Summer Vacation 2007: Petrified Forest National Park

Now let me catch you up on the end of our vacation. On our drive home, our last stop was to see the Petrified National Forest and Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona. I must say that I thought this was going to be a little more spectacular. It was one of those places that you can see once and be satisfied that you have "been there, done that." Unfortunately, the petrified rocks at the park have been plundered over the years, and most of the original petrified wood has been removed. I think things would have been more impressive if we had seen it decades ago before people had walked off with so many samples. One interesting thing I learned there was that petrified wood found in every state. Let me get on to the pics...

Here we have Little Robby and Jenna posing in front of the painted desert. It was really neat seeing the variety of colors in the landscape here. These pictures don't do it justice.

While there we got to see some pictographs from the people that dwelt in the area hundreds years before. We liked this one... A large bird carrying a baby (or is it a man.) We wondered was this a stork bringing a baby, or did someone lose a baby to a large bird. Or, did some big brother wish that his baby sister was snatched by a big bird and taken away. Okay, maybe not the third idea.

Robby liked the colors at this particular lookout called the Blue Mesa. Although things look grey in this picture they really weren't that grey. They did have some bluish tones.

Here we are sitting in front of "Old Faithful," the largest petrified tree in the park.

And lastly, Jenna is standing in front of a large polished piece of petrified wood. It is neat seeing all of the colors that come out in the the rocks.