We first went to the Navajo Nation Zoological & Botanical Park, which is the only Native American owned and operated zoo in the country. We really enjoyed all the animals and their enclosures were very well done. A little more work could be done to the Botanical part of the park.
We then went to the Window Rock Navajo Tribal Park to see Window Rock.
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| Navajo Code Talkers used their native language as a means of communication during World War II. |
A few interesting facts about Gallup, they are known as the Most Patriotic Small Town In America, Adventure Capital of New Mexico, and the Indian Capital of the World. They also are known for the
Red Rock Balloon Festival in December, which is the second largest in the US. They are also on the historic Route 66, which has one of the top tourist sites on the route.
The El Rancho Hotel was opened in 1937. They are famous for all the Hollywood stars who stayed in the hotel while filming Westerns nearby.
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| Lobby of hotel, shows both first and second level. |
On Saturday we drove to Holbrook, AZ staying in the OK RV Park which again had great sites at the end that did not have trees. They gave us the largest and widest site in the park, which was great.
The first place we went was out to Jim Grays Petrified Wood shop. Amazing all the rocks, petrified wood and fossils displayed inside and out.  |
| Pond created out of petrified wood. |
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| Citrine rock and furniture of petrified wood. |
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| Wild Bill Fossilized alligator from Florida - 2.9 million years old |
Another Historic Route 66 site, placed on national historic site in 2002. Construction on wigwam village started in 1937. They are actually teepees, but the owner did not like the name teepee so he used Wigwam instead. Today, each teepee has a private bathroom with toilet and shower, a TV and air conditioner.
On Monday, we visited the Petrified Forest National Park.
The Painted Desert Inn was completed around 1920 by David Lore. The inn opened in 1940 to provide hospitality services to tourists and travelers on the Santa Fe Railroad as well as for Route 66 travelers. It closed in 1942 as World War II shifted resources.
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| Painted Desert Inn |
Petrified Forest National park is the only park in the country that includes and protects a section of historic Route 66.
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| 1932 Studebaker marks the spot where the original Route 66 cut through the park. |
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| Puerco Pueblo - homes occupied 1250-1380 CE |
Petroglyphs, located throughout the park to include Newspaper Rock which displays over 650 petroglyphs, some over 2000 years old.
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| Agate Bridge |
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| Old Faithful - log measures 35 feet long and weighs approx. 44 tons |
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| Agate House - Pueblo home constructed out of petrified wood |
On Oct 10, we drove into Paradise RV Resort in Sun City and the motorhome will stay parked until Jan. 1.
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