When we were kids, during the 1950's and 60's - every alternate summer, my Dad would pack up the trailer and take our family our for our two week summer vacation - usually to the desert to "hunt for rocks." As you can imagine, it was probably the very last thing kids would love to do for their summer vacation (in blistering hot weather, with sand, cactus, and rocks as our scenery)...but it was our father's passion, so we all went along with him and helped him find the rocks he liked (jasper, beautiful agates, opals, and petrified wood).
Fast forward to the present - I don't particularly like rocks, but our kids love them and one of our daughters is now a geologist/soils scientist, who (guess what) has rocks all over her book shelves in her home.
So today, in honor of my "favorite" summers with my Dad, we visited the Petrified Wood National Forest just east of Holder, AZ on Hwy 40 - and we had fun learning about how they are formed from the original trees living here millions of years ago.
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| Petrified wood with bark intact |
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| With erosion, the trees are now visible |
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| Multi-colored agate replaced the wood |
We walked through the bad lands and observed the how erosion gradually reveals these huge rock trees. We also saw how they remain, with a variety of vibrant colors and tree-like textures, even when hills and soil disappear around them.
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| Badlands with exposed petrified tree |
We completed the drive through the park by also visiting the painted desert - just a quick view, since it was so terribly windy and cold today (in the 50's with wind gusting up to 60 mph). Our favorite stop there was the old, restored Painted Desert Inn - a 1930's era restaurant and inn for travelers. It is rich in history, with hand-crafted artistry (painted glass ceilings and walls, and hand-carved beams - another CCC contribution).
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| Painted Desert |
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| Painted desert Inn |
It was a good way to spend the day...remembering my Dad.
A brief note about yesterday's visit to Canyon de Chelly. We drove down Hwy 191 from Farmington to Canyon de Chelly through breath-taking scenery of high desert and juniper, against a backdrop of snow-covered peaks. We had considered staying in the park for several days, but, after touring the view points around the southern edge of the canyon, we decided that there simply wasn't enough to do there to keep us another day.
The views down into the canyon are spectacular, with the dramatic rock formations and cliff dwellings. And the canyon floor, with its meandering river and greenery, is enticing. But visitors are only allowed into the canyon during the day, accompanied by a Native American guide (hired individually, not through the park service) and the only hike available on the south side was a three mile loop trail to a view point of the White House cliff dwelling. Also - the campground is just inside the gate of the park - actually quite close to the town of Chinle, and this fact, compounded by the chilly wind and the signs (everywhere) warning about theft and "please lock your car and secure your valuables" was a bit off-putting. So we checked Canyon de Chelly off our list of "must do's" and continued on down the road to Holder and the Petrified Forest.
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| Spider Rock view in Canyon de Chelly |
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| Whitehouse cliff dwelling - the walls were originally whitewashed |
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| Private Native American farms on valley floor |
Tomorrow, we head for Needles, CA and our favorite government entity - the CA DMV...We were never able to resolve our conflicts with them in March - in trying to get our trailer registered early...so we are driving back there tomorrow and hopefully, with them checking the trailer themselves, they will confirm that the numbers we provided originally are correct, and they will provide us our license!
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