WEBVTT

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     (Route 66 music playing)

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Do they get their
kicks on Route 66?

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They sure do, man.

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Let me tell you everybody
gets their kicks on Route 66,

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cause we do ourselves.

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You've probably heard that song.

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You've no doubt seen the signs.

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You might even have
driven a stretch or two

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of the mother road.

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Oh right down here
you can see the sign.

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     (Route 66 music playing)

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But did you know it
meanders through

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some of the finest deserts
in the United States?

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     (Route 66 music playing)

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Funding for
        The Desert Speaks

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was provided by
Desert Program Partners,

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representing concerned viewers
making a financial commitment

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to the education about and
preservation of deserts.

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And by the
Stonewall Foundation.

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Additional funding provided by
The Nature Conservancy.

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             ♪music♪

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About a century ago, Americans
wanting to travel west

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began to look to the automobile
rather than the train

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to carry them.

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Engineers searched for routes,

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preferably the flattest,
to build highways.

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Before long, a paved
highway became a necessity,

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and by 1937, a reality.

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The most famous connection
between east and west, Route 66.

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     (Route 66 music playing)

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In west Texas and
eastern New Mexico,

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Route 66 encounters desert.

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Both my ecologist friend,
Yar Petryszyn, and I

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were part of that migration.

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We know the highway.

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I remember when my family
moved West back in the '50s,

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how excited I was
to see the desert.

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But I wonder what these folks
felt coming out of Chicago,

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you know Illinois and
Missouri, Kansas,

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yeah, you're a Kansan,

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when they first got into this,
for them, god-forsaken country.

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Oh, yeah.

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can you imagine going
across hundreds of miles

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of flat prairies and then
deserts and then to see this.

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It and they were going
45 miles an hour max.

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It took forever.

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Well, that's the price they paid
for the dream of California.

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Yeah, that's true.

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But they didn't have any
field guides, any books

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to tell them what they
were going to see,

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just the very basic stuff.

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So somebody sees a
cactus like this cholla.

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Oh, look at this.

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For them that would be
an exotic, exotic plant.

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And this is, this is a
miserable little cholla,

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just a beginning cholla.

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But it can hold its own, yeah.

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Did you have these yuccas in
west Kansas where you grew up?

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Yeah, in western Kansas
it was short grass prairie

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soon degrade into desert, and
it's a desert adapted plant

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for low rainfall and a
very important plant.

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The seeds were edible
by native peoples

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but also rodents and birds.

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Well, there's also a
song that I learned

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when I moved to Arizona.

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It's "Little Tommy
Tucka sat on a yucca

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and he began to
cry, Ma-aa", etc.

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Well, you can feel the
ends of these leaves.

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You can see why he cried

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because they are very, very
sharp to protect the plant.

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These mesquites will give
you a good prick too.

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Yeah.

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And then the favorite
old prickly pear.

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Yeah, that's another
indicator that they were

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in a desert area cause
these are definitely

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adapted for dry times and
this area also for cold

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cause it gets quite
cold in this.

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And that's why they're
not very big here.

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That's right, they're
really stunted.

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The big spines are obvious

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but the little clusters of
spines, called glocids, are not.

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Yar, let's get out of the
prickly pear and go on Route 66.

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Let's head west.

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That's west.

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     (Route 66 music playing;
     car, motorcycle sounds)

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Sometimes you gotta get off
the interstate to find old 66.

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It's, oh, right down here--
you can see the sign.

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Oh, yeah.

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Yeah it's really fragmented.

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Oftentimes segments
are frontage roads.

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Well, you can tell you're
in eastern New Mexico,

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they're, they're shoveling
in the tumble weeds.

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Yeah, looks like they're
harvesting them there.

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Well, these are a wild plant

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that actually some people
use it as a lettuce.

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When it's nice and
tender about this size,

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it's just juicy and succulent
but now it's just a weed.

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It can grow to about
the size of a truck.

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Yeah, it just be like that.

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And they're so light the
wind just blows them along.

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So this is the Route 66
Auto Museum and I'm told

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this is the best display of
old cars in all of New Mexico.

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Well, let's go find out.

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Just look inside,
no end, 50's, 60's.

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This is where we have
all the collection

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of all the classic cars that
we build next door at Bozo's.

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This is the guts of
the museum then?

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This is it, man.

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This is uh. Oh, wow.

