Day 53 - 5/19/11 “Beautiful Colors and Very Old Trees“ (We are in or just outside of Flagstaff, AZ)

We left Gallup (by-the-way, FYI, it is the Indian Capital of the US) and drove 70miles and spent a wonderful day at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.  I took over 500 pictures!!!  Don’t worry, I’m only going to use a few here.  

Amazing colors

Easy to see the different strata that were laid
down over the millions of years. 

Can you see the side view of the man's face?

So beautiful.

This is really an amazing place for so many reasons.  One is that there are still some artifacts left after people destroyed or carried off so many.  




There are heavy fines for removing even the smallest rock, but it’s a big place and we were often alone.  




We did buy a small piece of petrified wood from the visitor’s center and a DVD of the whole place.

We drove 30 miles through this National Park, stopping at lookouts along the way.  




Several times the weather caught us by surprise.  We had a picnic lunch in the truck during the worst of the hail storms.

Yep, that's hail and it hurts when it hits your face!

Precious doesn't even feel the hail.  I need a
coat like that!

Let's see, this says that two men can juggle
2 horse shoes and a dog at the same time!

Another of the most amazing things were the ancient etchings that have survived time and people.  

This one is an advertisement for the latest movie
at the tripleplex.

We had to look through telescopes to see them because no one is allowed down into the valley where they are.

Not sure about this one; it's Greek to me!

I think this is coming for us!

I believe that is someone else's problem!

A third thing that is amazing about this place is the weather.  The temperature ranged from the 40s to 65, but it was cold all day because of the ever present wind.  




We had sun, then rain, then hail then sun then . . . well you get the idea.  What was really beautiful is the way you could see the weather for miles around.  I think we will be able to do that on our hill in Amity.  (Sorry no pictures of the new hair cuts, Margaret; we wear hats or hoodies all day, sorry).


The Petrified Forests were amazing because there was so much left after decades of thefts and destruction.

In the early 20th century, the people would
blow the whole logs up to get pieces for sale.

It's amazing today to find a whole log.

I had to touch it to believe it.

Here is one not completely uncovered.

These were placed outside of the museum.

Clyda, I took this especially for you!

"Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a
fine sight to see.
It's a girl, my Lord, in a bright red [Dodge] slowin' down to take
a look at me."

We then drove another 40 miles to this nice campground half-way between Winslow and Flagstaff, AZ.

Here is Davis filming while driving a standard
transmission truck, pulling a camper; and you
wonder why I'm looking forward to Happy Hour!

Interestingly enough, Arizona does not do Daylight Savings Time!  So everywhere there is a time written (openings, closings, lunch break, etc) they remind you that they are NOT an hour ahead of CA during this time of year and they are two hours behind Central time, at this time of year.  How confusing is that!

Actually, we don’t know what time zone we are in - and Precious is even worse!  Oh, well, we’ll just eat when we’re hungry and go to bed when we’re tired.

Home sweet Arizona home.

Just what we all needed - a
place for Precious to run, sniff
and do her business - right
across from the camp site!

Thanks for all the e-mails (love them) and the calls.  We miss you all.

Shalom,  Heather . . . 
Here are some amazing pictures of sandstone "sculptures" I couldn't believe were not man-made and misc.:

I call this one "The Gossips."

These folks are all lined up for a cup of Starbucks.

Here's a bunch of large tourists, with hats on.

And that's how it happened!

Of course as the trees were exposed by geologic and
meteorologic forces, so were the animals that lived
in the same region.