Jerry put in 10 hours of hard hiking on Wednesday. He said that he had gotten the hiking bug out of his system. I don’t believe that one for a moment.
Thursday morning we left the South Rim and headed for the Petrified Forest . Once again we were on the road almost all day. The Petrified Forest was so unique. There were hundreds of huge petrified logs lying everywhere. The forest butts up against the Painted Desert. Another unique place.
Ever since we left the Grand Canyon the landscape has changed. We have been traveling through desert for the last couple of days. Hot, dry, dusty desert. You can see the dust in the air and you can feel it in your lungs.
We camped at Canyon de Chelly for the night. The campground was free. Can’t beat that! We didn’t realize that it came with a resident dog(s). The kind that bark all night! No exaggeration! The dogs roamed the campground. Jerry even said that he saw one on the top of the restroom building during the night – as far as I know he was not drinking anything stronger than water.
We left as soon as the resident alarm clock bird went off – that’s fairly early. Another day of driving through desert brought us to Mesa Verde. We set up camp and Jerry is now doing a Ranger lead hike to some of the ruins of the canyon. Some of the ruins you can see from the overlooks. I only wish I could get around this fear of heights thing and do a little more.
Two nights here and then on to Grand Junction to visit a cousin and then to Crested Butte to debrief and relax a little at a friends condo before the trip home. I think we’re both about ready to head east – home to family and friends.
You must have a million photos.
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