including my own "disquieted" frame-of-mind and traveling with someone, AND leaving my small laptop at home, the task of daily "progress reports from the road on this blog" just didn't work.  Unlike previous road trips and vacations, I did keep some notes on a legal pad, then transferred them to an inexpensive "composition notebook".  

Also, having forgotten my small laptop, I was prevented from a daily downloading of photos from my small digital camera.  [When I began my transition from 35 mm film to digital cameras in 2002, for years, anything more than small point-and-shoot cameras was way too expensive.] 

By late Spring 2015, that was changing, but I hadn't taken the time to check out the Digital SLR cameras.  Prior to the 1st trip, a good friend had given me a Nikon DSLR that he had dropped, I got it fixed for $97.  That was a good start.]

While in Phoenix, I did try to do a "daily download" to a flash drive by way of a flash drive, using my daughter's Apple laptop.  As I am not an "Apple person", I was unfamiliar with "Apple's way to doing things". 

My daughter was too busy and frazzled to do a daily download herself and she was not yet completely familiar with Apple's "iPhoto" program.  For whatever reason, "iPhoto" has an odd way of separating photos into different categories and scattering the icons and files. 

For the non-Apple programs I use, the time-tagged photos may be separated by notable periods of time (perhaps a few hours), but they are still grouped together to allow me to separate them at will.

I don't know if it was my shortcoming or not, but for instance, during a quick visit to photograph Sunset Crater near Flagstaff, I turned around 180 degrees to photograph parts of the San Francisco Peaks.  For some unknown reason, iPhoto separated the Sunset Crater photos into a different file and "hid" the file to the point where neither my daughter nor I could find them on the laptop.

I also lost my Sedona/Oak Creek photos the same way.  Those photo losses were part of the reason for returning to Phoenix again, about a month later.  Other reasons were posted here and here.

The Volcano in New Mexico; Capulin Cinder Cone

Route 66 Road Trip across Oklahoma

Because of family connections from my first marriage - of almost 31 years - Oklahoma has been near and dear to my heart.  The only part of the 383-mile long Oklahoma "Route 66 corridor" untraveled for me is the portion northeast of Tulsa. 

[A minor caveat: On the final leg of the 1974 Road Trip with my college roommate Dave, how we diagonally got from Dallas to St. Louis is a mystery.  My primary memories of it were driving through hours of heavy rains at night and - looking at a current map - it might have included the Route 66 corridor.  We probably intended to stop, camp out, and continue to his parents' home in St. Louis the following day, but the heavy rains nixed those plans.  Instead, we arrived at his parents' home late that night.]

The segment of the "Mother Road" between East and Northeast of Edmond has only been sparsely traveled between Arcadia and Tulsa.

Only time and circumstances will tell if future "van camping" adventures will include any sections of US Hwy 66.

Apprehensively Easing into a Bold New Phase

A couple of Sundays ago, my wife Mary Alice and I picked up this low-mileage 1993 Ford Econoline van.  The goal is to engage in some travel camping at some point in the future.  In the short term, we hope to make a "shakedown" run next month, with a couple of possible planned routes.  Her original dream was to get a larger van to eventually do some semi-back country camping, but recent medical expenditures and health issues necessitated the budgetary downsizing and mobility reconsiderations.

This is my first van ownership experience (or co-ownership) and certainly, my first travel/camping experience, though I did some light camping years ago with a 1976 4x4 Jeep pickup and a 1981 Datsun pickup (both with camper shells.)  I did use the Jeep for living while doing a couple of geology-related summer jobs in NM and TX in 1978 and 1979.

Proposed Plan A includes a short trip to Vicksburg (we are both History Buffs) and some other southern mid-continent sites.  And if the Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) are in bloom, perhaps a foray into western Louisiana or east Texas.  During the 14 years I lived in El Paso (1977-1991), during my numerous traverses between my native Georgia and El Paso, it was never during Bluebonnet season.  

This being the case, seeing and photographing Bluebonnets has been a "Bucket List" item for some time.  The "normal" Bluebonnet season is generally March and April, though the wicked winter weather in Texas may have delayed it a bit, this year.  Another nature photo consideration is that I would like to photograph the small, green flowers of "Spanish Moss" and my chances will be better in Vicksburg, than to the Northeast.   

