It is the end of April and I guess I have spent way too long in south Florida to realize that
the weather changes elsewhere.
I woke up to cold this morning. I am in the mountains tops, about 6000 ft in altitude, so a bit chilly in April.
One more thing to plan better. Dang.. ..
I dressed and packed up quickly, Than climbed even higher!
Left the trees and headed towards the high plains. Miles of flat land with mesas to climb.
The first stop was the Petrified Forest National Park, where the friendly Ranger sold me a Lifetime Senior Parks pass. I drove the park road through miles of colorful rock and just as colorful petrified wood. Braving the wind to see the sights. The road ended with the Painted Desert; very pretty. But I am happy to let the lizards keep this extraordinary wilderness.
The rest of my day was high plains, amazing rock formations the wind had carved out over the years, canyons and washes along with wide open spaces. Did I mentions the WIND?
I got a taste of the wind creating it's rocky art at every stop.
Also the washes, only those raised in the western deserts know what a wash is. The terms really does fit in a realistic sort of way. It is a dry riverbed that fills up with water when it rains heavy. IE: it gets washed out.
We walked a small aqueduct before calling
it a night in Albuquerque and these flowers
were blooming in the dark.
Guess the sun in the day is a little
too much shine for them. I was glad to turn in for the evening thinking we
all bloom at different times
Did you stop and walk in the petrified forest? It is one of my favorite places in Arizona!