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Hey, good work,
these are classics.

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Yes.

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A little bit of
everything right here.

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We have a '57 Chevy convertible,
frame off restoration.

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It's on a turn table.

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As you can see you can
come up here and you want

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to swing this car around
to look at it, no problem,

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there it is.

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You can do it right there guys.

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And this is a '56?

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'57 Chevy.

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'57 as well.

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Uh-huh.

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Every bolt and nut has
been done on this car.

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Look at the dash board.

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We've kind of changed
the dash board around

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and wanted to keep it
kind of original outside

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but yet a hot rod, '57 Chevy,
so that's what we did.

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This thing is quick.

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I mean this thing is,
fly down the road.

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So the upholstery in here
is better than what the

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original buyer would have had?

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Oh yeah, they've
improved it so much.

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And the windshield
on here swings out?

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Right.

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Yeah, terrific.

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That's what they used to call
mother nature air conditioning.

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You know, let the wind
just blow your hair back

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you know, cruising
Route 66, you know.

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That's what they used to do
in all these cars back then,

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that was cool.

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This car here is a replica

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of the same car that we have
up on the up on the, on the.

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On the pole up front?

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Uh-huh.

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We tell everybody that the
car outside is hydraulic.

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We let it down and we drive it

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and then bring it back and
put it back on the pole

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and people are "Really?"

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"Ah, just kidding."

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So, you've got how
many cars in here Bozo?

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We've got 48 cars in
here in the museum

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and I own 25 of them are mine.

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You have the feeling

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you're walking through
automotive history?

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Well, it's almost
like a car graveyard

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that's been
resurrected with all.

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Came to life, huh?

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Yeah, came to life.

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I mean this is wonderful.

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What a neat assortment.

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You ever heard of Route 66?

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I, I have.

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       (David singing) Well
if you ever plan

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to motor west, travel my way on
the highway that's the best.

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Take your kicks on Route 66.

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Well, it winds from Chicago
to LA more than 2000 miles..

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     (Route 66 music playing)

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How about taking us for a ride

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in one of your favorites?

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Supposed to be on the
back we can get 'em out.

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Purple and yellow
together, great.

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Let's do it.

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Yeah, we're going
cruise this puppy, man.

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What year is this?

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This is a 1948. '48.

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Mercury convertible.

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All right.

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You have a license,
driver's license?

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No, but I got a permit.

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Ok, well permit's okay.

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You're accompanied by an adult.

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Yeah, that's right.

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Okay, yes.

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All right, off we go.

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Every car that came
through here would stop in

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Santa Rosa for one
thing or another.

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Yeah.

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Because it was a two lane
and it went right through.

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This is the main street
of Route 66 right here,

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right through Santa Rosa.

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Then there's a number of towns
that this sort of craziness,

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this Route 66 mania,
has really helped.

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Yes, it has.

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It's really, really
boosted the economy

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and not only here, Dave,
but everywhere.

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Tourists is what keeps
Santa Rosa going,

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the motels, the restaurants,
the gas stations.

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They want to do route
66 before they die

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and they, they go into the
museum and they, they just

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go crazy because
they see their car

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that they used to drive when
they used to do the Route 66

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with their parents you know.

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And now they're
doing it themselves.

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What was this then?

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This was an Exxon.

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Oh yeah, you can see the old
"happy motoring" slogan.

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Yea, right it was
an Exxon station.

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And this La Mesa
motel, it's still.

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It's still in operation.

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Right now it's been
owned by the same family

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for the last 40, 50 years
that I know of.

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This is the first, first
Chevrolet Garage right here.

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Oh really?

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It was there before
the other one, yeah.

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It used to be called
Central Motors.

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Now I see a place
up here, there's,

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it's got a yellow, yellow
hot rod up on a pole.

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That's the Route 66
Auto Museum there, Dave.

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Oh, do you know
anything about that?

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That's my museum!

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Oh, that's your place.

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Yeah, it's. It's got
checked flags out front.

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Yes, everything yes.

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People travel this road
because of Route 66.

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Do they get their
kicks on Route 66?

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They sure do man,
let me tell you.

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Everybody gets their
kicks on Route 66,

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cause we do ourselves you know.

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     (Route 66 music playing)

10:29.428 --> 10:41.507 align:start
Apparently the blue
hole is a big sink hole

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Apparently the blue
hole is a big sink hole

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but real clear water.

