Flagstaff Escape day 2

New day with a new place to visit.  Today I am driving to Petrified Forest National Park.  It is less than two hours from Flagstaff but an easy drive on I-40.  I entered from the south entrance and drove through the park . . . always love stopping and taking a picture of the entrance signs.  Oddly there was not a person or car anywhere . . .

It was not crowded at all.  I stopped at the Rainbow Forest Museum and Visitor Center to get a Junior Ranger book.  Yes, I was going to do it all by myself.  I must admit the activity was a bit time consuming and really had to read the displays in the museum.  I finally finished and headed outside to visit some of the Giant Logs and Long Logs on the trails near the visitor's center  . . .

 The colors were just so beautiful and amazing!

Made a quick stop at Agate Bridge . . .

Since it was already so hot outside, I decided Blue Mesa would be my one hike today . . .

. . . what I didn't know was how steep the trail would be because going down was stressful and coming up was a total kick in the butt!  But I did it!  I drank a ton of water before, during, and after and it took me forever to cool off!  Thankfully the rest of my stops were just stop and looks.
The Tepees . . .

Newspaper Rock . . .

If you look closely you can see the petroglyphs . . .

Crossed over Route 66 . . . the highway of dreams . . .

Tawa Point . . .

And finally to the Painted Desert Visitor Center where I enjoyed lunch because I was starving!  I love Navajo Tacos so that is what I had with a bottle of super cold root beer!

I worked on my Junior Ranger booklet so could get my badge and get back on the road to Flagstaff.  It was still early in the day so planned to stop at Meteor Crater National Landmark.  I decided to keep driving as it was hot and seemed like a bit of a tourist trap.  I did see it from above when I flew into Flagstaff so that was probably better!

Tomorrow I return to Texas!