Petrified Forest National Park

I thought I would get in one more quick trip to a national park before my pass expired in June. I visited the Petrified Forest National Park, which is just outside of Holbrook, AZ. Here you can see large petrified logs from a time when this part of Arizona was lush tropical forest. About 225 million years ago, this part of Arizona was near the equator.
When the continents broke apart and shifted, the climate changed. Some trees fell into rivers and were buried in the sediment. Mineral seeped in and replaced the wood. This caused the mineralization - petrified wood.

Here you can see the quartz in the sections of a log.
The agate bridge is petrified wood (concrete was placed under the bridge in 1917 for support)
As you drive through the park, some of the reds are replaced by blues. You can see streaks of blue in the striations of the sandstone in the Blue Mesa section of the park.

Along the road, are some fabulous formations that show the striated sandstone. This area of the park is called the TeePees, because of the shape of the rocks.

As you drive north of through the park, and cross I-40, you enter the Painted Desert.
The first overlook is at Lacey Point. I was greeted by this raven there.
View of the painted desert from Lacey Point. You can see how it gets its name.
While not part of the park, these two rock formations caught my eye as I drove along Highway 87 north of Winslow.

Canyon de Chelly

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d'Shay) National Monument is located on the Navajo Nation, just outside of Chinle AZ.

I only had the chance to drive along the south rim, but next trip I will try to have enough time to drive the north rim and take a tour of the canyon floor.
Inside the canyon are several ruins of cliff dwellings. You can't see them very well in this picture from the rim, but you would see it much better from within the canyon. Click on the picture for a slightly better image. Better yet, view the Ansel Adams photo of the dwellings.
One of the overlooks is called Face Rock. Since there wasn't a guide here, everyone was trying to guess which rock had the face. One couple thought the face was in the rock in the middle of the above picture (you can see the eyes, a wide nose (the left nostril appears to have a trail running out of it, and the green belt of trees is the mouth).
Cool erosion patterns - the left one is connected to the "nostril" if that's really the face.
I thought the rock in the center of this picture was Face Rock; the shadow it casts is a silhouette of a face.

If you know which rock is Face Rock, please leave a comment! :-)

I found another rock that also resembled a silhouette of a face. The shadow cast by this rock reminded me of Fred Flintstone. Maybe it should be called Flintstone Rock?
I didn't see much wildlife - other than lots of crows - but there were lots of free range cattle, sheep, and horses.
The horses were all quite skinny!
The highlight was Spider Rock. This was an amazing double spire rising from the canyon floor.

I'm going to Dateland

In Dateland Dateland
I'm going to Dateland
For reasons I cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see
Dateland

Maybe I've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Dateland

(my apologies to Paul Simon)

I've been coming up dry on the dating scene lately, so what better place to find a date than Dateland!

Hmmm... is my date waiting behind one of those trees?
Getting closer?

Wow! Look at all those dates just hanging around saying "pick me! pick me!"

Unfortunately, not the kind of date I was looking for.

I must admit, I've never tried one of the famous date shakes. There just aren't enough rest stops between Dateland and Phoenix to risk tasting that delight.

Yuma - historic prisons and retro motels

Less than 12 hours after getting home from Boston, I was back on the road. This time to Yuma.

I thought the first stop should be the courthouse to get my sentence overturned. I certainly wouldn't go there on my own volition.

Unfortunately, there would be no such luck. My sentence wasn't overturned.

(Pictures of Yuma Territorial Prison - taken during a previous trip)

The best I could hope for was early release for good behavior.

Or Death!
Luckily, I wasn't held up too long before I was set free and could get back on the road again.

Oh darn! I had to drive back to Phoenix the same day. No luxurious stay at the Yuma Cabana for me.

Boston

View of Boston skyline from my room at the Seaport Hotel - 15th floorAnother view from my room. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is the white building in the middle right of the picture. The Boston World Trade Center is in the foreground.
I had about an hour to explore between meetings. View of the city from the pier by the ICA.

I had hoped to visit the ICA, but it was closing just as I was arriving.

I liked how they displayed this poem over the waves of the harbor. (Click to picture to see it better)

The World Trade Center was connected to the Seaport Hotel.

Fishing boats on the harbor.

There was a little park just past my hotel.

I've always associated Boston with seafood, but not specifically with lobster.
That's all of Boston I got to see. Maybe more next trip.