Zion

April 28
Our morning bird walk was great. There were a number of experienced birders to help us with spotting more than a dozen birds. I love seeing them and having them named. I’m just not good at remembering them all. I think Norm spotted as many as anyone, he just didn’t know the names. If it wasn’t for Norm spotting wildlife, Chris and I would miss most of what we do see. We ended our walk at the Zion Human History Museum. We took in one of the porch talks by a ranger on the human inhabitants of the canyon ending with the Morman pioneers settling here in the 1860’s.
In the afternoon we took the shuttle bus, only way to go up the canyon, to Zion Lodge. Christy and I took the hike up to the Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald pools making it a loop by taking the Grotto trail. We, along with fellow hikers, thought we were hiking to a “grotto” but ended up at a picnic ground. It turned out that the picnic area is called The Grotto. It was a beautiful hike none the less. We looked across to beautiful cliffs rising a 1,000 feet or more and down into the valley with the Virgin River rushing down the canyon. The pools were beautiful with water flowing down from above making mini waterfalls with the spray being blown in the breeze. The hike took us behind the spray! There is no better way to enjoy these gorgeous areas than hiking along the trails.



Looking down on the Virgin River





Looking Up at the Water Eventually Flowing into Lowere Emerald Pool



Water Flowing into the Upper Pool Blowing in the Breeze

April 29
We have decided that we do indeed have more caterpillars in our campsite than any other!
They are piling on top of each other inches deep on the stabilizers for the Manor! Gross…
It’s a wonder that these big cottonwoods survive without leaves for photosynthesis.
We left this morning for a drive to the upper western corner of Zion NP to Kolob Canyons. We enjoyed driving along the valley above the Virgin River where the Mormans had settled in small towns. We couldn’t believe the number of large new homes along the way. Where do these people work? None of us had ever taken the time to come up to this gorgeous canyon in previous visits. It is not to be missed. The road inside the park is not very long to Kolob Canyons Viewpoint but every mile is awesome! We stopped everywhere there was a pullout. We had a picnic lunch , no hamburger stands up here, and then took the 1 mile Timber Creek Overlook Trail. We felt like we were sitting on top of the world looking out to the red cliffs on one side, snowy mountains on the other side, and green plateaus and valleys ahead as far as we could see.
Came back to our caterpillar haven. We actually tried to sweep some of them away. Trials and tribulations…



