Day 11 & 12: Sept 5th & 6th- Central Arizona

Highway Alt 89

Our first glimpse of the Colorado River

From the Grand Canyon, we took Hwy Alt. 89 on an incredibly scenic drive until we finally crossed the Colorado River south of Lake Powell. Most of the drive to Flagstaff was through Navajo land. We spent the night in Flagstaff after deciding that we didn't have enough time to properly visit Sedona, which I had heard was worthwhile.

Day 12- Meteor Crater, AZ

We found the Meteor Crater about an hour east of Flagstaff off of I-40. It was as impressive as I had imagined it would be. There was an informative and interactive walk-through in the visitor's center that showcased this and other meteor events on the planet. Apparently, this one is the only crater that's actually proven to be from a meteor impact. There's a hike around the rim but we were pretty much in drive-by mode at this point and the walk wasn't very appealing to either of us.

Petrified Forest

We drove east to the Petrified Forest, which is not a forest at all but really a bunch of chunks and pieces and petrified wood from what was a forest millions of years ago. A mixture of silica and volcanic ash replaced the contents of the wood to..um..petrify it.

http://www.nps.gov/pefo/

The last photo is Puerco Pueblo, from the Pueblo IV period circa A.D. 1300 – 145. According to the National Park Service, it was "Perhaps constructed all at once, 100 to 125 rooms, one-story high, were built around a rectangular plaza near the Puerco River. Within the plaza were three rectangular kivas, their unusual shape indicating Mogollon influence from the south. When Puerco Pueblo was unoccupied around A.D. 1400, the people may have migrated to even larger communities nearby. There was a trend throughout the region at this time to aggregate into larger communities. Puerco Pueblo is one of the few Western Pueblo IV sites managed by the National Park Service."

Here's a great page to see the historical archeology of the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert area: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/In_Depth/Archeology.htm