We had an easy morning around the trailer on Tuesday, the second day of our epic road trip from Dallas, TX to Anacortes, WA. I worked on blogging our first day (and enjoyed some coffee and peace and quiet) while everyone else slept in. It was nice!
Once the crew was awake, we worked on getting everyone ready and the trailer packed up so we could head to our next destination, the Petrified Forest National Park. The drive was only about 2.5 hours from our RV park. Our drive was relatively uneventful. We mainly dealt with Atticus asking every 5 minutes if we were going to go to Washington to see snow mountains.
This was on display in the visitor’s center and I took a photo because the time difference out here has been so confusing! It seems like the time will just randomly change here and there. After looking at this, I am thinking it has something to do with us driving in and out of Navajo territory. While we were there we picked up patches to add to the kids’ bags and a sticker for the trailer. We also picked up the Junior Ranger activity booklet. At each National Park, they have workbooks available for kids to work on while they are touring the park. If they complete the required number of activities for their age, they receive a patch and a badge. Logan was super excited to work on his!
Also in the visitor’s center there were several displays of petrified wood that have been polished. It is so beautiful.
Since we just stopped in to see this park on our way to our next destination, we pulled the rig through the park.
The first stop was the Painted Desert viewing area. These photos do not even begin to do this place justice. In some parts, it almost looked like we were on another planet.
These squirrely kids would not take a decent photo together. So I give you our attempts… #reallife
These are the Teepees. Right after I snapped these photos, the boys took off towards the Teepees yelling back that they were going to go climb to the top, haha. Unfortunately, that’s against the rules.
After the Painted Desert, we came to the Crystal Forest, which is the area where most of the petrified wood is located. I wish that we would have had the time (and energy!) to hike around a bit more. This was my favorite part.
In this photo, you can really see the bark on the outside of the petrified log. It’s just so amazing to me, y’all. That used to be a tree! This whole area used to be a forest. It’s just so crazy to think about.
After Logan finished his book, we took it to the visitor’s center. They checked his work and had him recite the Junior Ranger Pledge. Then they presented him with the patch and badge. I just think this is so cool. Apparently, they have different booklets and patches/badges at each National Park.
Oh, and Atticus had the opportunity to do a booklet too, but refused. The ranger was very kind and gave Atti a patch and badge too… and Atti threw it on the floor and melted down into a huge tantrum. Yay for being 3 (and exhausted and a million miles from home and away from your usual routine and life!)!!
When we left the Petrified Forest National Park, we had another 2.5 hours to drive to our home for the night, Cameron Trading Post RV Park in Cameron, AZ. When we finally arrived (with all the kids throwing fits in the backseat), I had to get the truck unhitched and everything set up. By the time I was finished, it was dark… but here’s a photo from the next morning. Our spot wasn’t anything special, but it was only about 30 mins from the entrance to the Grand Canyon, so it worked perfectly for us.