One of the Views at the End of Our Hike at Kolob Canyon




Beautiful Kolob Canyon

 　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Kanab, Utah & Zion

April 25/26
Left the Grand Canyon this morning. Before crossing the border into Utah, we drove up to Lee’s Ferry which is close to the beginning of the Colorado River flowing out of Glen Canyon Dam. Two groups were getting ready to take a rafting trip down the mighty Colorado. One group was going to be gone 23 days! A calendar was posted showing which groups were going down each day both private and Commercial. It was a 10 year wait for a private group and now they have gone to a lottery system. Each group must be checked out by a ranger before leaving to be sure they have everything they might need. What a wild ride. One of the rapids, Hance Rapid, is a mile long with a 30 foot drop! There are 100 rapids in the course of the trip. After a picnic lunch we drove along the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, beautiful!
We stopped at the Coral RV Park in Kanab, UT for two nights to regroup doing laundry and grocery shopping. We were not expecting to find much to do but were pleasantly surprised. Norm had thought that a lot of movies had been made here and he was right. The Kanab area is second to Hollywood in the number of films and TV series that have been made and is known as Little Hollywood. Most have been westerns. It all started with the Tom Mix film, “Deadwood Coach”, in 1924. The 3 Parry brothers had so much fun helping with the movie crew that they armed themselves with photos of this area and went to Hollywood. They started knocking on doors to encourage studio executives to film here on location. Like the Gouldings in monument Valley, their efforts paid off. They came home and in 1931 purchased a home and turned it into a lodge and restaurant. Over the next five decades Parry Lodge would expand and serve as headquarters of hundreds of films and TV series. The lodge is still a great place to stay. Actors names are over the doors where they have stayed. Norm came back from his haircut with a couple good stories One was when Frank Sinatra was here with the Rat Pack. He brought in “ladies of the night” and partied hardy. There were complaints from this Morman community that saw what was going on. Frank’s answer to the problem was to cut connecting doors between the rooms. It was quickly done and the parties when onward. Time after time many of the towns people were extras playing cowboys, infantry men, and Indians. A 1945 “Saturday Evening Post” article called it “the town that learned how to act.” The receptionist at parry Lodge told us that they have an event each year to celebrate the movie making and many Hollywood stars still show up. All this in tiny Kanab! Kanab has a small film museum with sets from some of the western movies.
We drove a short scenic loop road through Kanab Canyon passing the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. We were amazed at the size of the place. It is acres and acres and still expanding. They are a rescue service that takes in cats and dogs plus farm animals. They even have a large coral for horses. It is amazing. All the animals live out their lives in a beautiful setting if homes aren‘t found for them. A lovely animal cemetery is on the grounds. We heard from the cashier at the grocery store, who used to work from them, that it was started 12 or so years ago by a group of people living in England and is still mostly funded by them. They receive donations from all over the world! Folks in Hollywood put on a big fund raiser each year with lots of movie stars showing up for the event. Why here in little Kanab?
Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park is just up the road. The sand dunes really are coral colored! 250 or so acres are held in conservation with the remaining dunes open for off road vehicles. We took a short nature hike through the dunes but what really looked like fun was the off road in the little ATV‘s.
With all these places to visit, we barely managed to get laundry and grocery shopping done. Using team work, Norm stayed at the Laundromat while Chris and I went to the market. We came back and the table was covered with clean clothes. I think I’ll hire him in the future. He made a run for a couple bottles of wine and had to go over the border to AZ to this funky place where a “path lady” ran a liqueur store. Who would have thought we would be so busy in Kanab!


Getting Ready to Go Down the Colorado River




First Ripples of the Colorado



Hoodoos



Pink Coral Sands State Park




Kanab - Frank Sinatra's Room at Parry's Lodge




Buffalo Wrapped with Film Tape




Little Hollywood Movie Museum




Folks from the Old West




Zion - Christy Heading Inside to Get Away From the Caterpillars!




Catterpillars Covering a Light Post!



April 27
With a short ride to Zion, we were set up for our six night stay by lunch time. It turns out that we arrived in the middle of the major annual caterpillar infestation, the worst ever. They have stripped many of the cottonwood trees clean of all leaves. After they strip the leaves they fall to the ground which is now teaming with millions of tiny creepy crawlies! The kids are the only ones having a ball with them. They are grossing out everyone else! Zoe, you don't want to ever be here the end of April!
The drive into Zion is gorgeous. There is one long curvy tunnel that is too narrow for a wide RV’s without the other lane being closed down. They have a very organized set up to close off the other lane and we were through quickly. We are camped in the valley right on the fast moving Virgin River surrounded by red rock formations and blue blue sky. It makes putting up with the caterpillars worth while. A visit to the Visitor Center got us up to speed and we signed up for a Ranger led bird walk tomorrow morning. We took a shuttle into the tourist town of Springdale. Most of the restaurants, lodges and shops look fairly new. There is even an IMAX theater. Tomorrow we will start exploring the park. We have all been here before but for short stays. It will be nice to take lots of hikes and see all the areas there are to see.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Grand Canyon

