Our Wonderful Time As Volunteers At Petrified Forest National Park

Well here it is our last day of work as volunteers at Petrified Forest National Park. It is with mixed emotions that we will pack up and set off on new adventures in a few days. We’d planned on doing several posts while here at the park. But you know how things can keep sliding from today to tomorrow to next week. So instead of a lot of details about how all of the trees turned to stone 225 million years ago we offer a half hour slide show instead. The show also includes a few pictures from Canyon de Chelly, Route 66, Winslow and Christmas 2014.

When you see the petrified wood there are two types. The colorful pieces are agatized (fully petrified) and the pieces that still look like wood are per mineralized (petrification process was interrupted). A cubic foot of fully petrified wood weighs about 200 lbs. so you can just imagine how heavy some of these trees are.

To view the video full screen, click on the center arrow to play then click on the diagonal arrow in the lower right corner.

We hope you will get to visit and enjoy this interesting and beautiful place for yourselves some day. Until then, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy!

Roadside Trivia #11

We haven’t posted a trivia question for a while. So put on your thinking cap. Obey the rules and no running to Google or Wikipedia!

This is a two part question:

1) Who invented Lincoln Logs?

2) Why were they named Lincoln Logs?

OK….. Ready…. Set…. Go!

Da…Da…Da……….Da….Da….Da……..Da…de..da.da.da (repeat twice)

Got it?

No?

Need more time?

Oh, I just hate it when you whine and beg!

OK. OK. Here’s the answer…………………..

Lincoln Logs were invented by John Lloyd Wright, son of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1920. He got the idea while watching his father design the Imperial Hotel in Japan. The hotel was built on a foundation that allowed the building to move during an earthquake. The name Lincoln Logs was given because the senior Wright’s birth name was Frank Lincoln Wright. He took the name Lloyd later in life from his mother’s Welch ancestors. His buildings often have the initials FLLW on them.

See what interesting things you can learn on the road?

Where Next #7?

After a wonderful time at Petrified Forest National Park it’s time to hit the road again. Full time RVers can’t stay still long. When the need to get moving strikes we call it a case of “hitch itch”. So where do we go from here? We’ll be driving more than 2200 miles over the next three and a half months.

Our Route February-May 2015

It is too early to begin heading north so we will spend February in Arizona seeing the Verde Valley/Sedona area, Tucson and Lake Havasu. Then on to Las Vegas and the Lake Mead Recreation Area for a visit with a kayaking friend from North Carolina.  We plan to see one of several Cirque de Soleil shows playing in LV.  On to Death Valley NP and three weeks in the central valley of California. Using this area as our base we will explore Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks, Fresno and perhaps Monterrey. By the end of March we hope to finally camp along the Pacific coast. April will see us exploring the Oregon coast, Portland and the lower Columbia River region. By early May we should arrive in the Seattle area to spend time with relatives. Meandering along the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend we will take a ferry to Whidbey Island. At Anacortes we catch the ferry over to San Juan Island for our next volunteer stint at San Juan Island National Historic Park from late May until after Labor Day.

After traveling through Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington we will only have seven states we have not yet visited with the RV. Our map is filling up! So come along and see what lies ahead for the DreamChaser and the three of us.

Petrified Forest National Park In The Snow

Petrified Forest National Park is an amazing place to discover at any time of the year. This winter is the coldest and snowiest winter they have had in about five years. Luckily for us the park reimburses for propane! Rather than talk about how beautiful it is, we’ll let some pictures speak for themselves.

A Lone Log In Atop Blue Mesa

Petrified Wood In A Snow Blanket

Crystals On Crystals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature As Artist In Petrified Forest NP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texture Everywhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Painted Desert At Blue Mesa

View From Whipple Point