The last detour Lucy and I made before we really had to get back to Texas was a visit to the Petrified Forest National Monument. in Arizona. This ancient forest is now mostly grassland but there are petrified trees everywhere. And there would be a LOT more if so many tons had not been hauled off before the land was protected. Even now, vandals steal about a ton a year.
The minerals that have replaced the wood cells have their own colors and together, they make the trees all colors of the rainbow. As Lucy and I visited the Rainbow Forest behind the visitor center, each log had different colors and patterns so we had to visit them all.
We drove through the main road, taking a couple of side trips to see other sites.
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| The ravens were all panhandlers and would fly up to anyone who drove into a parking lot |
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| Hikers on a trail in the basin were Newspaper Rock is located |
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| Newspaper Rock. I could only see a couple of petroglyphs until I had this picture on the computer |
This
park has a lot more to offer than we had time to sample. We did take time to visit the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark, as well as the Rainbow Forest and the Painted Desert Visitor Centers.
On the home front, when this blog comes out, I'll be paddling and camping with seven friends for Thanksgiving on the Neches River. I'm supplying Thanksgiving dinner and we'll be in the part of the Neches River that is in the Big Thicket National Preserve, one of the most biologically diverse places in the world. So I'll have lots to talk about when I get back.
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