On Monday, November 2nd, we had one of our longest driving days, and after our souvenir shopping in Santa Fe, we didn’t exactly get an early start. On the Arizona portion of our trip, I had originally very much wanted to visit Antelope Canyon, and The Peacemaker wanted to visit Canyon de Chelly. However, both are on Navajo land and due to the pandemic hitting the Navajo community really hard, their monuments are closed and there is an imposed curfew as well. We found out about the curfew the hard way. More on that later.
The consolation prize for us on this day would end up being potentially my favorite stop of the trip. The Peacemaker chose the Petrified Forest National Park, and we were on a race to get to this spot in Northeastern Arizona before sunset. Arizona sunsets can be some of THE most amazing and we weren’t disappointed.
We arrived at the park at about 3:30pm (with a closure time of 5pm, but sunset not until about 5:30, this was a dilemma!), and we did spend a bit of time in the visitor center/gift shop where I purchased some treasures for the beach house, which is our showplace for our travels… we have souvenirs from around the world throughout the house, and now we have Native American pottery from Arizona!
At this point, I’m going to let the photos do the talking. I had been to the Petrified Forest (named for all the petrified trees/wood found here) as a child, but I did not remember the beauty of this place. This area has an incredible history.
We had a bit more of a drive to get to Sedona, but we were all very relaxed and inspired after our time in the Petrified Forest!
try not to cry on my rainbow 
Such beautiful pictures of the trip. Thanks for sharing them with us.
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You are welcome, Geri! I want to head out on another road trip, but alas we are in stay at home mode now!
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Aren’t those rock formations magnificent? When I was on my way to Los Angeles for a military assignment, I slept at a rest area in Utah. When I awoke the next morning, I saw visions like these in your pictures. I was blown away. Thanks for taking me along on your road trip.
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It’s funny when you arrive somewhere in the dark and then wake up to something you could not have imagined. That happened to our son in Sedona. I’m writing about it right now. I’ve still got a few more posts to go. It really was a fantastic trip!
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Nice. Yeah, it was a real treat. I couldn’t believe it. There was a huge drop off a few feet in front of my car. The whole thing was breathtaking.
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Must have been a bit scary! I do love the Southwest though… really different from up here in The Pacific Northwest. All beautiful!
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I was really glad there was a fence, and a parking block. That would have been a long drop.
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BEAUTIFUL! I was born in Tuscon AZ and raised in Lake Havasu City. Not a day goes by that I wonder what the hell am I doing all the way in Michigan – talk about a change of scenery.
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Well, T, there’s always retirement one day! 😁
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Don’t you just love that landscape!!! I totally adore that part of the US. We watched the sun setting over Bryce Canyon – which was very cool. The colours were amazing.
Did you have the chance to visit Grand Staircase-Escalante? That was really freaky and out of this world. I would never describe it as beautiful – but it really was like nothing I had ever seen before.
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Not this time for the Grand Staircase. We definitely had to pick and choose! There really is so much to see. Interesting to think how it was all formed.
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