Arizona (Part 3)

    We left off the last post, after a beautiful eventful day in the Painted Desert, with our family headed to the hotel. All that needs to be said about that hotel experience is, it was horrible. If something could have gone wrong it probably did. The only positive that came from the experience was that I found an awesome tv show all about tree houses, like there is a man whose job is to build specialized tree houses for ADULT people. Well, I went ahead and added a personalized tree house to my Christmas wishlist... How sweet would that be!

    Back to the story ;) We woke up the next day far too early, made our usual scene at the continental breakfast, and then headed to the Petrified Forest swearing off ever staying in a hotel again with two young kids and two dogs. We took a few unintended detours along the way, this park is seriously in the middle of NOWHERE, but we did end up finding a really great gift shop. Where I am use to coffee mugs and t-shirts, this shop was filled with fossils, minerals, furniture made from petrified wood, and jewelry. You would have wanted to buy everything, trust me.

     On a side note,as we drove to the Park Brent made a ground-breaking observation; every adventure we go on, whether is is a hike, a trip to the zoo, or a cross country trek, always starts terribly with our kids.

 They whine and cry and act like we are killing them. every. single. time.

 But about 45 minutes in they have a complete change of attitude and we end up making great memories.

 This was a game changing realization for us because now we come mentally prepared for the fit and we just don't let it effect us anymore.

These pictures have nothing to do with the Petrified Forest. Brent took them
on a total fluke right after we moved to NM. It seems to us to be a pretty fair representation
of what parenting is like most of the time though. ;)

    This day that we spent exploring the Petrified Forest was the first trip we came prepared with this knowledge and guys, knowledge really is power.

    We were greeted at the first stop, Giant Logs in the Rainbow Forest, with overcast skies and wind, but our excitement was off the charts. If the gift shop was cool then the real thing had to be absolutely amazing.

     To get to touch something so ancient and resilient was powerful. Everything in this forest had started it's life in one state and had over time adapted and changed to an entirely different physical state. They once were giant trees that fell into a river bed where they were immediately surrounded by silt, then they were covered with lava and left for millions of years only to be uncovered and discovered that they had not decomposed, but had been made stronger. A beautifully solid piece of art. They most certainly could teach humans a thing or two.

   The Rainbow Forest was filled with colorful nuggets of rock. The weather was ominous but we didn't pay much attention to it. No worries right, we were in the desert. About five minutes into our walk the sky erupted releasing buckets of rain. Luckily we just happened to be by a little rock overhang so the whole family crowded under the ledge until the worst was over.

In case you are like me and had no idea, it rains in the desert. Usual in short burst and most often it will catch you by surprise. We crawled out of our hiding spot a little wet and cold but we were soon distracted by the sparkling bliss surrounding us; each piece of petrified wood had morphed into a shiny rainbow.The colors were intensified by the wet and absolutely striking against the backdrop of the stormy sky. I felt like we got a private showing by an amazing artist, the few who have witnessed the  Rainbow Forest in all it's glory.

We were planning on walking the Long Logs trail next, the longest trail offered in the Petrified Forest, but we couldn't find the entrance. Instead we headed to the  Crystal Forest. The petrified wood in this section was completely different from the Rainbow Forest. It was mostly void of color besides it's rusty red outside edge but it was no less mesmerizing than its rainbow sister.

These opaque pieces were actually my favorite. A desert wasteland covered in glistening crystal-like shards, there was something magical about this forest. 

We made a quick stop at the Agate Bridge next but we forgot to snap any pictures. That will probably end up being a pretty huge regret because that bridge did not look like it was going to stay standing much longer. Our last stop for the day was the Blue Mesa.

When we arrived at the Mesa I had no idea what to expect. There were tractors, trucks, but no workers. Honestly I couldn't tell if the path was closed or not but there was no one there to stop us so we went for it. It wasn't long before I was really regretting that decision. 

About 50 feet into the trail it began to feel like we were standing in a hurricane. We actually had to hide behind an outcropping of rock between gusts for fear that the girls might literally be blown over. Lucky for us, the wind died down to a manageable level after the first turn on the path. We soon made it to the bottom of the mesa and were greeted by the most amazing view. The walls of the Mesa and the hills surrounding it reminded me of the rainbow layers jell-o dessert except instead of all different colors it was all in tones of blue. I would be tempted to change the name to the striped mesa or the blue zebra mesa... It kind of looked like my favorite sweater from 8th grade ;)

Anyways, it was incredible, blue striped hills with petrified wood scattered throughout them. It took me back to my childhood love of sand art, trying to pour perfect layers of sand into a jar to create a masterpiece. This was the ultimate sand art creation that only mother earth could have masterminded. 

It was a great way to end an amazing trip. We climbed back to the top of the Mesa, loaded into the car, and headed home. EVERYONE in the car under 10 was passed out by the time we made it out of the park. I call that a winner of an adventure!

Much love <3