Ranger Review: Arizona Edition, Part 1

As I mentioned in my previous post, Chris and I took a road trip to Arizona for him to get settled in to attend the Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program at Northern Arizona University.  That didn't turn out quite like we had planned it.  But, we sure did have a good time in Arizona and we can't wait to go back!

We entered Arizona late in the afternoon.  We were on a mission to make it through Petrified Forest National Park before sunset.  Our turbo tour was fabulous...short, but fabulous.  The park is beautiful and it provided a great stop on the way to Flagstaff.

We have seen a lot of park entrance signs and they're often a highlight of our park visits...yes, just as exciting as the resources.  The Petrified Forest entrance sign didn't disappoint...

I was super excited when we pulled up at the Visitor Center...we were close to our passport stamp.  I was met with a huge Mission 66 complex.  VERY COOL.

The first views of the park itself were of the Painted Desert.  The contrast of the snow and the stone was just beautiful.

We stopped at the Painted Desert Inn, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark.  It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and functioned as a hotel for many years.  Today it is open for visitors to explore and it has a small gift shop staffed by a volunteer.  We had a quick look around and kept rolling...we were losing daylight pretty quickly.

We continued on...stopping at the waysides to have a look at the scenery...

We crossed over the former Route 66.

Interstate 40 is visible in the distance.  The park road crosses back under the interstate, to the south end of the park.

Let us pause to reflect on a questionable situation in today's National Parks.  Look closely folks...that's not one, not two, not three, but FOUR cats in that Chrysler.  Huh?

As interesting as that car was, we had to keep moving...we were losing daylight quickly.

The sun was setting...and the park was closing, so we had to go.

We could barely see...

We couldn't miss a stop at the south entrance sign...

And we made our way out of the park through the most badass exit ever...automatic, sliding gates...take that, petrified wood thieves!

Onward to Flagstaff...