My first chore was to learn how to control ‘Waltzing Matilda’ - my 45-foot long truck and trailer combination: home on wheels for 4200 miles over 11 days in late November through mid December, 2002.

Matilda unfortunately was overloaded and her response to bumpy or uneven roads was to start a disturbing gyration at speeds over 55 miles an hour. This ‘dance’ was actually quite life-threatening, for unchecked, the gyration amplitude quickly increased to unnerving proportions: enough to potentially send the vehicle off the road. This never happened, but the first day’s driving taught me that the danger was real. I had to be on guard for long, down-hill grades where Matilda wanted to gain speed to ease her next up-hill challenge. Valley bottoms often have curved bridges over rivers so I was constantly reining her in. Keeping her from jumping over bridge guardrails was a constant concern. I had to learn to drive at 55 miles per hour (90 kph to us Canadians) no matter how perfect the road seemed.

Our first botanical garden exploration coincided with our early morning arrival at Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I needed a coffee break and Matilda needed gas when I saw the sign to the Rio Grande Botanic Garden. We had just negotiated the blander U.S. version of the Rocky Mountain Range (the Canadian Rockies around Banff are much more dramatic) and the opportunity to look at some labelled vegetation appealed.

But first I had to find a way past the locked entrance gate; at 7:30 a.m. it was much too early for normal visitors’ hours. A security guard came out to question my early-morning presence in the parking lot (a truck and trailer might have meant thievery potential, I suppose). I flashed my nursery business card, and pleaded for him to phone someone with the authority to give me access to the gardens. Success! Three hours later, as the first paying visitors arrived, I happily volunteered to pay my $3.00 ‘exit’ fee.

On film were, ornamental grass-lined ponds (at left), a Moorish garden reflecting early settlers gardening influences, and native New Mexico cacti and desert plants.

This bronze artwork also caught my attention.

The Rio Grande Botanic Gardens should be a ‘must stop’ for botanically inclined westward-travelling tourists.

Visit http://www.cabq.gov/biopark/garden/ for background info on this garden.

I did not have a chance to explore their still-locked modern conservatory ( at left) and unique Childrens’ Garden.

Matilda and I finally got our ‘high-test’ top-ups in Albuquerque’s Spanish-styled downtown area before again heading westward on Interstate-40.

‘Old Route 66’ beckoned for exploration, but on this trip I ignored the many exits from I-40 to the historic settlement trail from Chicago to Los Angeles,. Route 66 maps and historical information can be found at http://www.historic66.com/index.html.

We wended our way around the preserves in setting sun conditions. This was perfect for photography of the pinnacles’ long shadows. The orange evening light accentuated the ochre and yellow-banded soils.

The 200 million year old Petrified Forest dramatically illustrated that prehistoric lakes and tropical forests had once inundated the high western desert regions. Uplifting by the collision of underground tectonic plates and millions of years of soil erosion subsequently exposed prehistoric petrified tree-remains for us to see. Not quite a botanical garden, these rock-like remnants, but a geological/botanical point-of-interest nevertheless.

For those looking to buy a unique slice of polished petrified wood suitable for making a coffee table, there is a store/ museum at the park’s southern exit. ‘Toonie’-sized pieces cost about $10 and coffee table-sized slabs about the price of a new computer. “We deliver!” the clerk told me when I mentioned that my return home was by plane.

Information on the Petrified Forest National Park can be viewed at: http://www.desertusa.com/pet/index.html

View petrified wood slices at: http://www.petrifiedwood.com/ .

No trip across Arizona would be complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon.

A 6:00 a.m. start from Flagstaff was intended to catch the rising sun highlighting inner canyon pinnacles. However, Matilda & I experienced dense fog caused by the cold of snow on the ground as we climbed to the south rim’s 8000 plus foot elevation. I could hardly see 25 feet in front of Matilda. A decision to bide some time in the expectation that the fog would dissipate paid off. I slept for an hour in Matilda’s cramped front seat and spent another hour wandering through the ruins of an archaeologically important 800 year-old Tusayan Indian pueblo (I learned that a pueblo is actually an organized village).

Eventually, around noon, the fog broke and the canyon’s grandeur began to be revealed. Even though it was still somewhat hazy, I shot a roll of film trying to capture the realities of distance and depth of one of the world’s ‘seven natural wonders’.

I never did get the ‘perfect’ shot.

My 4-hour visit was just enough time to convince me to come back for at least a 2-day stay another trip, Perhaps I should have purchased the annual ‘All National Parks’ pass at $50 as I knew other national parks were yet to be encountered the further west I drove. I however chose the $10 entrance fee option.

Visit http://www.desertusa.com/gc/gc_desc.html as a start to planning a trip to the Grand Canyon.

After a light lunch in the grocery/delicatessen store in Grand Canyon Village, we headed south and west en route to California’s Joshua Tree National Park.

Next we travelled east of the southward flowing Colorado River, on Arizona’s Route 95, to Lake Havasu City. Our introduction to this lakeside winter haven was a low, thick cloud of California’s infamous eastward-travelling smog.

The tourist centre duty-person ducked my question of how frequent this phenomenon occurred. She artfully and enthusiastically pointed me to the nearby London Bridge – the city’s claim to fame. The relocation of England’s historic London Bridge to this inland site is, in my mind, a bit presumptuous, but it is a tourist feature none-the-less! At a 1968 purchase cost of $2.5 million dollars and another $7 million for relocation costs, a developer had a theme to attract potential purchasers.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/aug/stories/lkhav.html has more info. on the London Bridge.