Petrified Forest

Once we had exhausted our days in hotels that the military would pay for we decided to take a road trip. I really didn't want to stay in an extended stay hotel for 3 weeks before closing on our house. After much debate we voted to head to Arizona. Day one of driving took us to Albuquerque, NM, where Dan's sister Kristina met us for the night. She took some more pictures so I'll have to get them from her. It was nice to get our kids together with her kids, even if it was for one night.
 

Day two of driving led us right by the Petrified Forest. Since it wasn't far off the highway and military gets into national parks for free, we took full advantage!

The forest wasn't anything I expected. I guess I had always pictured it to be big tall trees that had died away so you would be surrounded by dead trees. But instead it is chunks of tree that have gone through this crazy process that turns them into rock. It was crazy to look at!

It was amazing how tree-like they still looked, but felt as hard as rock.

This is Dan in front of the agate bridge, a natural formation that has had supports added to it. No one is allowed to go on the bridge.

Other than the petrified wood, there were lots of peculiar sites to see, like this area where the rocks where white, purple, blue, and red layered, and in teepee shapes.

Then there was an area you could hike to and see petroglyphs on the rocks!

And lastly a 'scenic outlook' with deep red canyons and beautiful views.

It was a fun stop, though I was a little anxious to make it the rest of the way to Phoenix.