Petrified Forest anyone? ~ Day 3

Finally! All of the kids slept in! That was definitely a welcome treat, and as an added bonus, made for a much happier day all around. We had a fairly lazy morning again, and got on the road just before 11am. Our first stop wasn’t scheduled, but we’re glad we made it. We stopped at a local rock shop. Sound boring? It wasn’t. Not even a little bit. You see, this rock shop was huge, and it was surrounded by roughly 89,000 pounds of petrified wood for sale. Apparently, the owner owns a patch of land nearby and all of the wood is from his property. Did you know that petrified wood isn’t rare? It is easily found throughout the world, on every continent except Antarctica. Only about 10% of the petrified trees in Arizona are protected within the boundaries of the Petrified Forest National Park.

Anyway, I digress. We stopped in this rock shop and explored. They had geodes, from the tiniest I’ve ever seen (half an inch to an inch across) to some monstrosities as tall as the kids! We saw amethyst, quartz crystal and dyed geodes. We saw slices of geodes that had been made into wind chimes, book ends and countless other novelties. We also saw mined copper, pyrite, Apache tears, turquoise, arrow heads, obsidian and so many more varieties of rocks and minerals. It really was a fascinating stop. We purchased a small geode for each of the kids and then headed off to the southern entrance to the Petrified Forest.

Now the Petrified Forest…wow. My first question was how in the heck did so many huge trees become petrified out in the middle of the desert? I mean, look around. It’s a bunch of cactus and scrub brush. Not exactly enormous petrified tree material. Apparently, this area used to be part of a subtropical forest. Oh, how times change! Well, a big flood hit, killed the trees, then a volcano blew its top many times over, covering the water logged trees with ash full of a variety of minerals. As time passed, the minerals leached into the trees and replaced the tree fibers bit by bit, turning the trees into solid rock. The now petrified trees are vibrantly rich in color and some even have crystals within the tree.

I can’t even begin to describe all that we saw today. It was beautiful and well worth the trip. We saw countless pieces of petrified trees, ruins from Pueblo Indians, petroglyphs, and the Painted Desert. The Painted Desert is just what it sounds like…a desert with mesas and a wide variety of geological features, all in various hues of red, terracotta, gray, white, and blue courtesy of the many minerals and metals present in the earth. Simply amazing and definitely breathtaking. We could easily see the San Francisco Peaks 120 miles to the west of one of the overlooks.

After our final stop in the Petrified Forest National Park, we got back on the freeway and headed east. We passed into New Mexico, and then crossed the Continental Divide. All in all, today was a great day. Well, with the noted exception of getting stuck in traffic west of Albuquerque. It took us over 3 hours to go about 6.5 miles. Pass me the lemon juice and salt, please. I have an open wound I need to tend to. Oh well, such is life!

Still in Arizona ~ day 2

Today we had a full schedule. Despite the packed agenda, we had a perfectly lazy morning, with the noted exception of our early wake up call courtesy of the little guy. 6am came way too early! The hotel had a fabulous spread for breakfast, so the kids enjoyed fresh muffins, fresh fruit, waffles and the like. We filled up at Costco and then fought rush hour (???) traffic at 11:15am. We have no idea what all the traffic was from, but there sure was a lot of it.

Fortunately, the scenery was interesting and we discussed arid regions versus semi arid regions (do you know the difference?), and the type of vegetation that grow in those areas. We passed countless Saguaro (saw-WAH-row) cacti, which is similar to the Organ Pipe cacti in that it is columnar. However, the Saguaro is the cactus you would typically associate with a “southwestern” theme with the arms branching in the middle or near the top, whereas the Organ Pipe cactus branches from the base. We also saw my least favorite cactus in the whole wide world…the Jumping Chollas. Trust me when I tell you these things are vicious. They are mean, they do jump and they don’t let go.

Our first stop was at Montezuma Castle National Monument. We had lunch (peanut butter and jelly) and then set off to see what we could see. This was a nice stop with a good trail that led to the bottom of a cliff dwelling along the banks of Beaver Creek. We stopped for a bit at the Visitor’s Center and then went off to see the dwellings. It was an area that was home to more than 100 Sinagua (sin agua ~ without water) Indians until roughly the 1400’s when it is assumed that they moved north and joined the Hopi Indians on the mesas.

Once we finished at Montezuma Castle, we headed off toward Red Rock State Park. As we drove and encountered more traffic due to construction, we decided to just drive through Sedona, AZ and continue north on the Oak Creek scenic highway to Flagstaff. Wow, was that ever worth our time! As soon as we were off the interstate, we saw some of the most amazing red cliffs and geological formations I’ve ever seen. It was simply incredible. There is just no way to adequately describe the majesty and magnificence of the area around Sedona. I think it is just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. Kind of like the Grand Canyon…pictures in books just don’t do it justice.

