4/6/08 (Sunday): We're now at a KOA in Van Horn, TX (see map). We're making pretty good progress. There hasn't been any traffic to speak of (except in El Paso). We're on I-10, which will bring us the rest of the way to FL, where we'll get on I-75. Our next major stop will be in Grand Isle, Louisiana, where Wiley hopes to get in some fishing and crabbing. I'm looking forward to just vegging out for a while.

As promised, here are some photos from the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. It was really gorgeous, although not on such a grand scale as the Grand Canyon. We were surprised to learn that petrified wood can be found in all 50 states! The wood in Petrified Forest National Park is some of the most beautiful in the world, though, due to the color of the minerals the trees absorbed. The wood is made up of almost solid quartz. The rainbow of colors is produced by impurities in the quartz, such as iron, carbon, and manganese.

Over 200 million years ago, the logs washed into an ancient river system and were buried quickly by massive amounts of sediment and debris also carried in the water. Oxygen was cut off and decay slowed way down. Minerals, including silica, replaced the cellulose in the wood, and crystallized in the cells. Sometimes the logs were cracked and large crystals of clear quartz, purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and smoky quartz formed.

The wood lies everywhere--it's quite amazing! It looks like a rocky desert with logs scattered around, but all the rocks and all the logs are petrified wood! Some of the logs are almost 200 feet long.

The big logs look like they've been cut with a chain saw. Actually, they just split when they were underground and the land shifted. The ranger said it was like dropping a piece of chalk--the logs break cleanly. In case you're wondering about it, visitors are actually encouraged to touch the petrified logs. They're rock, so they're not fragile.

This video offers a 365 degree view of the desert. Everything that looks like rocks is actually petrified wood! (Turn off your sound--the wind was so bad that my commentary doesn't come through.)



The Petrified Forest is located within in the Painted Desert, which covers over 93,000 acres. It was getting a little late by the time we drove out and it was cloudy, so I don't have many photos of the Painted Desert. There were some very unusual formations. These striped things are called "teepees." The desert is covered by a soft layer of earth, sandstone and volcanic ash. Various combinations of minerals and decayed plant and animal matter contribute to the various colors seen throughout the park.

Hope you enjoyed that brief tour of a very beautiful area. We just crossed into the Central Time Zone, so the clock says it's 2 hours later than our bodies feel like it is! It's now 8:30 PM by the clock, and I'm only just beginning to think about starting some dinner. Don't know when we'll get to blog again. Campgrounds are few and far between on the next leg of our trip, so we may be doing some boondocking (camping in Walmarts or rest area without electricity). I'll blog again when I can.