We have been to this combo park several times since 1989. Partially because it is conveniently just off of I-40 in northeastern part of Arizona. And partially because the food is excellent and inexpensive at the Visitor Center.
Petrified Forest
Painted Desert
On the way back from Eugene I thought I might catch a couple more Post Offices, but I got ambitious and took a half dozen. Stumbled on a covered bridge along the way. Of course it took 4-1/2 hours to get home instead of a little over 2 hours, but hey, got no reason to go in a straight line.
Drove down to Eugene this afternoon to bring the folks at FTW Tuning the shock bushings. And as you can see from the above photo they were waiting on me. Right now it looks like they’ll be finished next week sometime. I’ll probably drive down on Friday in the Mini and pick up the OEM wheels with their 25-year old tires. Still not sure what I want to do with them, but I’m leaning towards mounting them on the New Miata.
I took this opportunity to snag three post office photos on the drive down. I might shoot for a couple three more on the way home.
The first post office was in Albany and the second was in the home town of Oregon State University, Corvallis, and the last was in Monroe. Tonight I’m staying Eugene which is the home of the University of Oregon. The town just over the Willamette River from Eugene is the home of the Simpsons, Springfield.
Here are some more photos of that whirlwind driving tour of Arizona in 1989. The first 4 pictures are of Las Vegas. I know we spent the night there, but I couldn’t tell you which one it was. I might not even have been any of these for properties. The Flamingo is the only hotel of these four that still stands from 36 years ago. The Sands was torn down in 1996 and was replaced by The Venetian. The Dunes closed in early 1993 and one of the towers was imploded later that same year with the second tower coming down early in 1994. The Bellagio was built on the site and opened in 1996. The Frontier closed in July of 2007 and the 16-story tower was imploded in November of that year. The property it stood on has to this date not been built on.
Next four are of the Hoover Dam. Look at that water level! Pretty near full and right now the level is about 160 feet lower. We even took the tour. Even though 112 people died during its construction, none of them are entombed in the concrete despite that popular myth. When the bottom of the large concrete bucket opened up, pouring 8 cu yd out, a team of men worked it throughout the form. Each bucket deepened the concrete in a form by only 1 inch (25 mm), and Six Companies engineers would not have permitted a flaw caused by the presence of a human body.
Nothing New To See Here Edition of SORT
As of Monday, February 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM pacific time:
| Sport | Off-Road | Touring |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 BMW M2 | 1995 Land Rover Defender | 2010 Porsche Panamera |
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| More of the same ol’ stuff, a BMW, a Land Rover and a Porsche. Maybe next week I’ll build a SORT garage from Doug Demuro’s Car and Bids instead of Bring A Trailer. |
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Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sport: 1961 Morris Mini-Minor Sold for USD $9,000 on 2/13/25
Off-Road: 1962 Dodge Town Wagon Sold for USD $12,000 on 02/14/25
Touring: 2003 BMW M5 Sold for USD $34,500 on 2/12/25
So, for episode 2 of “Driving Ms. Sally” in late April I’ll be driving down to Santa Fe instead of flying. Because after we get back to Santa Fe from the Hammond visit, I’m leaving Sally there and I’m going to continue driving around the country visiting folks. On the trip down I want to visit Monument Valley. Sally mentioned that she wanted to go there and see it someday, so I’m going to reconnoiter the place.
I have driven through the area twice recently and I actually visited it a long time ago. Back in 1989 Donna & me were deciding whether to quit our jobs in Florham Park and move to a sister plant in South Carolina or just stay in NJ and think about buying a house there. To help clear our heads and think on it we took a couple weeks of vacation and flew into Phoenix, AZ, rented a car and circumnavigated the state. One of the stops was Monument Valley. We arrived late afternoon and they were no longer running the Jeep tours, so we thought we were out of luck, but things were a bit more laid back then. The guy behind the counter handed us a map and said, “Just stay on the roads and be back here before 6 to leave, because they lock the gate.” We got back in our little red 1989 Ford Escort and bounced along on several miles of dirt road. That would never happen now.
Looks like the 1-2″ of yesterday was joined by at least 3″ more overnight and this morning. So other than dusting the snow off the cars and shoveling snow, I have been hibernating. I’ve been watching episodes of The West Wing and then following it by listening to The West Wing Weekly podcast’s recap of that very show. I’ve watched up to the 19th episode of season 3, or 63 episodes, I still have a little more to go, eighty-nine…
What’s next? A hundred and twenty-one episodes of LOST. Or maybe the 217 episodes of The X-Files? Really, that many? I’ll probably just watch the 40 of them that I saved when I pared it down to one’s I’d rewatch more than once.