Petrified Forest National Park

State: Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park
We stayed at: Crystal Forest Museum and Gifts

We trekked across New Mexico and back into Arizona to visit our next national park - Petrified Forest. I have to say that this was not as mindblowing a park as say Zion or the Grand Canyon. Though getting out of the car and walking the trails does put you up close to some pretty cool sites. The petrified wood (wood/organic matter that has absorbed minerals and has bascially turned to rock) was interesting and very colorful. More info on the full story of petrified wood. But my favorite part was hiking through the Blue Mesa Badlands - I've never seen purplish (is that a word?) hills like that!

The orange and white striped line in the distance is a train.

Bird looking out over the Blue Mesa Badlands.

Matt working on his levitation skills.

The petrified logs look like they just came tumbing down the river.

These decorative teepees were right outside the funky gift shop where we camped for the night.