Petrified

Sunday December 14 2008
Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

This morning we left Gallup, NM with a car coated in ice and snow. Good thing the wind had died down. Traveling across I-40, we could see the edge of the storm front…it was clear and sunny to the north and cloudy and gray to the south. When we got to the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert, it was cold, cloudy, but with scattered sunshine. Sun was perfect for the Painted Desert as the light made the colors jump out. Not so necessary for the petrified forest, which was good because there wasn’t any sunshine in that part of the park. Once again, pictures do not do the parks justice. Nonetheless…. It was absolutely extraordinary, breathtaking, awesome, words cannot describe the splendor.

We left PFNP and headed for a lunch in Holbrook, NM. Looked for Joe and Aggie’s (another Roadfood.com rec) but it was closed so we ate at Mr. Maesta’s. Tasted good, but by the time all of the salt hit our systems, I was suffering big time. Oh well, that was my “chicken fried steak on Route 66” experience. Actually, it was the first CFS I had since Missoula, MT.

So many of these small places in the SW don’t appear to have changed much in 50 years. Reminds me of the SW towns I saw in pictures when I was younger. Lots of independent, western style hotels and motels, restaurants, shops, etc. The real west. After we left, Holbrook we headed for Flagstaff, AZ. We could see Humphrie’s Peak (highest pt in AZ at 13000’) from nearly 70 miles away.