April 21 and 22
The 21^st was a travel day to the Grand Canyon driving in from the east. We got a couple of glimpses along the rim before setting up at Mather Campground. We were glad we had done our homework with reservations as the campground was full. What a nice campground! It’s big, set in the trees and private. We went down to the village area stopping to check out the grocery store and found that it has everything! We ended up at the famous El Tovar Hotel including picture taking and gazing over the rim.
What a gorgeous morning with bright blue sky and no wind. The shuttle system is great and the only way to see the west area of the canyon. We caught the shuttle going out to Hermit’s Rest which stops at various view points. There is a trail that goes the entire way. We got off at one of the first stops and walked for a couple of miles stopping at every turn and twist. With the blue sky and clear air, it was a sight to see! There are just not words to describe the magnificence and breadth that was before us. With 5,000,000 people visiting annually we were not expecting to find ourselves walking along the rim by ourselves. I guess starting off in the morning is the thing to do. What an unexpected treat! I think most people come for an afternoon or a day and don’t have time to take the walk along the edge. I have been here at different times in my life and of course each one has been memorable but I was always one of those people with a short visit going from view point to view point. This time we have time to stop and smell the roses and see everything on the rim. We are definitely not going down into the canyon. Intellectually knowing the short version of the geological forming of this grand canyon, it still seems impossible that nature with earth shifts, water erosion and ice, seas rising and falling and mountains forming could possibly work on one layer after another for this amazing result. We could see tiny specs moving down the Colorado River below, knowing they were rafts going over rapids. I was taking one picture after another and will have quite a job of editing them. Hermit’s Rest is one of the buildings designed by Mary Coulter back in the early 1900’s that fits so beautifully into the landscape both culturally and architecturally. Back at the village we stopped at the Bright Angel Hotel again designed by Mary Coulter. The Bright Angel Room now houses a museum on Fred Harvey and Mary Coulter and the early development of the hotel and visitor industry here at the canyon. Christy has been reading a book on Fred Harvey, Appetite for America by Stephen Fried, and has been regaling us with stories of this fascinating person. To be here and see the results of his efforts still standing for millions of people to enjoy each year is both fun and interesting. I knew the name Fred Harvey but certainly not much about him. A quick overview - He came to the US from England at 15 in 1850. and soon was working in the early days of tourism as a pot walloper, dishwasher. Before Fred came along, tourists experienced considerable hardships, poor food, rude service and highway robbery prices. He was certainly a visionary. “He teamed up with the Santa Fe Railroad and together created a legacy that endures to this day - a legacy of comfortable travel, elegant dining, and memorable experiences.” He became the father of the American service industry. He invented the lunch counter and service from the well trained young single women called Harvey Girls (girls brought out west in a safe environment). At his peak he had over 65 restaurants and lunch counters, 60 dining cars, a dozen large hotels and all of the restaurants and retail shops in five of the nations largest railroad stations. El Tovar, one of his finest and few remaining of his hotels, sits on the canyon rim still offering tourists a delightful experience a 100 years later. We were included in that delighted group of tourist and had a wonderful dinner in the dinning room on one occasion and lunch on the porch on another.
Before heading back to camp be stopped at the Kolb Studio perched on the side of the rim. The brothers came to the canyon in 1901 to photograph the canyon and offer photos of the tourists as they descended the canyon on mules. They would take the photo, run four miles down the canyon to Indian Garden to the only clean water source for processing the film, and back up again in time to sell the photos to the tourists as they came back up. They would do this 2 or 3 times a day until the late thirties when water was readily available in 1932. Fred Harvey brought water in by tankers on the railroad for the hotel but wouldn’t share with the Kolbs as Fred was interested in getting his own studio going. Old Fred was a ruthless businessman. They were the first to record a trip down the Colorado River through the rapids with a movie camera and showed the film nightly until 1976. Fascinating characters in this neck of the woods! Their projector is on display and the first level of the home is now a book store.
One final stop was to see Navajo dancing outside the Hopi House. Chris and I had stood in the same place in the early 50’s on a family vacation watching Hopi dancers. It’s nice the tradition has continued.

