This is the map of my trip on day four. I lost a little time staying in Flagstaff, so I covered lots of ground. I was hoping I would make it to Tucumcari, but it was a long drive just to Santa Rosa. I decided to take a quick detour through the Petrified Forest National Park to see the stone trees, and the painted desert. It was pretty, and I'm glad I stopped. I purchased some petrified wood because it's pretty cool, though I'm not exactly sure what I was planning to do with it. It's really just a box with some rocks in it.
In Flagstaff, I stayed at this really cool historic hotel. I decided to get more pictures the next morning.
These photos were off the lobby. I decided to get some shots outside since the neon lights didn't turn out so well the night before.
I went around the downtown Flagstaff area and took some photos of interesting signs and places.
This last hotel is called the Hotel Weatherford, and is dated 1897. I thought it was a pretty interesting building.
The next place I stopped is Winslow, Arizona. Can you put your finger on its claim to fame? I'll give you a hint... The Eagles.
I don't remember where this next motel was located- maybe Winslow, but I thought it deserved a photo and perhaps a clever caption about how it was my next destination... well, I guess I'm just not clever enough for such a caption.
There was a shop advertised for miles called Geronimo. I saw many such stores on route, and most of them had the same type of Native American jewelery and craft. They weren't particularly politically correct- Tee Pees, signs still using the label "Indian", and carvings of native Americans in full headdress all set up to draw in tourists. One place was actually called Indian City. I didn't end up buying anything largely because of the over abundance of stuff in these shops. I kept thinking "do I really need a side-cut Amethyst crystal for $60?" It wasn't even really that tempting.
Here I am in front of a petrified log at one of the stops.
The Petrified Forest National Park was a really interesting stop. The girl who wrote my guidebook was rather underwhelmed, but I liked it. I thought it was interesting, fun, and there were some really lovely desert scenes. I tried to capture them as best I could, but it's really difficult to capture the depth and breathtaking quality of such scenes in photos.
This sign tells a little history of these tree rocks.
I loved how the rocks looked like logs on the outside, and stones or crystals on the inside. Check out all the colors.
This photo is of my new friend... I think he's a crow, but I'm always a little confused by the classification of black birds... Crows, Black Birds, or Ravens? Black Birds are the small ones, right? This one was quite large and very chatty. He was telling me something.
This "bridge" was supported by a concrete base by the national park service in the old days. The sign talks about how their modern philosophy supports leaving nature alone to form and destroy its own natural wonders. This makes sense.
These next photos are just of cool rock formations and pretty scenes of the "painted desert".
I'll bet you can imagine how stunning this was in person even if the photos are underwhelming.
There is an inn maintained by the National Park service at this spot in the painted desert. It would be fun to stay there some day.
I really wanted to stay at this next hotel in Gallup, NM, but I unfortunately had to make it further that day. Still, I thought it worthy of a photo driving through.
Those were the last photos I got of the day because the rest of the evening was just taken up with finding a place to stay in Santa Rosa. All of the chain hotels were pretty expensive except for the motel 6. All those "free" breakfasts weren't free at all... There was a $20 difference between the motel 6 and the next level up.
Next post- Grapevine and my way there...
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