NEW MEXICO trip
Oct. 8-15 2021
PART 7
Ruins! The magic word! This is west on I-40 near Houck, Ariz. The frontage at right was likely old US 66/666.
I-40 again. This road continues to towns like Flagstaff and Williams - hometown of Billy Hatcher, a baseball player who constantly blew bubbles with bubble gum.
Petrified Forest Road takes us through Petrified Forest National Park. What is Petrified Forest petrified of? Headless mannequins? Dennis James?
If you can't hike very far, Petrified Forest is a good national park, because it has so many great exhibits right along the road. Sadly, theft of petrified wood is a serious problem at this park.
It was cold and windy when we were at Petrified Forest. This shows part of the Painted Desert, which sweeps across Arizona and includes the park.
More fi scenery at Petrified Forest.
This building is the Painted Desert Inn.
More park scenery.
I'm pretty sure the mountain is Pilot Rock.
Petrified Forest Road goes over I-40.
Probably south on Petrified Forest Road.
This pair of peaks is called Twin Buttes.
My Western trip of 2020 revealed a Newspaper Rock in Utah. The collection of boulders seen here is also called Newspaper Rock. The rocks have ancient carvings much like how a newspaper tells a story. But they probably didn't use newspaper catchphrases like "like it or not" and "out of an abundance of caution." The petroglyphs may have been 2,000 years old.
More early 2020s fun was to be had as we continue through the park!
More!
"Maybe I'm a fool..."
Our diaperless trek through Petrified Forest continues.
Bip on, people!
I'm not exactly sure where most of this scenery is. We may be close to one of the wilderness areas shown on a beautiful map that the National Park Service gave us. The map shall be treasured. I will try to avoid letting it get ruined, unlike the stories about the Jimmy the Greek cutout and Morton Downey Jr. poster.
We continue to battle the wind as we peep more fine Petrified Forest scenery.
Like It Or Not™, the lack of context for these photos leaves More Questions Than Answers™, which will Loom™ For The Foreseeable Future™. That's why We Need To Be Proactive™.
Another view of Petrified Forest's windswept desert.
Vacationers look like ants in the distance as they walk along the path to the overlook.
I think this lot may feature some of the petrified wood that made this park so famous. The boulder at lower left may have some ancient petroglyphs.
An informational sign said, "Water created Agate Bridge and will destroy it." The 110-foot-long bridge was formed naturally by a fossilized log that was buried under sediments for 200 million years. But you can also see that there was a concrete span built under the log in 1917.