On Tuesday we decided we’d had enough of the extremely hot temperatures in Mesa, so packed up to leave, one day earlier than necessary. But we were delayed. Our “out-of-here-by-noon” plan fell apart when a check of the trailer’s lights revealed that we didn’t have any! It probably wasn’t crucial because the RV lights are clearly visible around the trailer, but Jim thought he could quickly solve the problem. An hour and a half later he succeeded, but by then he was hot and dirty and in need of a shower and a dip in the pool. I think our friends must have been tired of saying goodbye to us already! It was 4:30 before we finally got on the road. The plan was to visit the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert that day, but we were still an hour away when the sun went down over the narrow road. Visibility wasn’t good and we could find no campgrounds, so with the permission of the manager, we parked in the lot of a service centre for the night and got away early the next morning.

We followed the twenty-eight mile road through the Petrified Forest, near Holbrook AZ, stopping at several stations to look at the petrified trees and petroglyphs, and taking many pictures. It’s amazing how the trees fell into the swamp thousands of years ago and were eventually filled with minerals, transforming them into beautifully coloured rocks.

Petrified Tree

Petrified Tree

Petrified Tree, cut into blocks

Brilliant colours

Petroglyphs

At the end of the road was the Painted Desert, another array of colour.

Painted Desert

Today, day three, has been uneventful, even boring. The winds on I-40 swayed us back and forth and we half expected to see the repeat of two major accidents we saw yesterday involving trailers tipping over along that road, but fortunately there were none. We quit early for the night.