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A sink hole, in limestone?

10:46.612 --> 10:47.813 align:start
In limestone, yes.

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Look at this.

10:50.549 --> 10:54.020 align:start
Well, when you're a long
way from the ocean.

10:54.053 --> 10:55.588 align:start
Yeah, I suspect it's the
best scuba act in town.

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Right, it's clear water.

10:56.622 --> 10:59.325 align:start
Well, we'll see.

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Outflow 300, or 3,000
gallons per minute.

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God, it is blue too!

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It is blue and
it is very clear.

11:07.333 --> 11:09.735 align:start
Well, you know it's gotta
be an oasis of sorts

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and imagine this water
is always fresh,

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it's coming in at this rate.

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What a swimming. (splash)

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So this is a ancient cavern that
the roof, ceiling had collapsed

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and so making this sinkhole
here in the limestone.

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And there's Coy.

11:31.524 --> 11:33.526 align:start
Hi, Coy.

11:33.559 --> 11:35.561 align:start
The blue of the water
for this sinkhole is

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due to the clarity of it,
if you look at, compare it

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to water in a stream
that's carrying a lot of

11:41.567 --> 11:43.536 align:start
particulate matter.

11:43.569 --> 11:44.970 align:start
Here, since it's coming
underground, it's been

11:45.004 --> 11:49.308 align:start
filtered and it's
very, very clear.

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Sinkholes like this
are generally fed

11:52.278 --> 12:01.153 align:start
by percolating water, springs.

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It's used by scuba
divers quite often,

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considering if you're interested
in scuba diving

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and you live a long ways from
ocean, this is the best,

12:10.663 --> 12:14.934 align:start
next best thing
that you can use.

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     (Route 66 music playing)

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Chad, the number of incarnations
of Route 66 is interesting.

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It wasn't just one little road.

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This place has changed
locations four times

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just to accommodate the
different Route 66s.

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Okay, as it moved
they moved as well.

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That's right.

12:36.722 --> 12:38.357 align:start
You know when they
started this 66,

12:38.390 --> 12:41.227 align:start
the interstate system
wasn't even a dream.

12:41.260 --> 12:46.165 align:start
This route started off
as a way of commerce

12:46.198 --> 12:50.970 align:start
of you know getting particularly
grain to the west coast

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and of course get people to
California to buy those lots.

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Well, then you know
tourism took over,

12:56.275 --> 12:59.078 align:start
they had vacations and all this.

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Looks like you can buy
almost anything here

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as souvenirs and to eat.

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Look at all this stuff.

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Yeah, here you find
every possible T-shirt

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for the entire region.

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Oh, yeah, we should get
one or two of those.

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Not only do we have
Route 66 memorabilia

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but we have memorabilia
about Route 66.

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Yeah, even things
like golf balls.

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Golf balls, that's right.

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Look, no, no, no.

13:22.935 --> 13:24.336 align:start
Here's one I want right here.

13:24.370 --> 13:26.038 align:start
Look at this.

13:26.071 --> 13:28.174 align:start
A convertible on Route 66.

13:28.207 --> 13:29.842 align:start
Well, there's a
possibility there,

13:29.875 --> 13:31.076 align:start
we might, maybe we
could barter for that.

13:31.110 --> 13:34.146 align:start
Yeah okay.

13:34.146 --> 13:36.849 align:start
Well, there we have
Cline's Corner

13:36.882 --> 13:42.354 align:start
which is a 21st century
representation of Route 66.

13:49.228 --> 13:51.997 align:start
Part of Albuquerque
that's old Route 66

13:52.031 --> 13:55.434 align:start
there's a tendency to think
that it's fairly recent.

13:55.467 --> 13:59.038 align:start
Yeah, it was a trade route
for thousands of years.

13:59.071 --> 14:02.575 align:start
The Macaws that they
find feathers of up here

14:02.608 --> 14:05.377 align:start
and are portrayed,
they, the closest ones

14:05.411 --> 14:07.646 align:start
are least 600 miles
down in Mexico

14:07.680 --> 14:09.081 align:start
and the Scarlet Macaws
are more than 1500 miles.

14:09.114 --> 14:11.584 align:start
Yeah, at least.

14:11.617 --> 14:14.153 align:start
They didn't choose just any
site at all to do rock art,

14:14.186 --> 14:16.622 align:start
just not every rock will do.

