Day 56 - 6,059 miles

First day in Arizona. First of all, they don't go by DST, so it is the same time zone as California. For those of you jealous snow bound people in Maine, you'll be happy to know that we hit snow today leaving NM and driving into AZ. Of course the altitude was close to 9000 feet, so that does make a difference. The terrain changes quickly from desert, to small forests, back to desert. We went through one area where all the boulders were black. In about three miles, all the boulders were light tan. Three miles from there all the boulders were bright red. Weird. We came around one curve near the NM/AZ border and found 3 wild boars on the roadside. Slowing down to take a picture, they quickly ran off. No pics. Sorry. First time we've ever seen that. We weren't about to go hoofing into the ditch to try and catch a better picture.

The other thing is that the wind is blowing, and it is cold. We bought a digital thermometer with memory to record the highs and lows of the day. We are expecting around 30 degrees tonight. It'll be a test to see if the sleeping bags really are able to keep us alive at the rated temperatures. Time will tell.

We arrived in town early enough to scope out one of the Petrified Forest gift shops. We looked at some slabs of petrified wood costing $24,000. However, this town is filled with rock shops. The further away you get from the N.P., the better the prices. We'll be checking out the N.P. all day tomorrow. We leave for the Grand Canyon on Saturday. It is only 250 miles away.



We actually caught these two in the act. Got the camera out too late. Thus this shot is rated G instead of R.


This spot looked like we were going to launch like an airplane


Snow at 9000 feet at the NM/AZ border


The cliffs are at the edge of the road. They use cement barriers to stop or slow the rock slides from getting into the road. Doesn't always work.