After a leisure morning hanging around the campsite we finally ventured out to discover the Homol’ovi culture and ruins. First stop was the Visitor Center, museum, and then a walk around the ruins.
We had the ruins to ourselves. You could really feel the peacefulness of this site overlooking a wide expanse. Interesting reading about the Hopi life and seeing excavated parts of their kivas. What I really enjoyed was the shards of pottery that were displayed on rocks along the hike. I think people just randomaly found them and left them for everyone to enjoy.
Fun driving along historic Route 66 and seeing some of the iconic motor lodges.
We spent most of the day exploring the Petrified Forest National Park from one end to the other. Our first walk was the Giant Logs Trail. Some of the largest petrified logs in the park were here.
Some other things we explored were Agate Bridge a 110 foot long petrified log bridge and Newspaper Rock that displayed more than 650 petroglyphs, some over 2000 years old. Fun to use my telescopic lens to get a close up of the rock!
My favorite hike of the day was Blue Mesa. It took us down into the badlands. Fun to get a different perspective of this geology as we hiked along. The top photo is Nonna beginning the descent down, the middle is half way down and the last photo is from the bottom of the badlands.
The Painted Desert was breathtaking!
We ended our Petrified Forest Tour at the Painted Desert Inn. It was built by the CCC and at one time was on Route 66. Imagine how cool it would be to stay here while traveling on this historic route. In the 1940’s it was a Fred Harvey hotel famous for the “Harvey Girls” that served you and put on a show. The murals were painted to depict the migration and lifestyle of the Hopi Indians.
We have a really sweet campsite tonight in the New Mexico juniper and pinion trees. It’s a bit chilly outside tonight, so we decided to dine inside. Tonight we are having seared Ahi Tuna salad with homemade agre dolce. Nonna is cooking. Lucky me!
