All things bright and beautiful

Leaving Holbrook this morning we drove several miles out to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. At a gift shop we visited before entering the park, there were coffee tables made of pieces of petrified woods that cost thousands of dollars--one was $24,000. We didn't buy it! It was a beautiful day for sightseeing but oh so windy! Even though the temperature was in the 50s it was very cold due to wind chill, so when we got out of the van our winter coats were necessary. We didn't go on any of the trails because of the wind.

The huge amounts of petrified wood was awesome to behold. In reading the various information plaques we learned that tons of the wood and other precious natural items had been removed by people in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Fortunately the area was made into a National Park and everything is now protected. There are signs all over that you can not take anything out of the park and when we left the park ranger asked if we had done any collecting. Our answer was a resounding, "no!"

We ate lunch at the restaurant at the site and then traveled into New Mexico. We are staying tonight at Tucumcari.