I don't know if I can talk her into spending a half-day at the Crater of Diamonds or not.  We will just have to see.  She likes taking part in my hobbies, but because of balance issues, she has to use a walker.  The primary question will be if she is willing to self-entertain for half a day, while I play in the "diamond fields".  

Proposed Plan B, early in its planning begins with a visit to Kings Mountain Battlefield Park, south and west of Charlotte, NC.  The first generation of my ancestors settled in the Lincoln Co., NC area after arriving in Philadelphia, reportedly in 1748.  Intense research by a distant relative suggests that my grandfather (x 7 generations) took part in the Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain, as part of the Lincoln County volunteers.  Earlier studies of the battle suggest that he lost a father-in-law and a brother-in-law in the battle.

What else we might do in Plan B remains to be considered, with some pandemic restrictions possibly still in place.  A further northward journey to Antietam Battlefield Park, to follow up on our mid-2019 Gettysburg visit is one consideration if it fits within our 6-day window. 

[On a side issue: Can anyone recommend a modestly-priced dashcam/back-up camera combo?  (Not quite sure about how to mount a screen on the dashboard.)]

The “Grand Canyon” of Texas - Electric Geology Tour deep into the Palo D...

Just a quick note.  Just because I post a link or a video, that is not an automatic endorsement of the subject matter.  While the discussion of "Lichtenberg fractals" is interesting, I am dubious about attributing various lithologies and the dendritic stream pattern of Palo Duro Canyon to the narrator's ideas.  Though I like to maintain a good imagination and engage some "what if" ideas, I am uncomfortable with applying esoteric ideas in opposition to long-accepted Geological Principles.

[I haven't yet had time to watch all of it, just yet.]  So in the meantime, perhaps enjoy the scenery and consider what information you might offer the narrator, e.g., why he isn't seeing any "sea shells".

My 2015 and 2016 Encounters With U.S. Hwy. 66 - Part 2

When I returned home at the conclusion of "2015 Arizona Trip #1", I was glad to be there, but still struck by the sudden, awesome (overwhelming) silence of an almost "empty nest", I decided that I had to get out again.  My daughter was married and living in Phoenix, my son was working, and my wife was gone.  I needed to get out and go west again.  

This time was a chance to visit some long-bypassed Geology stops, to stop and take photos any time I pleased, maybe take in two or more Bucket List items, and to engage in much needed "driving and crying".

Once I decided to make the second journey as a solo trip, I began to feel as if, the longer it took me to leave town, the more likely I was to "take the safe choice" and just stay home.  So I had to "fight the fear".  

In 2009, I had planned on visiting the Clayton-Raton Volcanic Field during our summer vacation, but last-minute changes nixed that plan, so that was "on the list", as was Palo Duro Canyon, south of Amarillo, necessitating the taking of I-40 on the westward leg of the journey.  Within the westward I-40 corridor, Route 66 "joined" in Oklahoma City.

A quick perusal of the website of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America showed an upcoming show in Albuquerque, so the first part of my itinerary was coming together with that firm date, what remained was to fill in a few details.  

As a glitch in my daughter's Apple laptop had caused me to lose my Sunset Crater photos (during the first trip), I had to go back and spend a bit more time there.  So, early planning had me traveling through the Route 66 cities of Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff before heading south to Phoenix.

As usual, the day before and the day of departure were helter-skelter, with picking up the rental car, packing the car, doing laundry, running the dishwasher, making sure that the cameras and laptop were packed, along with tripods, maps, Geology guidebooks, wildflower books, rock hammer, snacks, ice chest, boots, and a couple of 12-packs of Georgia craft beers to swap at the Albuquerque show, and an iPod with a portable speaker.  

About 1:00 PM on departure day (July 14, 2015), I remembered I had purchased four Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato plants and I had to get them in the ground.  By 2:00, they were planted and surrounded by supporting tomato cages.  After a quick shower and a sandwich, I again bid adieu to home at 3:00 PM.  It was OK, I was beating the Atlanta afternoon rush hour, though by a slim margin.

