Day 19: Petrified Forest

After the brilliant reds of Monument Valley, the muted, almost pastel blues, purples and ochres of Petrified Forest were a marked change. We took an excellent ranger tour where we got to walk through fields and valleys of deep red, yellow, orange and blue petrified wood -- little and big pieces just lying there on the ground. So tempting to take! (And so illegal...)

Mixed in with the petrified wood were pieces of fossilized root and animal bone. (Nerdy factoid: How can you tell if something is bone and not rock? Put it against your tongue -- porous bone will stick to it.)

At different spots in the park, we were also able to see petroglyphs left behind by the ancient Puebloans.