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The Petrified Forrest was amazing.... It was so strange to look at trees that dinosaurs used to walk around.




The colors were beautiful...bright orange, red, yellow and green. They had shiny little crystals in them, too. Trees that turned into rocks!



We stayed in Williams, AZ. It was such a neat little town. I felt like I was in an old western movie!

An hour north was the Grand Canyon. The only words I can use to describe it is breath taking! You stand there looking out into the canyon and suddenly you feel so small. We got there about 7:30am.



As we walked to the look out point, we saw a man standing out on a small ledge, balancing while another man video taped him. I thought to myself, "That looks like the magician guy." Then, as we got closer, Kevin and I said, at the same time, "Hey! That's David Blane!" Sure enough, it was David Blane (the street magician guy). I asked what they were doing there; they said they were filming for a special airing this fall.




After that, we headed to the Kaibab trailhead. We started down the steep trail at 8:50am. It only took us about 40 min. to get a mile and a half down. We stopped and found some shade on the cliff...had a snack and in an hour headed back up.

By now, the sun is blazing and it was very difficult to go up! It only took us about an hour and a half to get back to the top. I had to stop at every switch back to catch my breath, though!



In total, we hiked three miles in about three hours. We headed back to the hotel to clean up before finding a secluded spot to watch the sunset. It was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen!







We had to go back to the Grand Canyon one more time before leaving AZ!

Arizona here we come!

We're off to the Grand Canyon this morning.  We'll stop in Gallop, NM for lunch.  Then, right after we cross the border, we'll check out the Petrified Forrest.  We're staying at a bed & breakfast on Rt 66 in Williams, AZ.  Tomorrow morning, we're planning on getting up very early so we can hike the Grand Canyon a bit before lunch time.  I hope the weather cooperates.  It's been very rainy and overcast the past few days.  I'll post again when we return.  Bye!

Colorado!

After Bisti, we ventured up to Durango, CO.  It was beautiful....lush, green mountains.  A far cry from the dry desert lands in New Mexico!

Kevin's first time in "Colorful Colorado"!

Downtown Durango

Train station in Durango

more pics

Here are some pics Dave took at Bisti:

Bisti was sorta hard to find.  There was only one, small sign on the main road.  Then, we followed a dirt road for a couple miles.  Above is where we started our hike.

Admiring the strange terrain... and trying to decide which way to go!

This is one of my favorites.  I love the "coffee & cream" colors!

Waaaaayy in the distance, you can see Kevin and I (click on the picture to make it bigger).

The land was very dry!

Time for a much needed break!

Bisti Badlands

We visited the Bisti Badlands on Friday.... what a crazy place! It's about 45 min. south of Farmington, NM. It was so hot, but some nice big clouds rolled in and that helped a lot. I have never seen such a place; it honestly seemed like we were on another planet. The landscape changed from bright red & orange rocks to black & white sand within a few hundred feet. There were flat, smooth stones and then tall, jagged peaks.... tiny black pebbles and then huge red mountains. Unbelievable! We hiked this rugged, dry land for almost 5 miles. The pictures will never compare to the beauty of actually being there, but here's a few...