Walk to Hermits Rest

Kolb Studio Hanging on the Cliff



Young navajo Girl Performing at the Hopi House




Navajo Doing the Amazing Hoop Dance




Late Afternoon in Front of El Tovar Hotel

 April 23
Hopi House, built by Hopi craftsmen in 1905, was designed by Mary Coulter for the Fred Harvey Co along with the Santa Fe Railroad to operate as a gift store which it still does today. It was the first of many buildings built here that were designed by this amazing women who was an architectural pioneer. Her goal was “to mold her structures into the landscape and recreate the rustic style of the Southwest’s earliest inhabitants. If the scenery was dominated by wood and stone, her buildings would carry that theme.” She was meticulous with her designs of the interiors as well. She also designed Lookout Studio, Hermits Rest, Phantom Ranch, Desert View Watchtower (my favorite), and Bright Angel Lodge. From the light fixtures to the patterns on the dishes in the dining rooms, the paintings on the walls, her work is still very mush alive. The Hopi House was the first ever to house Hopi and Navajo artisans to make their pieces right on site. The upstairs were their living quarters. Downstairs tourists could see them working at weaving rugs and crafting silver jewelry.
We walked over to Verkamp’s Visitor Center which talks about the community of families living here from 1904 to today. Until last year, the building was owned by the Verkamp family who sold curios to millions of tourists for over 100 years. They sold it to the Park Service and it is now a museum. From here there is a new geological walk along the rim to the Geological Museum at Yavapai Point. Rocks are on display along the walk taken from the very bottom of the canyon to the top layers. Kids were having fun touching them and adults were trying to gain some small understanding of the time it has taken for this canyon to form and the various types of rocks found in the layers. The rocks at the bottom are some of the oldest on earth at nearly 2 billion years old. The canyon is 1,840 million years old! I just can’t wrap my mind around that.
We drove along the rim going east stopping at view points along the way ending up at Desert View Watchtower looking out to the Colorado River. Months of research by Mary Coulter preceded 3 years of construction. The finest examples of masonry and design found in prehistoric ruins went into this structure. It seems to be part of the land. The ancient towers along the rim were thought to be used for food storage and protection. The art in the interior includes paintings on the walls, a sand painting on the floor (now carefully covered with glass) and Katchina dolls all done by various clans in the 30‘s. The tower was filled with people walking up the stairs and not conducive to studying the art but it was beautiful.
I love the quotes we have seen in the visitor centers. Here is one by John Muir. “No matter how far you have wandered, or how many gorges and valleys you have seen, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado will seem to you as if you have found it .. On some other star.



Hopi House





Desert View Watchtower Designed by Mary Coulter



Painting on Wall Inside Watchtower

April 24
Drove south to see the Imax National Geographic film on the Grand Canyon. I had seen it before and would see it again! The film at the Visitor Center was well done also. We went on down to Williams to see what was there. It sits on Route 66 and has a lot of nostalgia. The Grand Canyon Railroad takes off from the old depot. We had lunch in the old saloon, now a Irish/Mexican combo.
We leave this amazing place tomorrow for Kanab, Utah and then onto Zion National Park. I have loved this campground. Our site is big enough for a reunion and surrounded by Pinion Pines. There are a lot of tenters and the nighttime temperature has been down to 29 and 30 degrees. How do they do that? We are cozy with our heater, blankies and quilts. They all seem to be having a great time sitting around the campfire. Looking out my window it looks pretty cold to me. You don’t need to keep food locked up for the bears but the ravens get into anything they can. They are voracious! These birds have pecked their way through two of our neighbors plastic food bags and strewn food around the campsites while they were out for the day. They walk around the campground looking proud and as if they owned it. We heard loud “OH NOs” ring through the campground.


