The People's Highway: Petrified Forest & Holbrook, AZ: Beautiful Badlands and the Wigwam Village

We passed through a number of towns on the journey from Albuquerque to Holbrook (although none quite as interesting as Villa De Cubero, purportedly the place where Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea), and only stopped once to buy a 75 cent snow cone.

Backdrop for The Old Man & The Sea?

Good Vibes from the Badlands

We crossed into Arizona, where our first stop was the Petrified Forest National Park. The Park was created in 1906 under President Roosevelt, after local residents expressed concern about the number of tourists removing fossilized artifacts (brought into the region by Route 66 as well as the Atchison/Topeka/Santa Fe Railroad). More than just petrified wood, the PFNP also contains the Painted Desert, as well as a collection of petroglyphs (ancient rock carvings) between 600-2,000 years old.

God’s Paintbrush

The first stop within the park is the Painted Desert, so named for the multi-colored layers of rock strata that form an endless expanse of highly eroded hills and canyons. Vibrant reds, purples and browns punctuate these so-called ‘badlands’, named by both the indigenous peoples and Spanish trappers because of the difficulty in traveling across the loose sediment that forms the landscape. After a long walk across the rim of the formation, we couldn’t tell if the view had taken our breath away, or if it was our inexperience with elevations close to 6,000 feet.

Ancient Graffiti

Our next stop in the Park was Newspaper Rock, known for its numerous petroglyphs. Upwards of 600 years old (and possibly thousands), the rock carvings contain a number of human and animal-like figures, along with complex designs and patterns. Walking back towards Elvis, we talked about how strange it was to see something so obviously human, and yet so primitive.

The Crystal Forest

The last part of our journey through the PFNP brought us to the park’s namesake. We happened to arrive just as a park ranger was guiding a group of children into the protected area. “How old do you think these logs are?” he asked the munchkins, who gregariously argued over relatively low numbers. The ranger chuckled, and then replied, “In fact, these logs in front of you are 225 million years old.”

Wood ‘petrifies’ after being buried for hundreds, thousands or - in this case - hundreds of millions of years. Rather than decay, the wood is buried under mineral-rich sediment, which slowly replaces the plant’s cells with stone. The result today is large chunks of richly-colored stone that shimmers in the desert sun with a brilliance rarely seen in nature.

After wandering about the park observing these preserved chunks of history, we retreated to Elvis, and made our way into Holbrook.

Brought to You from a Concrete Wigwam

When we started planning for this trip many months ago, we knew we would stay at the Wigwam Motel – one of the most renowned Route 66 attractions and the inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in Cars. Owned and operated by the Lewis family for over 60 years, the Wigwam Village #6 in Holbrook, AZ is a collection of 15 concrete teepees (or, wigwams), of which Wigwam #9 would be our home for the evening. Throughout the parking lot are a number of classic cars, including some that served as inspiration for Cars' characters.

Chief Joe and his horse, Elvis.

Closing the Evening at “The Hottest Restaurant on the Route”

For dinner, we traveled less than a mile from our Wigwam to Joe and Aggie’s, known by enthusiasts for the “hottest food on the route” (i.e. the plates used to burn holes through plastic tablecloths). Christopher, our cheerful waiter, introduced himself as the token white guy, “you need one in every Mexican family,” he said, continuing to spend some time sharing Route 66 stories with us.

Today, the restaurant is managed by Joe and Aggie’s daughter and grandchildren, who “have one way or another” all found their way back to the diner. We spoke to one of the grandsons, who said “there’s lots to see here” in Holbrook, referencing the location of Geronimo’s surrender and an annual dance festival that we just missed. We signed the guest book and browsed memorabilia and Cars trinkets before heading back to our Wigwam.