We pulled in, showed our newly obtained national park pass bought the previous day. We were told that it was National Park week and that admission is free to all parks for the week. Arghhhh! LOL
Petrified forest is full of giant logs petrified and full of gems. We didn't take a lot of time to explore the trails. Apparently, there are lots of dinosaur fossils and such in the park. The short amount of time we did walk the trails, we all turned a little red, not realizing the sun's intensity. It was a lovely day, quite warm and sunny.
The park also includes some of the Painted Desert. This is a stunning landscape. One can see for a long distance. One mountain peak was 120 miles away. The clouds cast shadows over the stripped, painted landscape. Similar to the Black Hills of the Dakotas but yet unique in it's own way.
Onward we went to Meteor Crater. DD#1 loved this place. A giant hole in the desert floor where a meteor hit at some point. This is where the Apollo astronauts trained for their moon missions. In the exhibit area there is a meteor piece made mostly of iron weighing over 1,000 pounds.
We then made our entrance into Flagstaff, AZ. We located a hotel, had dinner at Salsa Brava, a wonderful Mexican place. Then to Lowell Observatory. Here we were able to view Mars and Saturn through the Clark telescope which was built in 1898! Very cool. Saturn was incredible!! WOW!!! We could clearly see the rings around the planet and its moons. DD#1 entertained us and those around us waiting in line by pointing out many stars and constellations. They also had a 16" telescope viewing the moon and M3 globular star cluster.
A very full day. The cool night air at the observatory did not help hubby.
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