Appies and Beer on El Tovar Porch Looking to the Canyon




ChristyAll Snuggled in Bed with it 30 Degrees Outside



Monument Valley

April 18 and 19
We had a travel day to Monument Valley with our only stop being lunch at the Golden Sands Café just south of Monument Valley. A travel book that Rachel gave me said having a Navajo Taco with Indian fry bread was a must do. Since we try to do as many “must dos” as possible, we timed our stop for lunch. The Navajo taco is now on Christy’s top favorite list. We got settled in at the Gouldings RV Park and drove over to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to get our first peek and check out the visitor center. With the weather being cool, cloudy and the wind blowing a gale, we didn’t do much outside. Looking out at the valley from the visitor center was a preview for what we saw today. It rained during the night with the clouds passing through and we woke up today to gorgeous bright blue sky. The red and orange colors of the sand and sandstone rock were so vibrant. Our jeep tour with Danny Bennett was once again more than we could have hoped for. With hundreds of people taking tours most days, we realized how fortunate we were to be going out early in the morning and missing the crowds. For most of our stops, we were the only ones there. Our jeep turned out to be an open air 4x4 truck. We took off driving on a dirt road that is open to the public but continued out into the valley for a four hour fabulous tour. He stopped often to share his knowledge with us and give us a chance to gaze at this wondrous land with its high broad mesas and tall buttes and monoliths of unbelievable shapes. It just doesn’t seem possible that nature could do this all on its own. Danny had many places to show us with marvelous views including some of the window and natural bridge rocks and petroglyphs. We had some fun stops where various movies and commercials have been filmed. Danny had actually been an extra in a couple of movies. We passed sheep dogs watching over sheep grazing on the grass with a Hogan in the distance and horses drinking at a natural spring. A highlight was visiting Susie Yazzie, a 97 year old Navajo woman, at her Hogan. She is well know for making beautiful woven rugs and still makes her own yarn for weaving. She was very happy to share some of the Navajo ways with us. Her daughter has now taken over the actual weaving. We had read her story in the February, 2009, issue of the Arizona Highways magazine. What made this visit even more special was that our mom had told us about her visit with Susie 25 or 30 years ago. Danny translated that info to her and she got a big grin on her face. It was interesting to see the inside of the Hogan with its log frame. An equally wonderful treat was leaning back on the sandstone wall looking high up through a beautiful almost perfectly round hole in the ceiling overhang to the sky above while listening to Danny sing a Navajo chant playing the drum. What could beat that! The hole was used in the filming of the Indiana Jones movie scene where Harrison Ford is lowered down into the snake pit. We enjoyed listening to Danny tell about life on the reservation, the good with the bad. He talked about the high crime rate that goes along with drug and alcohol problems, many of the younger parents not passing along the cultural ways and language to their children as was done in the past, the lack of jobs, large drop out rates in schools etc… The schools are now teaching the culture, history and language in an effort to retain the language and culture. Hopefully it’s not too little too late. He talked a little about the spiritual ceremonies that take place throughout the year. Many of the families still graze sheep and cattle in the valley but the numbers can’t be too big because of the lack of grass and water. Life is not easy but he said waking up in this spiritual valley to the sun in the east with the gorgeous mesas and buttes before you makes up for a lot.
A little bit on Gouldings - Back in the early 1920’s, Harry and his wife Mike were able to homestead land in Monument Valley. Living in a tent, they started a Trading Post and began trading rugs and jewelry in exchange for goods the Navajos needed. When the depression hit, the Navajos suffered greatly as did their business and with their last $60.00 the Gouldings left for Hollywood to try to talk John Ford into coming to the valley to shoot movies. It worked! They left with an advance and the crew soon began shooting “Stagecoach” with John Wayne. Over the period of forty years the Gouldings built a motel, restaurant and other services for tourists. They must have been much like the Hubbles with a big heart and a love of the Navajo people. They have been awarded numerous humanitarian awards. Under different ownership it now employs a great number of Navajos and serves tourists from all over the world helping to bring money to the Navajo Nation. John Wayne’s cabin in the movie set for “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” sits up by the original trading post that now houses a museum of the Gouldings and the Navajos from the 1920’s to the 60’s. Their comfortable living quarters were upstairs. One room downstairs is devoted to movie memorabilia. They entertained the stars and movie crews on a regular basis. Today it is almost a small city with a market and gas station.



