I had been there as a kid when my family took a road trip out west similar to the one we're doing now. My only recollection of the place was seeing petrified wood. I found out this time that there is a lot more to this National Park.
The scenery is varied and beautiful, from the painted desert area to the blue mesas, among others.
We ran across the Agate Bridge which was a fallen petrified tree.
But the highlights were definitely the petrified trees. It is really incredible to see 100 million year old trees that have been petrified into stones harder than granite.
It was a hot day, temps in the 90s, but as it was a dry heat, it was much more comfortable than the hot, humid weather we faced in Japan last summer. Still, it was nice to cool off with ice cream. :)
My favorite part of the park was the area we saw last, a place where you could walk right up to many petrified specimen. This one below is a large tree that was petrified.
I was amazed at how much these still looked like logs, except they were hard as stone.
After we left the Petrified Forest, we drove to Flagstaff Arizona where we spent the night. We walked around the historic downtown area for a little bit, then picked a Thai restaurant for dinner. After all of the western meat dishes we had been eating, it was nice to have some Asian food.
Next will be a full day of driving which will mark the end of Phase 1 of our trip. I'll fill you in on that and what Phase 2 will be when I write again, later in the week.
Wow, Kai is really growing! He is so tall now.
ReplyDeletePetrified Forest, I remember we had gone there on our last long summer trip. Yes, I remember hot when we were there :)
Kai has really grown in the past year. You can especially notice when he stands next to his mother as he now stands like a giant over her. :)
DeleteI like the dry heat so much better than humid conditions. I hate the feeling of sweating as soon as you step outside. At Petrified Forest, it was hot but not humid at all.