Day 27 – Petrified Forest National Park

The Old Faithful (Petrified Forest NP)

We toured the Petrified Forest National Park in the morning. The sky had cleared after the rain last night, but it left us with a tremendous wind which made walking a bit difficult at times, but we did our planned hikes. The fallen trees are from 218 million years ago during the Triassic period, which predates the Jurassic period in which dinosaurs came into dominance.

Crystal Cross-section

The trees became submerged in a local river and then packed under soil until they eventually fossilized. During one of our hikes we were able to see cross-section views of the trees which are beautiful, multi-colored crystals. We saw yellow, red, blue, white and purple crystals.

Painted Desert Overlook

The northern part of the park overlooks the beginning of the Painted Desert which covers a large part of northeastern Arizona with beautiful pastels.

Wigwam Motel (Holbrook, AZ)

Another interesting part of the trip is getting to see portions of Route 66. Route 66 was completed in 1927, running from Chicago to LA and it was THE major migration path to California for many years. It has been replaced by I-40 and other interstate highways, but you can still see icons of the past such as the Wigwam Motel. We considered staying there, but decided it was too rustic.

Navajo Dinner

Finally we capped the day with a fantastic meal. You know that they say when in Rome do like the Romans. Well, we are in Navajo country and we had a great Native American meal at the Pueblo Harvest Café, looking out at the Sandia Mountains at sunset. We dined on Posole and Green Chile stews, Jemez Enchilada with ground buffalo, vegetables, frybread and other Navaho delicacies.