Tour of the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Well, Plan A was to get up early in the morning and head to the Meteor Crater, take the 1 hour tour and then drive back eastward, for about an hour and a half and hit the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Parks.  Well, that was Plan A.  

We got up early enough, and I started cooking our oatmeal...after all, it was only 49 degrees outside, and that's pretty chilly for us.  When I went to raise up the dining room shade, I was surprised to see a young lady outside, fooling around with our water spigot.  Whaaa???  Naturally, I opened the window and asked if I could help her!  I think she was as startled as I at that point!

As it turns out, she and her husband came in around midnight last night, never having been in or driven a motorhome before, and now proud owners of a 1998 Fleetwood Discovery.  His uncle, who had Alzheimer's passed away and this couple flew from Pittsburgh, to Phoenix, picked up this coach and drove it to Meteor Crater RV Park, with absolutely ZERO planning or experience.  In the DARK.  And now, in the light of day, they wanted to look at our hookup, especially the water, to see just how it's supposed to be. When we realized how badly they were struggling, of course, we had to step in and help them out.  Educate them, if you will.  First off, we had to explain they were on a site with no sewer outlet, so there was that.  Then Driver got to work on their water situation.  Their coach had been sitting, idle, for at least 8 years, so the filters were totally dry and wouldn't allow water to pass.  Then there were leaks - lots of 'em.  At the hose (I had to help him attach the hose to the spigot, even!), at the outdoor shower faucet, at the sewer outlet, on and on.  While Dick was helping the hubster find and fix the issues with the plumbing, I helped the Missus hook up another (NEW) potable water hose to the site next door and fill the fresh water tank.  Then the guys moved on to the hot water heater.  Then we explained about the outdoor fridge/freezer, which the hubs had thought was a generator.  At some point, someone remarked about the back window vent cover being torn up; he fully admitted to that, but blamed it on being in a narrow-door garage, that he just squeaked out of.  But then his wife pointed out all the roof damage.  Oh yes, all the way down the edge of the roof, where the wall curved over and met the roof, was scraped and peeled up.  Almost from the very front to the very back.  No pictures, didn't want to get involved in that one.  Apparently, they had tried to get in one site last night where the trees were a bit too low.  They must have driven out and come around again, to land in the site next door, where they were so close to the utilities and the tree on the driver's side, they couldn't open their slide.  We explained about our daylight driving and mileage rules.  On the road at 9 or so, stop by 3 pm, and don't go over 300-350 miles.  Sooo much to learn!  Meanwhile, the hours were just flying by, and we were not making any progress towards our own plan.  But, hey, what were we gonna do?  Not like you can just walk away from that mess.  On to Plan B!

So, eventually, we got our oatmeal cooked, eaten & cleaned up, PBJ for us, a meal for doggie, and lots of water was all packed and we took off.  We thought we knew which exit to take, but the brown signs indicated we were to exit almost 25 miles prior to that.  Who are we to argue, so we exited and went into Holbrook, following signs to the Visitor Center.  First up, we came upon the Wigwam Motel.  Have YOU slept in a wigwam lately?

Then we found the Visitors' Center, and got directions back out to the south end of the National Park.  On the way, we ran into these guys just hanging around at a service station.  I had asked, at the VC, and there had been dinosaur bones found in the local canyons, so dinos were a big thing here.

 Our first glimpse of the Painted Desert and Rainbow Forest (Petrified Forest) belied what was to come!

First things first, though, Bailey was invited to become a BARK Ranger.  She was NOT comfortable being turned over to Ranger Jack, but once she got a whiff of the Milkbones he was holding, she settled down a bit and sat still for a photo! All a BARK Ranger means is that I signed a paper saying I would scoop her poop, she would respect wildlife and not go in buildings.  Tho, that last one doesn't really pertain to her, as long as she's wearing proper ID and her vest.

Here are some examples of petrified wood, which is really just stone now.  You can see the mineral deposits have taken the place of the cellulose of the tree.

