After a night spent at a Motel 6 in Holbrook, Arizona and dinner at the local Pizza Hut (I can’t even remember the last time I was in a Pizza Hut), I was ready to hit the road. I was supposed to arrive in Albuquerque that night– my first official destination in over a week. First, I had one more roadside souvenir shop to visit as well as an afternoon spent in the Petrified National Forest. Upon entering the Petrified Forest, I immediately thought of the Double Rainbow Guy as I gazed across the landscape with tears welling in my eyes. It was the first time I truly realized how invaluable our National Park System is and what an amazing service they offer by protecting what little untouched wilderness is left in the United States. I think in another life I was meant to be a Park Ranger. In any case, I saw magnificent landforms dotted with entire petrified trees, had a magical encounter with a massive raven and, for the first time, studied ancient petroglyphs delicately chiseled on gigantic boulders.