Fortunately, traffic was not a problem along I-20, and the Camry was a fast, easy-driving car.  The first Alabama stop was Golden Rule Barbeque at the Irondale exit and to save time, I had dinner in the parking lot.  Afterward was a quick gas stop, then back onto I-20 across Birmingham for a short hop to the U.S. Hwy 78 exit (towards Memphis).  

[As the early miles of U.S. Hwy 78/I-22 are through the vicinity of old coal mines, there are numerous outcrops of Pennsylvanian sandstones and shales which, at the proper localities, might yield plant fossils as they do in Dade County, Georgia.  But that had to wait for a future trip, as daylight was rapidly slipping away and it was raining.]

Despite the late start, I made the 300 miles to Tupelo that first day.  I made plans to leave out early the next day and get as far past Oklahoma City as I could.  Other than gas stops and perhaps one beer stop, the only "must-do" stop was a local burger place in Russellville, Arkansas.  

Included in this "road food" post... "C-J's Butcherboy Burgers, Russellville, Arkansas.  (Second Trip 2015)  I had noticed the name on the blue interstate sign for Exit 81, on I-40 through Russellville, AR on a previous trip between GA and OK and I had made a mental note about stopping in the future.  C-J's had appeared on a random internet article "Best Burger Joint in Each State" (or something like that) as Arkansas' best.  Just a good solid, fresh hamburger."  

For that day, forward motion was the most important goal.  I skipped lunch, finally stopping at Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy in El Reno, OK for a burger, and to check the map.  While getting from the exit to the restaurant, I incidentally (and briefly) followed a bit of Route 66.  I decided to forge on a bit longer, westward after El Reno, setting Weatherford, OK as my goal.  I made a quick phone call to secure a motel room and headed out for the final 44 miles that day.

When I rolled into the Best Western Inn in Weatherford, about 45 minutes before sundown, I had covered 650 miles that day.  "Not bad for an old guy", but I was too worn out to go any further.  The 525 Main Street address was part of Route 66.  Tomorrow was to be my first day of "seeing some stuff" (primarily Palo Duro Canyon State Park).  

Oklahoma Rocks Part 1

Admittedly, I am one of those strange creatures that like both 

Texas and Oklahoma and I wish that I could spend more time in each state.  As I am not a football fan, I don't care about those rivalries (I know that makes me a heretic).  

Texas is important because that is where I lived for 14 years, I got my Master's Degree, I got married the first time there, I haven't yet seen the Spring Bluebonnet season, I haven't been able to stop and hunt for Topaz yet, and well, there is just so much more nature to see and photograph.

As for Oklahoma, my first wife was born in Ellis County, Northwest Oklahoma, and during visits with various in-laws, it was hard to "break away" to go rockhounding.  Her hometown happens to be in an area where the geology is "subtle".  Most of the area is covered with a mantle of Tertiary/Quaternary surficial deposits and there have been scattered Pleistocene mammal fossils found sporadically, usually in gravel pits.  

I hadn't been able to do the preparatory work in seeking locality information and permission to search for mammal fossils, as visits were usually for just a few days and we had to return either to El Paso or after 1990, Atlanta.  So Oklahoma was always "in-between".

My first introduction to Oklahoma Geology was during our 1973 family vacation.  My Dad had a passing interest in Geology after taking a course at Georgia Tech in the 1930s and he wanted me to do well with my chosen field.  We found and briefly visited the Oklahoma Geological Survey (Oklahoma City/Norman area) to ask about rockhounding and we were directed to an area south of Lake Thunderbird, where Barite "desert roses" could be found.  

After traveling the short distance to the locality, we found quite a few lightly- to moderately-weathered "roses", and I was quite satisfied.  The other personally-notable Oklahoma finds were connected with in-law visits.  

The first one was by accident.  We had gone from my wife's hometown to the southern part of the county to visit Lake Vincent, where her family had gone on picnics.  Just below the dam, I noticed some outcrops of red shales and mudstones (Figure 1), with a few scattered thin slabs of sandstone (Figure 2).  