14:16.655 --> 14:18.490 align:start
This volcanic stuff's perfect.

14:18.524 --> 14:22.628 align:start
Yeah, and it's about
150,000 years old

14:22.661 --> 14:25.030 align:start
is when when this flowed.

14:25.064 --> 14:27.466 align:start
But it's got this nice
patina on it too.

14:27.499 --> 14:29.668 align:start
Right, it's a desert varnish,
so when you chip through it,

14:29.702 --> 14:33.038 align:start
it shows up the lighter
layer underneath,

14:33.072 --> 14:36.008 align:start
so it really stands out.

14:36.041 --> 14:39.345 align:start
And to the south, there's
at least 5 volcanic cones.

14:39.378 --> 14:41.614 align:start
So we know where all this stuff,

14:41.647 --> 14:43.549 align:start
all this volcanic, these
basaltic flows came from?

14:43.582 --> 14:45.017 align:start
Right.

14:45.050 --> 14:49.421 align:start
There's almost
20,000 petroglyphs

14:49.455 --> 14:54.193 align:start
along this 17 mile
escarpment here.

14:54.226 --> 14:55.728 align:start
Yeah, the figures are
all over this basalt.

14:55.761 --> 14:58.564 align:start
Oh, look at that strange
one right there.

14:58.597 --> 15:01.734 align:start
W Albuquerque, getting
into the center

15:01.767 --> 15:03.502 align:start
of sort of Native American
activity in the west

15:03.535 --> 15:05.337 align:start
which was so important,

15:05.337 --> 15:07.172 align:start
so farther west
we pick up a lot.

15:07.206 --> 15:08.474 align:start
Right, here are
the Paleo-Indians

15:08.507 --> 15:10.442 align:start
and the more modern.

15:10.476 --> 15:11.577 align:start
And the contemporary
ones of the west.

15:11.610 --> 15:14.580 align:start
Yes.

15:14.613 --> 15:16.982 align:start
It must have been
sensational for the people

15:16.982 --> 15:18.617 align:start
coming on Route 66
from the Midwest

15:18.617 --> 15:20.653 align:start
from Chicago, Missouri, Kansas,

15:20.686 --> 15:22.087 align:start
seeing the Sandias
for the first time.

15:22.121 --> 15:23.222 align:start
Wow!

15:23.255 --> 15:25.024 align:start
Yeah.

15:25.057 --> 15:26.825 align:start
Well, considering
that Albuquerque's

15:26.859 --> 15:28.727 align:start
over 5,000 foot in
elevation, you're getting

15:28.761 --> 15:33.666 align:start
the mountain range that's
approaching 11,000 feet.

15:33.699 --> 15:36.001 align:start
Yeah, this is really high
desert in through here,

15:36.001 --> 15:38.370 align:start
not much vegetation.

15:38.370 --> 15:41.040 align:start
This whole surface that
we're seeing through here

15:41.073 --> 15:45.411 align:start
is actually the
top of lava flows.

15:45.444 --> 15:47.346 align:start
And here's the Rio Grande.

15:47.379 --> 15:48.647 align:start
So once you cross that,
man, west of that,

15:48.647 --> 15:51.150 align:start
that's Indian country,

15:51.183 --> 15:53.085 align:start
that's the real west, desert,
Painted Desert.

15:53.118 --> 15:55.187 align:start
Well, it went from a
simple two lane highway

15:55.220 --> 15:58.424 align:start
all the way from
Chicago to Los Angeles

15:58.457 --> 16:03.896 align:start
to this fast lane,
four lane interstate.

16:03.929 --> 16:06.398 align:start
Yeah, it stopped and
you actually had to.

16:06.398 --> 16:07.866 align:start
Drive through.

16:07.900 --> 16:10.169 align:start
Drive through town.

16:10.202 --> 16:11.403 align:start
Well, that was the compromise
that a lot of them did.

16:11.403 --> 16:12.972 align:start
Okay, you put the highway
but don't let it bypass.

16:13.005 --> 16:14.673 align:start
Right.

16:14.673 --> 16:18.644 align:start
Then later on, they
built the bypass.

