The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

On our way back from Oklahoma we saw the freeway signs on the I40 for the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest.  We had time, so we decided to do it.  The whole park is very user friendly.  Though it is out in the middle of the desert, just about everything you need is either at the beginning, middle and end, with inspiring views interspersed throughout. It starts off with a bathroom, in the perfect spot, outside the main buildings right by the parking lot. It was large, quickly accessed and boy was it necessary!  We didn't spend much time in the buildings, as we wanted to get on with the tour.  For more info Click here: 

Petrified Forest National Park's Rainbow Forest Museum

My mother had raved about the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, so it was one of those memories embedded in your brain with a note to self:  Make sure and visit when possible.  I am so glad we did.  What an awesomely beautiful, peaceful and lovely land to visit!

At first when entering the park, you are not impressed, but like the gatekeeper said, "Be ready to be amazed!", sure enough, the flat colorless desert turns into a rather deep canyon with the most amazingly colored cliffs.  We went in springtime so there were patches of deep green grasses, flowers and plants everywhere.  If you plan to visit, be ready to get out of the car often.  Don't pass anything by, even if you think that it's looking out over the same area.  Each overlook is unique and worth stopping at.  And certainly don't forget your camera.  Camera's are a MUST.

If I could do it all again, I would get there first thing in the morning, pack a lunch and plan on staying all day.  Even better would be to camp there.  This is a place that holds you.  I did NOT want to leave.  I was very thankful that it was a long winding road full of treasures.  The treasures are hidden similar to playing a video game.  You must make an effort (climbing in and out of your car over and over again) but it is truly worth all the effort.  This is a land where you could live your whole life and never find all of it's secrets.  The trails, old hotel (my dream house, though mine would be overlooking the ocean), the pueblos, petroglyphs, praire grasses, petrified forest, the fantastic views and the whole peacefulness of the land is beyond wonderful!

One of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had in my life were the ravens.  These ravens were not afraid of humans.  At first I thought someone had left their pet ravens there, they were so friendly.  But at various other stops there were more pairs walking about like they thought they were humans.   I had never seen ravens up close.  They are sleek and huge and wonderful to behold.

A piece of petrified wood.

When we arrived at the Petrified forest I was in total awe while I imagined what had been there before.  It had to have been a truly magnificent forest.  The trunks of the trees were huge.  I felt saddened that it was all gone.  The devastation broke by heart, but seemingly out of the ashes arose beauty.  The colors of these former trees was unbelievable.  What a place, what a wonderful place.  I could almost see the trees in their full glory, with wildlife and people roaming about.  There had to have been tons of water and possibly waterfalls.  I would have sat there pondering this land and it's fate for days, but the sun was slowly going down and we had to move on.

We missed a few stops towards the end and there should have been at least one more bathroom.  We were all trying to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, but with drinking lots of water comes the need for more restrooms.  All the shops were closed when we got to the southern end of the park, so we had to head on out to visit some of the great stores/hotels and tee pees just outside the park and then head on to the town of Holbrook.  The sun was setting, it had been a beautiful day, and while driving into the sunset, a song came on the radio.  It was called +A Beautiful Day!!!   Can't get any better than that.

The Ending to a Very Beautiful Mother's Day