FRT 2018 – Day 2 – The Thing I Did

Today we planned to hit a couple of National Parks and make our way to Williams, AZ for a full day at the Grand Canyon NP.

Yellowhorse Trading Post (Lupton, AZ)
Not a bad place.. still kitchy and touristy.. but from what I recall it was clean, plus it had some fun photo-ops.

Painted Desert National Park (AZ)
This place was beautiful, and the size was really surprising. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we enjoyed it. It felt like we took more pictures, but we must have spent more time just taking it all in.

Petrified Forest National Park (AZ)
This was really cool… but really hot. No shade anywhere, and like 900F. No really, it was hot, but it was tolerable.. just make sure and drink your water! Checking out the logs, it looks like they were cut, but it’s really where the wood has crystalized, and the weight has caused them to break in similar sizes over the years.

The colors of the crystallization are based on the minerals, for instance, Red is iron oxide. Remember, you can NOT pick up any petrified wood.. this all stays in the park, even the smallest pieces. Respect our national parks.

Dobell Curios (Holbrook, AZ)
Upon exiting the park on the South side of the park, as soon as you turn Northwest on HWY 180 you come right to a DoBell Curios. This is a family run business that has property adjacent to the PFNP. Their wood is the same, 300 Million year old wood.. and at a nice price (starting at 25 cents)! We all had a blast checking out the dig site and exploring the pieces they had to offer.

El Rancho Restaurant
Service was okay, food was okay. I wouldn’t go out of my way to get back.

Standing on a Corner (Winslow, AZ)
“Well, I’m a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me”

What Eagle’s fan wouldn’t stop here? Most of the people who stopped were over 50. Dang whipper snappers! It even has a flatbed Ford.