Road Trip: Flagstaff, AZ to Amarillo, TX

Wow, this day was a long day. We managed to change two time zones, so instead of getting in at 8:30 pm, we checked into the hotel at 10:30 pm. Ugh. Since we had stopped at a few Route 66 towns and the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, our time was backed up.
(Note: We wanted to stop at Meteor Crater, but it was $16 a person!!! That is crazy since we were just going to be doing a quick 30 minute stop and not spending several hours there. Wish we could have, but that's how it goes.)

We stopped in the quintessential town of Winslow, AZ to take some touristy pictures in the early morning.

For some reason I love the texture of this old brick...

On to the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park. The park has a 28-mile drive with stops along the way, if you go from south to north. However, for our time constraints, we just entered at the north entrance and drove along about 10 miles or so. While we didn't see the actual petrified wood that the park in named after, we did see the Painted Desert and some intriguing petroglyphs and remains of ancient dwellings. If we ever get to come back, I'm definitely going through the whole park.

Outside the visitor's center and then inside. I loved the architecture and mood of the place...

 Looking out from the terrace of the visitor's center...

 Painted Desert behind us...

 Petroglyphs...

 Ancient ruins...

An old car left from Route 66...

The drive after was just really gorgeous, with all of the colors and formations of the rocks as we drove through. I kept trying to get pictures from the car, but that never really works.

And I love that New Mexico decorates its overpasses...

 And last, a beautiful sunset. Took these from the car, alas, there was nowhere to pull over. Turned out ok though I thought...