Taking Off with Our 4x4 with Danny, Our Guide




Monument Valley




Riding Along Through the Valley





Susie Yazzie in Her Hogan





Moccasin Rock - where we heard Danny chant and play the drum




Artist Point

 Movies - Danny told us about many of the movies that have been shot here beginning with nine done by John Ford beginning in the 30’s. Clint Eastwood in “Eiger Sanction,” “Indiana Jones,” “Back to the Future 3,” “Forest Gump”, “Thelma and Louise” and “Wind Talker” about the Navajo Code Talkers were on his list. I’m sure there will be more to come.
We want to return to do a follow up tour with Danny through Mystery Valley.



John Wayne's Cabin on Movie Set

 April 20
We took a drive into Utah along a scenic highway to Mexican Hat and up to Bluff. The town of Mexican hat was nothing but the rock formation that hold its name is pretty amazing, quite a balancing act. Just before Bluff, the rocks changed from red to an almost white color. We had lunch in Bluff where Mormans settled in the 1800’s beneath Twin Rocks. They had a grueling trip lasting six months rather than the six weeks they had expected. The last straw was lowering their wagons and animals down a forty foot cliff. They decided to go no further. The gallery and restaurant sitting there now looks like they could be victims of massive falling rocks at any moment.

Mexican hat

Heading East

April 13
Fun day today - We stopped at our last ruins. I think we are all pretty much done with that. With Walnut Canyon, I think we will have seen examples of all the types of ruins in this part of the US that were built from 1,000 to 1,500 AD. The canyon is beautiful on it own. We hiked down into the canyon which meant we had to walk back up with almost 300 stairs. The dwellings were built into the cliffs at different levels. From the hike we looked across the river valley to the ruins and we walked through the ruins on our side. I can’t imagine living right on the side of the cliff. The dwellings were nothing like those at Mesa Verde or Montezuma Castle. The women had to go down by ladders to the river below carrying clay pots to fill with water and then back up again. They would have to store enough water in clay pots to last for 100 days! The men had to go up to the rim to farm and hunt. They must have been in top shape and so strong yet they died by the age of 40. What does that say about exercise. The cliffs provided protection but what a spot to pick. The river no longer runs because of the dam built at Lake Mary to provide water for Flagstaff.
Our next stop was Meteor Crater. This is one big whole in the ground! It happened over 50,000 years ago and was discovered by a man that was with Kit Carson. A mining engineer took out 4 claims thinking he could mine it and it has stayed private with ranch land surrounding it. It is said to be the best persevered meteor crater in the world. The family owning the company has done a great job with a visitor center and viewing area. A well done movie explains how it all happened and the history of the discovery of this one in particular. Edwardo gave a presentation after the movie that held our attention with lots of humor. He could make anything interesting and fun to listen to. Everyone clapped and yelled out thank yous when he was done. Norm wasn’t excited about making the stop but Edwardo made it all worth while. You lose all perspective of size when standing on the rim. 20 football games could go on simultaneously at the bottom. A small looking boulder that had been thrown up with the power of the crash and now sitting on the edge in the distance was actually the size of a large two story house. All this meant more than the dimensions. The Apollo crew practiced here in the 60’s before landing on the moon because it is so similar to that of the moon’s craters. Interesting stop.
Our last stop was Winslow which is on Route 66. Most of you probably remember the lyrics “Standing on the corner of Winslow, AZ…” and the song by the Eagles. Well, this is the claim to fame # 1 for the town of Winslow. They have made it a destination with a two story mural painted on a building with a statue of Glenn Fry, we think. From research Norm did later, he was the one who finished the song started by Jackson Brown. The red flatbed truck is parked on the street in front. It’s terrific. There was a steady stream of people taking pictures. The store selling Route 66 and Eagles things was playing Eagles music on a loud speaker outside. What fun. Claim to fame #2 is the La Posada Inn. The Spanish style Inn was designed by Mary Jane Coulter for the Santa Fe Railroad and Fred Harvey Co. It is right off the rail tracks and was an embarkation point for tourists wishing to see the “Indian lands.” They must have gone to the Petrified Forest also. Fred Harvey had a fleet of luxury motorcars in a garage across the street for touring. It was built in the late 20’s and closed in 1958. It was saved from demolition in 1997, and is now a beautiful Inn and restaurant. It made the 2009 Gold List of the Worlds Best Places to Stay by Conde Nast. The chef, John Sharpe, just made the top 20 on the James Beard list! We abandoned our pledge to simple home cooked meals is a flash and had a delicious lunch. We are staying in Holbrook, another small town on route 66. Driving down a stretch of route 66 and realizing that it began in 1929, was a quite a trip. The Teepee Motel is a throw back to the Route 66 heyday. In 2002, it gained National Landmark status.


