With excitement we head further west, where the canyons grow deeper and the sun warmer. After barreling through Texas, we stop off for the nights food in Albuquerque, NM. For a large majority of the trip we save money and stay healthy by cooking our own meals. When we can we buy fresh vegetables, but when the road is long, sun hot, ice melts….Fast.

Mount Taylor, NM would be our campground for the night, the Van climbs the long twisting roads of the NM mountains but Clementine eventually prevails, the weather does not, and we opt for a movie night inside the van to kill some time.

We depart early, after depending on a public library for a little research on our next route and a little free internet. The group decides on a the petrified forest of Arizona, A large National park which contains many fossils and petrified logs after once being a covered in water. The sediments and minerals are absorbed by the logs over time, when the eventually harden, the giant trees and log fragments appears as a stump with bark but in reality, they are solid rocks weighing up and over thousands of pounds.

When you drive through the park along the 26 mile route through the scenic badlands you will find a free camp site at the end (mostly gravel). Be careful, no water was available and we innocently hopped a fence for a gallon of undrinkable water, this was frowned upon and we departed early the next morning….hastily.

With a little questioning we knew we could apply for a backpacking permit into the painted desert. The permit allows you to hike in (minimum of 1 mile) into the painted desert over the wash. Surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges, bright orange and red rock formations, it proved to become a very exciting camping destination. Thunder and lightening approached from 4 separate directions, and in the name of safety from flash floods we hiked out through the slippery red soil and moved on from the petrified forest to our next stop in Arizona.

Watch for more of the Arizona Journey coming, including a few days in Page, AZ home of Antelope Canyon (beautiful pictures) and a night in Grand Canyon National Park…….

Written By:  Steve Funk