16:18.677 --> 16:21.347 align:start
You know neon is just
a terrific invention,

16:21.380 --> 16:24.550 align:start
I think it was sometime
maybe back in the early part

16:24.583 --> 16:27.019 align:start
of the 20th century,
somebody discovered that

16:27.052 --> 16:30.522 align:start
if you run a current
just through neon,

16:30.556 --> 16:35.327 align:start
in a vacuum chamber filled with
neon, it gives off a color

16:35.327 --> 16:37.696 align:start
and then they could change
the gas or they could

16:37.696 --> 16:39.198 align:start
use colored glass to get any
color they durn pleased.

16:39.231 --> 16:40.766 align:start
Right.

16:40.799 --> 16:42.167 align:start
And what, it made
a huge difference

16:42.201 --> 16:43.869 align:start
in the way towns looked.

16:43.902 --> 16:45.371 align:start
I mean look, imagine
this whole place,

16:45.404 --> 16:46.772 align:start
look at it lit up by neon.

16:46.805 --> 16:47.606 align:start
Just blocks and blocks of it.

16:47.639 --> 16:49.208 align:start
Yeah.

16:49.241 --> 16:50.676 align:start
And the flashing,
look flashing neon.

16:50.709 --> 16:53.078 align:start
Oh, that was a real hit.

16:53.078 --> 16:54.380 align:start
Maybe they don't allow it
in sign codes anymore,

16:54.413 --> 16:56.248 align:start
I don't know.

16:56.281 --> 16:57.850 align:start
It almost reminds you
of the way Las Vegas was

16:57.883 --> 16:59.385 align:start
about 40 years ago.

16:59.418 --> 17:01.020 align:start
Well, that's true.

17:01.053 --> 17:03.455 align:start
They had neon down
to perfection.

17:03.455 --> 17:05.190 align:start
Man, it would just jam your
senses with neon lights

17:05.224 --> 17:09.028 align:start
and that was the idea.

17:13.932 --> 17:17.836 align:start
This lava flow could have
happened 10 days ago.

17:17.870 --> 17:22.474 align:start
Boy, it looks like it.

17:22.474 --> 17:24.176 align:start
It's really fresh.

17:24.209 --> 17:25.677 align:start
Look how dark it is.

17:25.711 --> 17:29.882 align:start
Yeah.

17:29.915 --> 17:33.552 align:start
Mexicans call this
kind of lava malpais ,

17:33.585 --> 17:36.522 align:start
which means bad
country or bad land.

17:36.555 --> 17:38.590 align:start
Well, it's well named.

17:38.624 --> 17:44.730 align:start
This is about as bad as it gets
to travel over the surface.

17:44.763 --> 17:47.766 align:start
So geologists tell us
that lava flows like this

17:47.766 --> 17:51.036 align:start
are results of one
of three sources;

17:51.036 --> 17:53.739 align:start
when plates ram
together, a sub-duct,

17:53.772 --> 17:57.342 align:start
when they pull apart
or rift, or hot spots.

17:57.376 --> 17:59.211 align:start
So which do you
think this is?

17:59.244 --> 18:01.180 align:start
Well, this is probably a
hot spot where you get

18:01.213 --> 18:03.982 align:start
a big old plume of
magma upwelling

18:04.016 --> 18:06.452 align:start
from the mantle
penetrating the crust,

18:06.485 --> 18:09.588 align:start
there's crust and you get this
black basalt

18:09.621 --> 18:12.291 align:start
flowing over the surface
of the landscape.

18:12.324 --> 18:13.792 align:start
Crunch, crunch.

18:13.792 --> 18:16.128 align:start
Careful, careful.

18:16.161 --> 18:17.596 align:start
Yeah, I hate it when I
fall and tear off my face

18:17.629 --> 18:19.731 align:start
falling through
thousand-year-old lava.

18:19.765 --> 18:21.567 align:start
And you would with this stuff,

18:21.600 --> 18:25.838 align:start
it hasn't weathered
hardly at all.

18:25.871 --> 18:28.240 align:start
The lava flowed and
was very thick here

18:28.273 --> 18:31.777 align:start
and then when it cools,
it actually shrinks.

18:31.810 --> 18:35.080 align:start
And by shrinking, it
fractures the length of it

18:35.080 --> 18:38.684 align:start
and then split apart cause
we're right on the edge of it,

18:38.717 --> 18:40.719 align:start
you know the tongue of it.