As we left Sedona and wound our way up Oak Creek, we rapidly transitioned from the bleakness of the scrub brush and cactus region up to the forests that surround Flagstaff, AZ. The change in altitude and temperature in such a short time was amazing! Our next stop was at the Walnut Canyon National Monument where we were once again able to view the remains of many more cliff dwellings. This area wasn’t nearly as accessible as the Montezuma Castle remains, but it was still fascinating nonetheless. The remains were down in a steep canyon. Unfortunately, the trail closed at 4pm, but we were still able to view a good many of the dwellings from the observation deck at the Visitor’s Center.

Today has just been a beautiful day with lots of interesting things to see and do. We’re all pretty tired though. Last night was a pretty late night, and it took the kids awhile to settle down to go to sleep. It was 10pm before we got the kids in bed…way too late! Tonight will be a much earlier night since we are already nearly to our destination. I’m writing my blog in the car while Mike is driving. Gotta love the perks of being the passenger!

Finally on the road!

Well, we’re on the road. We stayed up late packing and got most things ready for a final pack out. This morning while I took the oldest two to their once a week classes, Mike packed out the car carrier and watched the youngest two.

More hiccups as we got ready to leave. We were checking the sprinklers in the front yard and found one of the pipes had burst. A quick trip next door and our neighbor will manually water our front yard while we are gone. Our cat was following us around and meowing pitifully while we packed. I think she sensed we were leaving. Poor thing. Another set of neighbors will feed her and the fish while we are gone. All that for the price of heating the hot tub.

I’m really ready to be on the road. I’m ready to explore and learn. I’m ready to show our kids a significant portion of the United States. I am a little disgusted at the price of gas though. Arco is $3.19 for the cheap stuff in SoCal. Silliness, I’m telling you.

We started off going up and over the mountains east of San Diego. It’s a dry, arid area, with rock outcroppings significantly outnumbering the vegetation. With the recent rains, the ocotillo is just beginning to bloom, bright splashes of red at the end of seemingly lifeless sticks. We saw the windmill farm as we crossed the Tecate Divide to drop into the Imperial Valley. The green of the valley was in stark contrast to the sandy, drab of the surrounding Anza Borrego Desert. Continuing on our way, we passed through the sand dunes, and watched in amazement as countless 4 wheelers zipped up and down the forever shifting mountains.

Our first scheduled stop was in Yuma, Arizona at the Yuma Crossing State Historical Park. It’s located on the banks of the Colorado River. Unfortunately, we arrived at 5:10…they close at 5. Bummer! So I took a quick picture of the river and called it good. We had a pleasant surprise when we filled up the tank…gas was a mere $2.79 at the 76 station. Nice fuel taxes we have in California. Drive 2 hours to the middle of the desert and the price of gas drops 40 cents per gallon. Nice.

Our destination tonight is just north of Phoenix, AZ. It’s spring season for the baseball teams, and the San Diego Padres are out in Peoria, AZ where we will stay the night. Just a tidbit of trivia for you.

Ok, that’s it for today. It has been a long preparation for this trip, and I’m so glad it is finally underway!

Who ordered up trouble?

Who ordered up a broken washing machine and a sick kiddo? Did you not get the memo that I don't particularly have time for this right now? Honestly.

Little guy has a nasty, nasty diaper rash...yeast with impetigo (a bacterial infection). Yikes. Poor tushie. And then there is the washing machine. My wonderful hubby has been working hard for 2 days to make it work again. I guess after 10+ years, it's time to bite the bullet and get a new one. Thankfully, we hadn't made plans for our tax return...guess what we are buying? Tomorrow I should have a new machine (a Duet, I'm so excited!) so I can wash the clothes I need to pack. I'm biting my nails here!

what, where, when, why

Those are the questions I'm currently wrestling with. What will we see? Where will we go? When will we get there? Why will we skip this attraction and see another one instead?

If ever there was a poster child for adult on-set ADHD, it would be me right here, right now. Seriously. I've spent the last two days skimming and scanning travel books, educational books, web sites, maps and random emails. While it would be nice to just sit and think, I have 5 really good reasons I haven't done that: 4 kids and 1 husband. For some reason, they still want to eat...three times a day even. The little guy just wants to snuggle. The others want me to "look at this mommy!" And my husband? Well, he has needs, too!

I'm trying to come down off of an adrenaline high. I'm still bouncing and twitching, but I think I'll be able to sleep tonight. Maybe not tomorrow night, but definitely tonight. Four more days!

Where to start?

Who knows. So I'll just start by starting!

There are 7 days until we leave on one heck of an adventure. We will visit 18 states. We will meet friends along the way. Throw in National Parks, geographical features, museums and a BBQ, well, now it's starting to look like a fun time!

I've been planning, plotting, thinking and researching for nearly two months. See, here's the deal. I'm driving, mostly by myself, cross country with 4 kids. Sound crazy? I don't think it is. I think it will be a blast; an adventure of a lifetime that my kids will remember for the rest of their lives. Ok, so maybe the little guy won't remember much (he's 20 months), but the rest sure will (7, 5 and 3, almost 4).

So sit back, grab a glass of water, and enjoy a Lizard's Life!