Friday morning we left our hotel in Holbrook, Arizona after a very nice breakfast there. We headed to Petrified Forest National Park which was only about 20 miles away. There was a loop through the park with many stops along the way to view different things. Of course, the petrified wood was the biggest draw. As you can see in the first two pictures, some of the logs were huge. Sadly, this did not become a national park until much of the petrified wood had been confiscated by people visiting the area. Not only has the wood turned to stone over the centuries, but the center also becomes crystallized and is very pretty.
There was a large pueblo ruin there as well. The information we got told us that as many as 200 people lived in the complex which was made up of a large square of small rooms with common open area in the center. There were also many areas containing that wonderful Indian art-petroglyphs.
The drive through through the park-about 30 miles-reminded us of the Badlands. Very rugged, almost no trees, and just scrub vegetation, but with quite amazing rock formations and mesas.
The north end of the park loop bordered on the Painted Dessert. The pictures below are of the vistas from that area of the park. This would be looking north.
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