These are actually trees that fell into rivers or lakes, hundreds of thousands of years ago, and became buried by silt and sediment, preventing decay and decomposition.  Ground water rich in minerals seeped (soaked?) into the wood, saturating it, and eventually, replacing the cellulose with stone.  If you want to see more details photos, or read more about the fossilization process of the trees, click HERE.

You can see the actual TREE shape a bit better here.  This was the Long Logs Trail, aptly named, dont'cha think?  This particular log was about 35 feet long.

This felled tree is known as Old Faithful.  In the trail brochure, there was a photo of Mr & Mrs Einstein standing in front of the "root ball" way back in March, 1931. They were wearing long coats and HATS, to ward off the chill.  We didn't suffer that problem this sunny afternoon!

We traded phones with a family, just as we had done on the corner, in Winslow, and this is the photo the dad took for us.  He really took about 6, all the same. I guess technology eludes some folks.

Driver always wants to get high or as close to the edge as he can.  Sure looks like he could touch the sun from the top of this hill!

There were lots of dry washes (stream beds)...

And plenty of layers denoting time passages...

Be sure to click on the panorama to enlarge it and get a sense of how vast this area really is.

We couldn't go to the Agate House, because it was a 2 mile round trip hike, and doggie was already draggin' her wagon (I wasn't too awfully far behind), but we WERE able to make the .3 mile hike down to the Agate Bridge.  

 The photo immediately below describes one of the changes that happened recently in the park.  Remember, we are looking at formations that have taken hundreds of thousands of years, so, recently, is a relative term!  The log on the right actually fell in 2005 and chunks of it can be seen, scattered at the base of the formation.

 Yeah, I don't always feel the need to explore every trail or path.  This was a perfect example of one of those....

Here we are at Newspaper Rock.  You can barely make out the petroglyphs on the flat side of that bottom rock (front and right sides).  However, when you looked through borrowed binoculars, the bottom right side was actually covered with HUNDREDS of 'em.

Then we drove on up to the Puerco Pueblo, located, conveniently enough, beside the Puerco River.

Now, HERE are some petroglyphs I could see, with my naked eye, and I didn't even have to climb up or over or on any rocks!  Easily viewed from the platform.  Thank you Lord!

A more modern claim to fame for this park is that it is the only National Park that Route 66 ran through, so, of course, they have an homage to that.

In the form of a rusty old Studebaker.

Back in the heyday of the park (the 1920's and 30's), there was a lodge constructed to accommodate overnight visitors and offer day visitors a bite to eat.  Originally, The Painted Desert Inn was made of, what else, petrified wood.  But, as usual, it was renovated, in the 30's, and they adobed over the wood to create the facade we see today.  It no longer functions as an inn or cafe, but is instead, a museum.  A closed museum, as we arrived about 45 minutes too late.

But, our long, skinny shadow selves were happy to take a moment and enjoy the view from the veranda of the Inn.  That long strap the hatted man holds has a puppy at the end of it...I don't know why her shadow didn't make the picture!

We had heard (and seen evidence, thank you very much Gail!) of the spectacular sunsets the desert offers.  Up till now, we had yet to see one.  Tonight, we were treated to a pretty nice one as we traveled the hour and a half back to our camper.  We also were treated to not one, not two, but THREE freight trains alongside of us as we rode down the highway.  Apparently, there was a logjam in Winslow, probably at La Posada, since they were all 3 stopped dead in their tracks, waiting for who knows what.  Or whom.  

We were sure glad to get back to our camper, though, and be done for the day.  And I have the snoring puppy to prove it!  Tomorrow, we intend to go to the Meteor Crater, for which this RV park is named.  It's actually all owned by the same individual, so I'm sure the bookkeeping is easier that way.  Certainly, the branding is easier.  I'm really not sure how a privately-owned, commercial, for-profit entity gets to have its own Federal brown sign and designation as a National Landmark, but, we've seen it, we know it does, and there you have it.  We'll find out more tomorrow, I guess.  As long as it's not pouring down rain.  They keep threatening us with Monsoon Season, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna hit tomorrow, hopefully, not till late afternoon.  Till then, y'all stay safe out there!