Clif Dwellings at Walnut Canyon - click on this one to see the dwellings




High on the Clif at Walnut Canyon




Meteor Crater




La Posada Inn




"Standing on the corner in Winslow, AZ..."



Teepee Motel on Route 66

 　
　
April 14
I have wanted to see the Petrified Forest since I was a kid. Today is the day! We entered at the south entrance to visit the visitor center and see the film educating us on how the logs came to be rock almost on the hardness level as diamonds. We took the walk through Rainbow Forest walking by hundreds of gorgeous petrified logs spread over the landscape with colors of red, gold, magenta, purple, blue and white. For some reason I have always thought of it as still a forest which it isn’t. It’s forest days were some 250,000,000 years ago. Dinosaurs roamed this land and many fossil remains have been found here. Seventy different dinosaurs were discovered here before any place else. Now this land is rolling grass land. After we ooh’d and ahh’d over the magnificent logs and many photos later, we continued driving through the park stopping at all the vistas. Crystal Forest had another walk. Sorry to report that the crystals and gems found imbedded in the petrified rock had been removed long before it became a National Park. We did see a sample in a store of amethyst crystals sitting in a piece of petrified rock! Our next stop, Blue Mesa, was an amazing sight with such vibrant colors of sandstone, claystone and mudstone mounds in blues and purples. At the pullout at Newspaper Rock, we looked through telescopes to see about 600 petroglyphs that had been made over decades some dating back to 1,000 AD. An area named Teepees was another different geologic area with deep red formations looking like teepees topped with white sandstone. Each site was so different and the petrified wood logs were everywhere. Our final stops were views of the Painted Desert. The Painted Desert stretches for miles and miles. We looked out to the amazing pinks and reds as we had a picnic. Chris and I were remembering our grandparents talking about their trip to the Painted Desert and wondering which part they had gazed at with wonder. Our last stop was the Painted Desert Inn. It had originally been built out of petrified wood! In the 30’s the CCC did a remodeling job and changed it to a southwest pueblo style. It closed in the 60’s but is now this lovely refurbished building is open again and is a historic building for us to enjoy. Too bad the soda fountain is just to be looked at, we would have had fun ordering a malt or banana split.
There are signs throughout the park telling visitors to not pick up any rock. As with any National Park, “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints.” They verbally tell you to leave the rocks behind when you enter the park and we even received a paper telling about the fines if you get caught. With all of this, one ton of rock still disappears each month! Unbelievable. The biggest offenders are men from 35 to 50 years old. The rock is so beautiful it is tempting to pick up a little piece. The area of the park is only 1/10 of the actual Petrified Forest. There are many stores selling thousands of pieces from $1.00 to $15,000. The store we went to has the rock and mineral rights to land outside the park and is mining the rock about 30 feet underground. So, if you visit this amazing place buy your rocks and leave those in the park alone. My preaching for the day!


Petrified Rock




Largest Pertified Log in Rainbow Forest



Holes in rock in forground show where crystals were removed.



Blue Mesa



Painted Desert



Painted Desert




Close Up of Petrified Rock




Painted Desert Inn