18:40.752 --> 18:43.222 align:start
So it must have been,
when it was splitting,

18:43.255 --> 18:45.190 align:start
it must have made huge noises.

18:45.190 --> 18:47.326 align:start
You could hear them
for a long way away.

18:47.359 --> 18:50.229 align:start
Notice all these cavities
in the lava here.

18:50.262 --> 18:52.831 align:start
Those are former gas bubbles so.

18:52.831 --> 18:55.267 align:start
They're little vesicles,
yeah, right.

18:55.300 --> 18:57.803 align:start
As it was flowing, it
would de-gas like that,

18:57.836 --> 18:59.972 align:start
so spluttering and popping
and spewing little bits

19:00.005 --> 19:05.944 align:start
of, of lava here and there.

19:05.978 --> 19:08.113 align:start
You know it's interesting that
the native people in this area

19:08.113 --> 19:11.183 align:start
have legends about
their ancestors

19:11.216 --> 19:15.521 align:start
talking about a fire rock that
flowed and covered their fields.

19:15.554 --> 19:18.157 align:start
Well, that's no legend.

19:18.190 --> 19:22.327 align:start
     (Route 66 music playing)

19:22.361 --> 19:25.497 align:start
The commercialization,
the marketing that

19:25.497 --> 19:31.069 align:start
went into all of this, it
applied across Route 66.

19:31.103 --> 19:34.139 align:start
Yeah, just not to Native
peoples but everybody else.

19:34.139 --> 19:35.941 align:start
Everywhere you go.

19:35.974 --> 19:38.010 align:start
Take advantage of any
road side attraction

19:38.043 --> 19:39.912 align:start
like the Continental Divide
or something like that,

19:39.945 --> 19:43.248 align:start
that people are going
to stop and look at

19:43.248 --> 19:47.186 align:start
because it's interesting and
why not take advantage of it.

19:47.219 --> 19:51.056 align:start
Here we are 7275 feet tall.

19:51.089 --> 19:52.524 align:start
Yeah, well, we're up there.

19:52.524 --> 19:53.926 align:start
Yeah, well, you know,
you learn something

19:53.959 --> 19:55.661 align:start
but for them it was terrific.

19:55.694 --> 19:58.063 align:start
Well, I remember as a kid,

19:58.096 --> 19:59.398 align:start
the first time I crossed
the Continental Divide,

19:59.431 --> 20:02.067 align:start
I was really impressed by that.

20:02.100 --> 20:02.935 align:start
And you stopped and had a
picture taken with your family.

20:02.968 --> 20:04.369 align:start
Oh, oh definitely.

20:04.403 --> 20:07.439 align:start
Yeah, me too.

20:07.472 --> 20:09.942 align:start
Gallup is really the
best example of a town

20:09.975 --> 20:12.311 align:start
that was almost
created by Route 66.

20:12.344 --> 20:14.413 align:start
Oh, definitely.

20:14.446 --> 20:16.114 align:start
All the tourists
that came through.

20:16.148 --> 20:18.884 align:start
Yeah, considering that
Gallup is kind of

20:18.917 --> 20:20.919 align:start
in the southeast corner
of the Navajo nation.

20:20.919 --> 20:22.621 align:start
Right.

20:22.654 --> 20:24.856 align:start
It's to the north,
northeast and west of here.

20:24.890 --> 20:28.026 align:start
And then the Zuni nation
is to the south of us here.

20:28.060 --> 20:30.963 align:start
And so this was ideal
for those peoples

20:30.996 --> 20:33.198 align:start
to come here with their wares

20:33.198 --> 20:36.568 align:start
and have all these tourists that
are very interested in buying.

20:36.568 --> 20:40.205 align:start
And that's true but at the same
time, the tourists coming west,

20:40.205 --> 20:43.542 align:start
this was their first place
where they really could

20:43.575 --> 20:48.614 align:start
have some interaction
with real Indians.

20:48.647 --> 20:54.119 align:start
Sounds like a dentist.

20:54.152 --> 20:58.624 align:start
This route from Chicago or
the east to Los Angeles

20:58.657 --> 21:02.628 align:start
is one of the primary routes
to ship freight from.

21:02.661 --> 21:04.463 align:start
The old Santa Fe?

21:04.496 --> 21:06.765 align:start
Yes, the old Santa Fe.

