Day 8

Where to begin.
Today was one of the most spectacular days we've had. The Petrified Forest was THE most unique place we've been to. It's awesome because you have these crazy ancient petrified logs laying around everywhere and if you start at the southern end of the park you see the landscape change from the Great Basin type desert to the Painted Desert. So it's kinda a two-for-one deal in that you get to see two incredible, remarkable,   almost indescribable natural phenomenons in one place, contrasted against each other.



The section of the park thats accessible without venturing into the backcountry consists of a stretch of road 28 miles long. We spent 6 hours there on that little stretch and still felt as if we had to hurry through. If any of you are ever in or near that area of Arizona, Mike and I URGE you to go check it out. It was so completely different than anything else we'd experienced that we're already thinking about how to get back someday and spend time hiking in the backcounty.  
We're still overwhelmed with it all and it's proving hard to find the words to describe our time there today. In lieu of descriptions we will post a ton of photos (as soon as we have wifi again).





After the park, sunburnt, famished, and tired we set off again on I-40 towards Albuquerque. An hour after that we arrived in Gallup, NM to grab some food and stop at a grocery store for provisions. It was at this point that Mike declared that he was "done driving for the day because New Mexico was even weirder than Arizona" and he just wanted to go relax and go to bed. I concurred and we got a room. 
Tomorrow, we just decided, we will try to skirt around Texas and head just a little north over to Colorado to stay in the Comanche National Grassland which seems to be some sort of prairie-like area. Better than staying in a hotel, for sure. 
Onward!