Roadtrippin' 2015: Petrified Forest National Park

Before heading to our main point of interest for the day, we hit up some more attractions that I found on roadsideamerica.com.

Holbrook, Arizona lies on Historic Route 66. A fact which they don't mind reminding you of.

We visited the Wigwam Motel. If you have ever wanted to stay in a fake wigwam, this is your place! Also, for some reason, there are a bunch of classic cars parked outside the wigwams.

Then there were the dinosaurs standing by the side of the road.

Finally, we saw the cowboy riding on some petrified logs while a Native American watches.

After that half hour of dilly dallying, we arrived at the Petrified Forest National Park through the southern entrance.

We were pretty much able to cover the entire length of the park road, entering from the south and exiting through the northern side.

We started at the Giant Logs loop, which features lots of large petrified logs.

I love all of the colors that you can see within the wood. So beautiful!

Next, we completed the Agate House and Long Logs Trails.

Agate House

The Long Logs section has tons of petrified wood for viewing. 

The logs of petrified wood under the backdrop of the badlands made for an interesting scene.

Jasper Forest was my favorite section of the petrified wooded area of the park. It has the largest concentration of petrified wood.

Agate Bridge

This next section of the park wound up being my favorite section of the park even though there was basically no petrified wood there! The Blue Mesa Trail descends down into the badlands. I just thought the colors were so gorgeous. The purples, blues, greys and whites were just unbelievable.

We ended our trip through the Petrified Forest by visiting a series of overlooks in the Painted Desert section of the park,

and completing our final hike of the day: the Painted Desert Rim Trail.

After so many days of activity, I was really craving an Italian meal. We found the Mesa Italiana Restaurant in Holbrook, which seemed to be the most popular joint in town. The place was packed!

I ordered a plate of the spaghetti with meat sauce, and it hit the spot.

I ended my day with a delicious chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. By the time I was done with dessert, I was uncomfortably full.

But I sure had a great day, exploring the outdoors!