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

These were part of the Permian Cloudchief Formation, (as I learned while later doing some internet follow-up study).  [Additional info is here.]  Upon examining some of the sandstone slabs, I noticed some unfamiliar trace fossils.  I took a few of the slabs by the Oklahoma Geological Survey and they said they were probably arthropod tracks (Figure 3).   [Their most-appropriate invertebrate paleontologist was out in the field and unavailable.]  

Figure 3.

At the time I labeled Figure 1, I had not yet learned that these were "Arthropleurid" tracks.  Upon further internet searches, I learned that Arthropleurids were Pennsylvanian/Permian terrestrial/semi-aquatic arthropods found in present-day North America and Europe.  At lengths of up to 6 feet, they are amongst the largest arthropods, a distinction probably due to higher atmospheric oxygen contents and the apparent lack of terrestrial predators.

On my 2015 Arizona Trip #2, I spent part of the morning of Day 3 going back to Lake Vincent one more time, as I hoped to find a slab with "paired tracks", (to be able to estimate a length extrapolated from the monster's width), but was unsuccessful in finding one.  

[Aside from getting a number of wildflower photos, my journey from I-40 to Lake Vincent wasted at least a good hour (my goal that day was Palo Duro Canyon State Park).  I was unaware of Google Maps not yet having good coverage of the rural Oklahoma countryside, and my "dead-reckoning" was faulty, with the normal E-W grid-pattern of the county roads interrupted by streams and ravines of the Red River drainage system.]

[The second notable Oklahoma specimen will be shown in the next Oklahoma post, scheduled for 11/15/2020.]

My 2015 and 2016 Encounters With U.S. Hwy. 66 - Part 1

 

An interesting take on Route 66.

Spending most of my life either in Georgia or in El Paso, in neither place was I anywhere close to U.S. Hwy. 66 (aka Route 66).  And I was a bit young for the TV series.  Though Albuquerque was a "scant" 266 miles north ("scant" in terms of "Texas distances"), I regretfully did not visit there enough times during my 14 years in El Paso (1977-1991).  Oddly enough, for a while, there was a Route 66-themed restaurant on the west side of El Paso.  [I am not sure if it was to cater to Albuquerque and Flagstaff expatriates or not.]

I suppose my failure to visit Albuquerque was because when I decided to venture 200+ miles from El Paso if I was by myself I headed west to see family members in Phoenix, and when I was with a friend, we went southeast towards Big Bend.

These things being so, during my 1973 family vacation, 1974 road trip, and subsequent visits to Flagstaff, Albuquerque, and Oklahoma City, my contacts with Route 66 were incidental and sporadic.  As recounted below, it was the time spent in Flagstaff in Flagstaff in 2015 that began my interest in Route 66, perhaps as a separate future "Bucket List" project.

The first half of 2015 had more than its share of tumult, as recounted in other posts.  After my first wife passed away from a suspected stroke on May 1st, my daughter's family completed a planned move to Phoenix for my son-in-law's job at the end of May.

After my first wife's passing, when the time came to plan for the arrival of the moving van, plans were also being made to ship their dog and their SUV to Phoenix, while they flew.  With my son working, and my wife gone, I wasn't looking forward to the sudden silence when they left.

I inquired if it would save them some money if I drove the SUV and ferried the dog.  It was decided to be a workable plan, so I asked a long-time friend, Neal, (a fellow beer can collector) if he wanted to go.  He agreed, thus began the "2015 Arizona Trip #1".  

As my daughter needed her SUV, we (including the dog) had to get to Phoenix, by way of I-20 and I-10, ASAP.  We made it in just over 2 and 1/2 days.  Once in Phoenix, we stayed for about a week.  As I hadn't been out west in a few years, Neal and I visited a number of local breweries in Phoenix and Flagstaff (and others on the way back to Georgia).  We made a one-day foray into Flagstaff for a "beer run" of sorts as we planned to cruise through Flagstaff a few days later, before the beer stores opened. 