21:06.798 --> 21:10.068 align:start
Well, there's no question

21:10.102 --> 21:12.571 align:start
that for both the Navajo
and Zuni nations,

21:12.604 --> 21:16.475 align:start
Gallup became a commercially
critically important area.

21:16.508 --> 21:18.677 align:start
The real question
is, in the long run

21:18.710 --> 21:22.914 align:start
did that really benefit 'em or
were there down sides too?

21:22.948 --> 21:25.717 align:start
It would be real interesting,

21:25.717 --> 21:29.321 align:start
but it, it really developed
their artistic expression

21:29.354 --> 21:33.959 align:start
with their jewelry and they're
carvings and their rug weavings.

21:33.992 --> 21:36.928 align:start
It certainly expanded
the markets.

21:36.962 --> 21:39.264 align:start
And well, actually you
can push her up to 132,

21:39.264 --> 21:41.300 align:start
get better depth of field.

21:41.333 --> 21:43.035 align:start
There we go.

21:43.068 --> 21:45.337 align:start
Came down Route 66.

21:45.370 --> 21:47.306 align:start
Came down specifically
to take pictures

21:47.339 --> 21:49.908 align:start
of the Painted Desert.

21:49.941 --> 21:51.176 align:start
Look at over there.

21:51.209 --> 21:53.645 align:start
It's just gorgeous.

21:53.645 --> 21:57.316 align:start
All the different colors,
makes you glad to be alive.

21:57.349 --> 22:00.652 align:start
But the weather isn't
really cooperating today,

22:00.652 --> 22:03.855 align:start
so we'll just wait til the
burst of sun comes out.

22:03.889 --> 22:05.724 align:start
We've never done the
whole complete Route 66,

22:05.757 --> 22:07.492 align:start
but it's on the list.

22:07.526 --> 22:09.494 align:start
It's on the list.

22:09.528 --> 22:11.963 align:start
There, that list is getting
longer, and longer and longer.

22:11.997 --> 22:17.002 align:start
And the years are getting
shorter and shorter.

22:17.035 --> 22:19.738 align:start
When folks were traveling
west on Route 66,

22:19.771 --> 22:22.374 align:start
when they got to the
Painted Desert, they knew

22:22.407 --> 22:26.378 align:start
this was a place unlike anything
they'd ever seen before.

22:26.411 --> 22:30.349 align:start
Yeah, that's true,
especially considering

22:30.382 --> 22:34.219 align:start
most of them were coming
from east to west.

22:34.252 --> 22:38.457 align:start
And this is a stark contrast
to what they were used to.

22:38.490 --> 22:40.425 align:start
Yeah, they'd heard of desert

22:40.425 --> 22:42.227 align:start
but this is, this
is real desert.

22:42.260 --> 22:45.263 align:start
This is real
desert, no doubt.

22:45.297 --> 22:47.999 align:start
But 200 million years
ago this was not desert.

22:48.033 --> 22:50.135 align:start
No, it wasn't at all.

22:50.168 --> 22:52.504 align:start
It was actually a
real shallow basin

22:52.537 --> 22:55.474 align:start
with a lot of meandering
streams, depositing a lot of

22:55.507 --> 22:57.709 align:start
sediments and it was
actually, this part of the

22:57.709 --> 22:59.978 align:start
world was closer to the equator.

23:00.011 --> 23:00.746 align:start
So it was tropical?

23:00.779 --> 23:02.614 align:start
Yes, uh huh.

23:02.647 --> 23:06.351 align:start
And during that time
you had early dinosaurs

23:06.351 --> 23:08.854 align:start
and then about 60 million
years ago, it was all uplifted

23:08.887 --> 23:11.656 align:start
and the overlying material.
That's gone.

23:11.690 --> 23:14.326 align:start
Eroded.

23:14.359 --> 23:16.862 align:start
Why do you suppose they
call this "Painted" Desert?

23:16.895 --> 23:21.133 align:start
Well, when the sun hits this
mudstone, this Chinle formation,

23:21.166 --> 23:25.070 align:start
all those colors
just become vibrant

23:25.103 --> 23:29.741 align:start
like somebody just got, went
wild with a paint brush.

23:29.741 --> 23:32.811 align:start
But the color you see is
due to different oxides,

23:32.844 --> 23:35.580 align:start
iron oxide, aluminum oxides and,

23:35.614 --> 23:38.049 align:start
and so the oxygen reacts with it

23:38.083 --> 23:44.689 align:start
and gives those great orange and
reds and other hues like that.

