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But I must say, she did a pretty darn good job with all the
switchbacks and sharp curves. Of course,
by the time we reached the camping area, we had to pry her white-knuckled
fingers off the steering wheel!
The camping area was the parking lot of the gift shop less
than a mile from the Park entrance. A mere $10/night for 30 amp electric and a
concrete pad with a picnic table. A true
bargain! If you prefer to be like Fred
Mertz of “I Love Lucy”, you can skip getting electric and boondock in the
parking lot for free.
Parts of Petrified Forest remind me very much of The
Badlands of South Dakota, with its “moonrocks” and grasslands. The Painted Desert looks like sand art to me,
with its layers of multicolored sedimentary rock deposits!
We hiked all of the developed trails in the Park to maximize
our experience and see the best petrified wood specimens. It is just
amazing that trees transformed into stones with a kaleidoscope of colors! And to think many of these trees once towered
200 feet in the air, and had up to 10 foot diameters! What a difference 200+ million years of
water, wind, and volcanic ash can make!
In addition to the petrified wood, the Park has fine
examples of life among Puebloan peoples who inhabited the lands between 1250
and 1380 AD., including petroglyphs (Newspaper Rock has over 650 examples
alone) and pueblo homes (Agate House was constructed from petrified wood!).
I would be remiss if I did not cite Historic Route 66. Yes, the “mother of all roads” once cut right
through the Park.
Petrified Forest National Park has much to offer. So glad we had to opportunity to view this
gem.
Tomorrow we travel to the Grand Canyon!
Finally back into a service area so getting caught up on your blogs. This looks like an interesting area that we'll have to check out one day. Safe travels as you head to Alaska!
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