Tuesday 10/25  We spent most of the day at Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanical Gardens.  The Aquarium was just okay, but the Botaninical Gardens were beautiful.  Our favorite part was the Japanese area.  It was so serene that I could have spent the whole day there.

Monday 10/24  wow, what a day!  This morning we went to Petroglyph National Monument ( I guess I am a little obsessed with petroglyphs).  We hiked for about 2 miles (round-trip) along the Piedras Marcadas Canyon Escarpment.  The name means "canyon of marked rocks".  Good name because this one section has more than 5,000 documented images, out of 20,000 in the whole park.  Most of these were created between 400 and 700 years ago. We only went to one section, but we saw hundreds of them.  Fun morning, but the day wasn't over yet.

We took Jax back to the camper and then headed back to Old Town.  We had a great lunch and then walked around the Plaza.  Awhile back, while we were near Zion NP, I found some earrings made by a Zuni artist named Effie Calavaza.  Today we were in a shop run by relatives of Effie.  Effie is in her nineties now and doesn't make jewlery anymore, but some of her pieces are still around.  This shop had an Effie ring to match my earrings.  Unfortunately, it was a little too small.  The lady at the shop told me the silversmith could size it for me and we said we would think about it.  She told me she thought I was meant to have it.  We left and spent the afternoon looking around the Plaza.  Just as we were about to leave, Pops said we should go back and get the ring.  That's what we did and I am so glad we did.  When we got there to buy it, she asked if she could do a Corn Blessing. The other two people in the shop joined in, too.  She put the ring in my hand and sprinkled some ground corn in our left hands.  Then we faced all four directions as she prayed and asked a blessing for the ring and for all of us and for the people in Standing Rock who are protesting the pipeline.  It was a really emotional ceremony.  The lady was in tears as she talked to us about her people and their history.  She said it was our purpose today to be there and buy that ring, which symbolizes transition and renewal.  And that I should cherish it always.  So here is the really strange part.  When we got back to the camper, I took the ring out of the bag and tried to put it on again.  Guess what?  It fit perfectly!  I swear that I could not get it past my knuckle when we in the shop, before the blessing.  Now it slides right on.  I know you think I am nuts, but that's the truth!

Wednesday 10/19 Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.   Arizona is home to some of the prettiest petrified wood.  It is called rainbow petrified wood.  We all know that petrified wood logs are remnants of prehistoric forests, but I really never knew how colorful these could be.  In some areas of the park, the fossilized trunks are scattered all over, but many more are still hidden beneath the surface.  These logs date back to the late Triassic Period, making them millions of years old!  Incredible!  We were told that the brilliant colors are due to trace minerals that soaked into the wood along with silica and volcanic ash.  All of these crystallized and replaced the wood, which is now stone.

Old Faithful

We hiked up the Giant Logs Trail to see "Old Faithful " which is a giant log, 35 ft long, weighs 44 tons, and is 10 ft across it's base.  Many of the logs in the park are scattered around the "badlands".  Badlands, we learned, is an area of soft rock strata that is cut and eroded into many gullies and irregular shapes where vegetation cannot grow.  They are starkly beautiful, even if they are barren of any plant life.  

Then we hiked for another mile around the Crystal Forest that is an area in which the logs sparkle in the sunlight along with the rainbow colors.

We moved on to Blue Mesa where the badlands areas are tinged with blue and lavender stripes.

We saw Agate Bridge, a 110 foot long petrified wood bridge.

At Newspaper Rock, we were, again, able to see petroglyphs .  These petroglyphs are over 2,000 years old.

Finally, we finished up at the Painted Desert.  This is a perfect name .  It truly looks like someone used a giant paintbrush to paint the pyramid-shaped bluffs and mesas.  The landscape is all soft shades of pink and orange, yellow, lavender, and green.  Beautiful!

Sunday 10/16. Last night we took Jax to Lone Rock Beach so he could play in the water and on the sand.  It is the only place near here that you can actually drive on the the beach, right down to the water.  There were lots of people camping there (dry camping only).  It was really nice and on the way back we saw a beautiful full moon over Tower Butte.

Monday 10/17. Today we decided to hike to Horseshoe Bend.  I wish we had done it before we did Antelope Canyon.  While it was very impressive, it just didn't compare.  Also, the hike to HB was pretty strenuous.  It was only about 3/4 of a mile down to it, which wasn't  too bad going down.  But 3/4 of a mile back up was.  Even Jax was huffing and puffing.  Plus it was 88 degrees and no shade.  The hike was through sand (which is harder to walk through) and some rocky areas.  Okay, I know I am whining.  You would think that after all the hiking we have done on this trip that this would be a piece of cake.  Nope, just getting old I guess! 

1000 foot to the bottom!

Tomorrow we are going to move on.  Starting to work our way home.