Texas

May 2006

We drove through the panhandle of Texas. This was the only time I took the wheel.

On The Road

I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within. ~Lillian Smith

The Painted Desert

May 2006

One of my favorite stops was at the Painted Desert in Arizona. We got out at this viewpoint to take pictures, leaving Rosco in the car. He would not have any of it, he jumped out the window to get in this picture!

The Painted Desert derives its name for the multitude of colors ranging from lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant colors of red, orange and pink. It is a long expanse of badland hills and buttes and although barren and austere, it is a beautiful landscape of a rainbow of colors.

It took millions upon millions of years for nature to create this natural canvas of unimaginable design that some describe it as a multi-colored layered cake. The Painted Desert draws upon the earth’s indecisive nature. From shifts in the earth’s crust brought about by temperamental volcanoes and earthquakes to complete inundation by fresh and sea waters alike, a veritable host of elements have breathed life into this area. Colorful sediments of bentonite clay and sandstone, stacked in elegant layers, feed off the setting Arizona sun in an ever-changing display of colorful splendor.

Petrified Forest

May 2006

One of our most memorable stops was at the Petrified Forest National Park.

"With one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, multi-hued badlands of the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites, and displays of over 200-million-year-old fossils, this is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science."

http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

Standing on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona

May 2006

We couldn't pass up an opportunity to be standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Such a fine sight to see! :)

This Desert Life

May 2006

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? --it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."

Jack Kerouac - On the Road

Meteor Crater

April 2006

Our next stop was Meteor Crater in Arizona. It is the result of a collision between a meteor traveling 26,000 miles per hour and the planet earth approximately 50,000 years ago. I was overjoyed to purchase a piece of the meteor at the gift store. We also got Rosco a cute bandana, the poor guy had to wait in the car because no pets were allowed.