June 27, 2011 - Painted Desert/Petrified Forest | ||||||
We flew over some scenic terrain on the 20 minute flight from Chinle to Gallup, New Mexico. | ||||||
Entering on the crosswind
leg at Gallup. There was a some wind but it was right down the
runway and I made a nice landing.
I had made arrangements for a rental
car at the FBO. We picked it up and headed to our hotel -- the
famous "El Rancho Hotel
" -- home of the movie stars! | ||||||
The El Rancho was kind of a neat place. This is a shot of the lobby so you can see it has character. Each room was named after a different western movie star. We stayed in the Robert Taylor room. I had heard about the El Rancho in Pilot Getaways magazine's Gallup piece. | ||||||
Pictures of the movie stars who had stayed at the hotel adorned the upstairs walls. | ||||||
These kids were practising lassooing out in the parking lot. (We're not in Maryland anymore!) There was some sort of lassoing tournament going on. | ||||||
There was still plenty of daylight left
so we hoped in the car and headed down I-40 to the Petrified
Forest/Painted Desert National Park.
The Visitors Center was at the Petrified Forest southern
end of the park.
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A piece of petrified wood polished by
the wind and air. | ||||||
A big polished log inside the
Visitors Center. | ||||||
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Even the drive between the Paint
Desert and Petrified Forest was scenic. | ||||||
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We went on a short 1.5 mile hike
through a little valley. It was pretty hot though and 1.5 miles was
enough. | ||||||
Petrified logs laying at the bottom of a ravine. | ||||||
A geologist's dream. | ||||||
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The late afternoon sun really lit the painted desert up. | ||||||
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This building was on the northern Painted Desert side. It looked like it had been a restaurant/bar at one time, but was now empty except for a little gift shop. | ||||||
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Heading back into Gallup. | ||||||