Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

We tried to get a picture of the State Sign each border crossing.

Today was an easy one to talk about, because it involved only two things, driving and going to one place. So we were up pretty early because the hotel served a hot fresh full breakfast only until 9 a.m. The breakfast was a great change from what we had been used to having. Today, scrambled eggs, hash brown potatoes, sausages, juice and coffee. We ate slow and enjoyed it all.

Then it was on the road west again. Our destination today was the Petrified National Park. It’s one of those places that if you didn’t know in advance it was there you would drive right past it. And it starts just off of I-40 and you can’t see a thing. You drive into the welcome center, museum and gift shop and spend a little while just taking in the beautiful artifacts and sliced and polished pieces.

Entry to the Petrified Forest Natinal Park.

The you go through the entry gates and pay the minimal fee, or like me show your Golden Age Pass, and enter the park. It is pretty much a driving type of park. Several stopping points to see the amazing sites and then drive to the next one. And you are not allowed to pick up even one stone anywhere in the park. If fact, they have the option to inspect you and your vehicle when you leave.

The first sections you get to are north of I-40 and are the Painted Desert. Amazingly beautiful colors, not like the Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon but beautiful in their own way.

South of I-40 still on the Park road you come into the Petrified Forest areas. They begin slowly but as you move along you get more and more spectacular views. The side roads are spectacular too.

In the Museum this was one of several polished petrified rocks.

At one point we were visited by two of the largest black Ravens you have ever seen. They were moochers. Asking any visitor if they could have something to eat. They showed no fear of cars or people. As we moved along they would fly along side and land and come right to the side of the car. At one point we were the only visitors in the area, and they stayed with us for about ten minutes, begging and making their "Caw, caw" noise. But of course when I decided I wanted to shoot their landings or flying they found someone else to mooch from. We did get a few shots of them.

The farther south you go the more you see the petrified logs laying all over the landscape. We found that this was a very worthwhile National Park to visit.