We visited Lumberyard Brewing Company first, though I don't recall any Route 66 references within the crowded, popular brewery.  The ambiance of the patio on a cool Flagstaff day was quite enjoyable.  (A couple of days earlier, when Phoenix was 105 degrees, Flagstaff was 69 degrees.) 

Figure 1.

Appropriate to this post, we visited Mother Road Brewing Company next (see below).  ("Mother Road" is a nickname for U.S. Hwy 66.)  I guess this is when my interest in Route 66 was kindled.  

Back in 1979, I had spent one or two nights at a cousin's place in Flagstaff, and previously in 1973 and later in 2005 (?), I had stayed the night in local motels during family vacations, but the visits of Neal and I represented the most "intense" daytime exposure to Flagstaff, its history, and its culture (as a college town and a tourist mecca).

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Figure 3.

Figure 4. (I think they had 5 kinds of Kolsch.)

Figure 5.  Field Research at Mother Road.

Prior to visiting Mother Road Brewing Company in Flagstaff that day, we detoured north for a short visit to Sunset Crater, a youthful 900-year-old shield volcano (a Bucket List item).  (I did a little Geology on the trip, a few days earlier, we had briefly stopped at the Monahans Sandhills on I-20.)

Figure 6.  Sunset Crater from Cinder Hills Overlook.

Figure 7.  Sunset Crater, view from the West.

After Mother Road, we visited Historic Brewing Company's Barrel & Bottle House, my first experience with an actual "gastropub".

Upon leaving Flagstaff that day, we decided to return to Phoenix by way of Sedona, scenic Oak Creek Canyon, and Oak Creek Brewing Company and have an early dinner.  We spent a few more days in Phoenix, then picked up a rental car for the return trip, opting for the expected cooler temperatures of the higher latitude of I-40 and a couple of side visits. 

[As bad luck would have it, I left my small laptop at home and as the Nikon D50 would only "hold" 1 GB or 2 GB cards, I had to download photos each day to my daughter's Apple laptop.  Perhaps it was my inexperience with the Apple system, but some of the photo files "disappeared" into her computer and we couldn't find them.  That included the Sunset Crater and Sedona photos.  The Sunset Crater photos above are from 2015 Arizona Trip #2.] 

From Flagstaff, we detoured off the Route 66 corridor to visit Monument Valley and the Four Corners Monument, then spent the night in Farmington, NM.  A couple of early stops on U.S. Hwy 89 included seeing Dinosaur tracks at Moenave, AZ and the Elephants Feet a few miles further east. 

Figure 8.  Dinosaur Track near Moenave, AZ

Figure 9.  Elephant Feet, East of Moenave.

After that "Four Corners" excursion, we headed back to Albuquerque, I-40, and the Route 66 "corridor".  That night we stayed in Santa Rosa, NM at the La Quinta and had a satisfying Mexican dinner at the nearby Silver Moon Cafe.  Following any of Route 66 was not on our "radar", but after seeing the numerous references in Flagstaff and Santa Rosa, the "seed was planted" in my mind to be more vigilant and observant.

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Figure 11.

Our next stop was planned for Marla's hometown in NW Oklahoma, to spread some of her ashes at an old family farm and visit some of her relatives.  To reach Oklahoma City (and Marla's parents' home by dark), we had to "buzz on by" The Big Texan, again.  (We didn't know that The Big Texan had added a brewpub by then.)

As we left Oklahoma City the next day (being on the road was wearing us down), as we were planning the final days of our trip along I-40, while driving, we were leaving U.S. 66 behind.  (As recounted, U.S. Hwy. 66 had not been a major side interest.)

After we returned to our respective homes in the Metro Atlanta area, I was glad to be home, but still struck by the sudden, awesome (overwhelming) silence.  I decided that I had to get out again.  I needed to get out and go west again.  This time to visit some long-bypassed Geology stops, to stop and take photos any time I pleased, and to engage in much needed "driving and crying".

Amidst the hurried planning for the "2015 Arizona Trip #2", I hadn't immediately thought of The Big Texan.  That turned out to be a "spur of the moment" decision when I reached Amarillo on the 3rd Day of Trip #2.  [To be continued ...]

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Figure 14.