Today we left Albuquerque and headed to Flagstaff, Arizona. On the way we discovered accidentally that we were crossing the Continental Divide. There was not much to mark the spot save for a couple of rather gaudy gift shops and one little sign by the highway.

That was a quick stop!

The next stop was also a very quick one at a place called “Church Rock.”

Next stop on today’s adventure was the Petrified Forest National Park. This was a 28-mile drive through some really beautiful scenery in the Painted Desert then in the Petrified Forest itself.

We started in the Painted Desert.

This old car was placed in the desert to make where the original Route 66 came through the area now known as the National Park.

These petraglyphs were carved into these rocks thousands of years ago.

The many different colors in all of this landscape were absolutely incredible. We just couldn’t get over how beautiful it was. The many colored striations in the rocks were absolutely stunning.

Then we got into the area of the park where the petrified wood was so plentiful and beautiful.

This formation was just sort of by itself and I will just leave this one here. It resembles a part of the female anatomy.

The petrified wood was often pretty red in color from a distance. But, as we got closer to them, they had just about all the colors of the rainbow. Many looked like they’d been cut up purposefully and just left there. But, according to one of the things we read today, they were downed by a huge flood and immediately covered with sediment from the flood waters, which petrified them fairly quickly and preserved them impeccably.

We came upon this formation and to me it looked like a giant rock with a mohawk!!

When we headed to the giant petrified logs, we saw a few other formations that were breathtaking. It looked like someone just picked up a few rocks and sprinkled them on top of the larger formations. Then others looked like they’d been purposefully placed and stacked.

These petrified logs were behind the museum and gift shop at the end of the 28-mile loop through the park. The colors are magnificent and hard to believe these were just TREES until water and time got a hold of them!!

We are having the time of our lives on this trip!! Next stop tomorrow – The Grand Canyon!!