National Parks III

Day three of my adventure in national parks. Last night was an adventure in itself. The motel cost again under $50. The motel the night before was a real bargain. Last night's was priced about right. On the plus side, it was located on historic Route 66. It was also located within walking distance of a fast food place. I could relax there and read my book in peace and quiet, with no one within hundreds of miles that even knew who I was. Feelings of relaxation and loneliness at the same time. Then I walked back to my dive and awaited the next day's adventure.

I woke up early and headed east to a place you might have seen pictures of. It is a giant crater formed by a meteor. Luckily, it happened in the middle of nowhere, although whenever it took place, pretty much everywhere could have been called the middle of nowhere. It turned out there was an admission and they didn't open until 7:00. So I sat in my car for 45 minutes, then paid my $18, which seemed like a lot to see a hole in the ground, and got to see it. I must say, very impressive and worth the wait and the money.

Its so big, I couldn't get the whole thing in my camera. I've never understood the concept of a meteor ended the reign of the dinosaurs. It hit one and the result died of sadness? It changed the climate, which the giant dinosaurs couldn't handle, but every other species managed to? Maybe there never were any dinosaurs and the skeletons are rocks that just happen to fit together to make a dinosaur shape. 

I'm on the road again to Petrified Forest National Park. There are petrified rocks there. It seems incorrect to say they have a petrified forest. There was a place where you could see a vast expanse, which was neato, but also had a trail that went to the bottom. It was pretty steep, and I thought might be tough coming back up, but wasn't that bad. At the bottom you could see the landscape up close. It seemed Mars-like. No one else was coming down the trail, so I pretty much had the planet to myself. The hills were red for some reason, just like Mars.


It is a little hard to tell from the photo, but there are giant pieces of petrified wood there. They are the size of, and were formerly, tree trunks. This would be a great location to shoot a movie. Although, again, we're in the middle of nowhere so that might be tough.

I took a bit of a detour to drive through what is called Monument Valley. John Wayne made a bunch of his westerns here. It was time for the daily monsoon rains, so that made it even cooler. Several times on the trip I took a picture and just missed a flash of lightning. That would have made a great picture even better.

At the end of the day, I went to Four Corners. It is where four states come together - Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. From what I've seen on this trip, take out Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Denver and the combined population of those state is maybe a couple hundred. It was only about a five mile detour for me, so I figured it was worth it. Although I'm not sure. I've read that they surveyed it wrong and the location is actually about ten miles away. Then to save the bother, Congress voted to make the the official site, even though it wasn't. Go ahead and insert your own joke or sarcastic comment about our government. I hold the federal government and all four states responsible for this charade. You're all living a lie. But I went anyway. So I'm guilty as well.

It was as commercial as can be and really kind of cheesy, but something I thought I needed to do. I can add this to interesting Earth sites I've been at - The Equator and the point where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee come together. North and South Poles are about all I got left.