23:44.723 --> 23:47.125 align:start
Now the different colors,
the different sort of rainbows,

23:47.125 --> 23:48.860 align:start
each one of those
reflects a different

23:48.860 --> 23:51.963 align:start
epic or era when
different kinds of stuff

23:51.997 --> 23:54.666 align:start
is floating in here and settling
down in the bottom, right?

23:54.699 --> 23:58.437 align:start
So you get this layered cake
look of different colors, yeah.

23:58.470 --> 24:00.906 align:start
And it's desert cause
this area only gets about

24:00.939 --> 24:05.010 align:start
8 to 12 inches of rainfall
a year on the average.

24:05.043 --> 24:06.812 align:start
I understand that
geologically speaking,

24:06.845 --> 24:09.714 align:start
we're losing this fast.

24:09.748 --> 24:12.651 align:start
Between one and two foot of
material is eroded away

24:12.684 --> 24:14.619 align:start
every hundred years.

24:14.653 --> 24:15.887 align:start
That's a fast rate.

24:15.887 --> 24:17.222 align:start
Boy, that's fast.

24:17.255 --> 24:18.790 align:start
We better see it while we can.

24:18.790 --> 24:21.092 align:start
Yeah, yeah.

24:21.126 --> 24:24.496 align:start
I think we still have a few more
days before it disappears.

24:24.529 --> 24:28.266 align:start
Annette, do you want to look?

24:28.300 --> 24:32.704 align:start
I'll hold the lens.

24:32.737 --> 24:37.442 align:start
Oh, Bill, that's awesome.

24:39.978 --> 24:41.847 align:start
Most of the travelers
on Route 66

24:41.880 --> 24:44.316 align:start
were heading west
for the first time.

24:44.349 --> 24:46.618 align:start
They saw the high
plains of Texas

24:46.651 --> 24:48.520 align:start
and the plateau country
of New Mexico

24:48.553 --> 24:51.356 align:start
and they thought they
had seen arid country.

24:51.389 --> 24:53.091 align:start
When they arrived here at
the Painted Desert,

24:53.124 --> 24:55.093 align:start
they thought they
were seeing desert,

24:55.126 --> 24:58.296 align:start
but nothing prepared them
for the hard-core desert

24:58.330 --> 25:01.032 align:start
that lay ahead of
them to the west.

25:03.768 --> 25:05.537 align:start
( Route 66 music playing)

25:05.570 --> 25:07.873 align:start
Next time on The Desert Speaks .

25:07.906 --> 25:10.775 align:start
A half century ago, Route
66 was mostly a path

25:10.809 --> 25:16.014 align:start
to a better way of
life out west.

25:16.047 --> 25:18.783 align:start
These days, a trip along
America's "Mother Road"

25:18.817 --> 25:22.554 align:start
takes you past many of the
same places including

25:22.587 --> 25:30.395 align:start
some fine deserts, but it's done
in much more comfort and style.

25:33.164 --> 25:34.432 align:start
Tell us about this one
that's so beautiful now.

25:34.466 --> 25:35.700 align:start
Okay.

25:35.734 --> 25:37.636 align:start
This is a 1958 Impala.

25:37.669 --> 25:41.106 align:start
I bought this in
Tulsa, Oklahoma.

25:41.139 --> 25:46.278 align:start
I had to redo the floor
pans and part of the trunk

25:46.311 --> 25:48.880 align:start
but other than that the
car was pretty nice,

25:48.880 --> 25:53.385 align:start
not too bad of a shape and uh
it's been frame off like I said.

25:53.418 --> 25:56.655 align:start
It's got a 348.

25:56.688 --> 25:59.558 align:start
Now was '58 the first
year Chevy made Impalas?

25:59.591 --> 26:01.560 align:start
Yes, this was the first
year that they made Impala.

26:03.361 --> 26:04.829 align:start
Funding for
        The Desert Speaks

26:04.863 --> 26:07.198 align:start
was provided by
Desert Program Partners,

26:07.232 --> 26:10.101 align:start
representing concerned viewers
making a financial commitment

26:10.135 --> 26:13.738 align:start
to the education about and
preservation of deserts.

26:13.772 --> 26:16.107 align:start
And by the
Stonewall Foundation.