Meteor Crater, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

I had forgotten how much fun it is to just head towards random things off the highway! I decided at the last minute to check out the meteor crater off the I-40 in Arizona. The size is deceptive; on the rim there are preset view-finders showing a "house-sized rock" across the crater and a "6-ft man" standing in the center of the crater - both were barely visible to the naked eye. I wondered why it hadn't filled with water and turned into a lake in the 50,000 years since it was created, but I figured it was in the desert so didn't stop to ask. It was neat to see, but there is not much else to say about it.

Shortly afterward, I drove through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. I was not sure what to expect. I started in the Painted Desert part and, although beautiful, I've become a bit blase´ about the landscape.  I have been seeing brilliant red vistas since I left the south rim of the Grand Canyon and this just seemed like an opportunity to stop and take some pictures. Parts of the desert were speckled with snow and I loved the contrast. When I entered the Petrified Forest section of the park, I was surrounded by striped hills. Was this it? Hmmm. I wondered how much farther into the park I should keep driving.  I mean you've seen one striped hill, you've seen them all, right?

I decided to pull over to take a closer look before moving on. It turns out that the petrified part of the Petrified Forest is the petrified wood. (Yes, maybe I could have figured this out by the name.) It is really, really cool. From a distance it looks like a bunch of downed trees or logs. Only when you walk up and touch them do you realize that they are actually rocks. These are ancient trees that have been literally been petrified. The visual and tactile disconnect is disconcerting. They look like wood, but are cold rock. The center of these enormous logs has turned into a rainbow crystal from the different minerals. I'm not sure it comes across in the pictures, so I will say it again - it was really, really cool.  This was definitely one of my favorite stops.