Santa Fe to Holbrook 300 miles

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Off to the petrified forest - todays blog post is written by steph

Today is a busy day, we plan to see the petrified forest and painted desert and have a little hike through them. But before we do that we have a 5hr car journey to get through. An early start was needed so alarms were set for 0630hrs. Those that know me know I'm far from being a morning person, so this was a bit of a struggle. As soon as bags were packed I was led straight to the coffee in the breakfast room and have now managed to wake up fully. We've been told to make sure the car is topped up with "gas" as there will not be much opportunity on the route today driving through desert land, so hoping to have a quick pit stop in Albuquerque.

We've been driving more on the interstate today so we can enjoy more time in the petrified forest, although we have another time change today so we should gain an hour which will help. Even driving on the interstate the views are amazing, so much untouched land! So far we have seen a couple walking their dog on the hard shoulder and then an Indian on a horse (not sure if this is standard practice on a motorway with cars going 75mph??)

We've noticed that the trains here are huge, some of them having over 100 carriages behind them and the ones carrying containers are often doubled up as well. If you're at a railroad crossing you can be sat there for ages waiting for them to pass through.

After a very long drive we arrived at the petrified forest national park. After a quick look in the visitor centre and gift shop we went straight into the park armed with our map showing different trails and sightseeing areas. The park spans about 28 miles through the painted desert and petrified forest. The painted desert was beautiful with amazing colours through the rock which the pictures will not do justice to. You only go through a short space of this before you get to the petrified forest. This start with rocks with petroglyphs on from the Puebloan people from a.d. 1250 to 1400. Some of these were a bit of a distance away and this is where I wish I packed my better lens for my camera to get better images.

Shortly after we walked along a few trails which showed some petrified wood. It's really interesting how the wood turns to rock and you can really see the different layers. I will attach a photo which shows the process of how this happens. At one point I got out the car to take a few photos and when I got back there was a couple of massive crows sat right next to the door, instead of driving a bit further forward to let me get in the car, Katie just sits there and laughs at me!! Don't you love your friends sometimes. Towards the end of the park we came to the section with the biggest logs, and one called "old faithful" which we had to have our photo taken in front of. We kept coming across the same American couple so we took a couple of photos for them and vice versa.

Throughout the park there are signs advising not to take any of the petrified wood to preserve the park, and when you leave there is a check point and a ranger can check your car. The gift shop sell pieces that are found outside of the park, so I decided to buy one of these.

On leaving we decided to head straight to the motel as we are all quite excited about this one - we are sleeping in a wigwam! On the way there we went across a railroad but there was no flashing light so it was safe to cross. However as soon as got close to it it a train stated tooting its horn very close. Shocked faces appeared on us all as someone shouted at me "floor it!!". Turns out the train had stopped a few feet away and was waiting for the barrier to come down.

We pulled up outside and each of the wigwams are arranged in a semi circle around the reception office, with old fashioned vehicles parked outside. After checking in we decided to go and have a look around, and inside the office is almost like a museum with lots of petrified wood, old guns, arrows etc. very interesting! We got talking to the woman that works there it turns out she lives on the Indian Reservation about 30 miles from here and travels in every day. She also told us about the petrified wood and some of it is on the owners land. She asked if we managed to get any and said that she would take us to pick out a piece for free! She took us to the back of the motel and then we had to squeeze through a gate and there was loads all of the floor and piled up, form small pieces to much bigger pieces. Should have just waited to get here instead of buying some, but now I have two pieces of different colours so that is good.

The wigwams are actually much bigger inside than they appear on photos. Easily fits two double beds with bathroom, table and chair etc. Now for a bit of relaxation time while we decide what to do for dinner and enjoying a few cold lagers.

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