The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Sorry about the late post, had some problems with the pictures.  Alright, So what happened in Arizona?  Well, last we left off, I had just crossed the AZ/NM border and was about to stop in the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest.  This is my take on this amazing spot of the world and one place that every traveler needs to check out themselves!  I love the wide open high desert of Northern Arizona and I would call it a second home if I got to go there more often.  The sun was just setting when we got there so it gave the canyons and gulleys a certain contrast in colors that is less clear during full sunlight.

As you look out over the vastness of this breathtaking landscape, you can’t help but feel small but somehow free.  Free to run and ride wherever you want, free from time because time is endless just as the landscape is.  It’s truly God’s country out there so get out and explore it!  It was discovered by Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado who named the place “El Desierto Pintado”-Painted Desert, while he was on a quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola which he found forty miles east of the Painted Desert and was quite disappointed when he found that the cities were not in fact made of gold (that sucks).

After sunset, we drove into the college town of Flagstaff but only stayed the night before moving on to Phoenix for the next 7 days.  If you ever have the chance to explore and hike through Northern Arizona, do it!  You won’t regret it and you will be assured a time in solitude except for the odd coyote or rattlesnake…  Seriously, be careful of those.

Travel well,

Steven Chavez