This edition of Catching Katie we travel back in time. It was Christmas break, December 2016- so why not start with an adorable picture with my doggie, Oliver, all dressed up in his Christmas sweater for our family Christmas card.
Or how about one of me, in my ugly Christmas sweater, which was actually a sweater of my grandmothers, which means she probably loved it and it’s not ugly at all (though it certainly does have a lot going on- but what’s not to love about skating penguins, or sewn-on pearls for a little added glamour?)
My brother, sister-in-law and three nephews all live in Phoenix, and my mom and dad stay there in the winter, so for Christmas this year my older brother, his wife and I headed to Arizona for the holidays. Check out our awesome family picture:
And Christmas Eve would not be complete without one of our family traditions, driving around and looking at Christmas lights, followed by stopping for ice cream; don’t you love family Christmas traditions?
I love visiting Phoenix, primarily because I love seeing my family, but I also love the nature out there; its so completely different from what we have in Ohio. Take this for instance, just behind my parent’s neighborhood is a mountain with some great walking/riding paths. No trees or grass here, it’s all dust and rocks and cactus, and I love it.
I was in Phoenix for a week, and during that time, my mom, dad and I decided to do a road trip. Our destination: The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, a little under a four hour drive away, north of Phoenix and east of Flagstaff. When we first got off the freeway in the town of Holbrook we passed a beautiful sight, one that made my dad pull a U-ie so we could check it out closer. The Wigwam Village Motel!! There were seven of these Wigwam Hotel Villages built between 1938 and 1960, this was the 6th. Only three exist anymore, the others are in Kentucky and California, and you can even stay overnight in one- that is definitely on my bucket list! Check out this website for more information.
Our next, and official stop, was the Petrified Forest. This is a National Park but thanks to my parents senior citizen National Park’s card, we got in for free (“It’s well worth the ten dollars that it cost” states my mother). The park is about 230 square miles that you drive through, though there are places where you can get out and hike as well. 
We started at the Rainbow Forest Museum, near the entrance to the park, where they have information about the park, a gift stop, a short orientation film, skeletons of prehistoric animals, and access to paths where you can see many of the petrified logs up close. The short version of how the petrified logs came to be, over 225 million years ago the forest was buried in volcanic ash, which turned the logs into silica and basically stone. In the museum you’re able to hold a piece of regular wood and petrified wood and it’s amazing how light the petrified wood is, though it’s incredibly strong. And in person, the colors are just amazing. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
After the museum paths, we got back in the car and continued on the road leading through the Petrified Forest towards the Painted Desert. One of the stops along the way is the Agate Bridge, essentially a 255 million year old tree that after centuries of flood waters washed out the gully beneath it, creating a natural bridge, because the stone underneath the wood was softer than the tree.
You can’t walk across the bridge anymore, so you just have to imagine what that would’ve been like:
Let’s continue on the drive, where all over you have beautiful views like this:
These are called “The Tepees”, for obvious reasons clearly.
There’s also Newspaper Rock. These set of rocks has over 650 petroglyphs, created by Puebloan people who lived or hunted around here. They date from 650 to 2,000 years ago. It’s hard to see all the petrogylphs, but from the viewing platform there are some binocular machines to try and see them a bit closer-up, can you spot some from my pictures?
Next, onto the Painted Desert. You cross the old Route 66 and there’s an old car to mark the spot.
The Painted Desert was named by an expedition led by explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in 1540. When they saw the multicolored lands, they named the area “El Desierto Pintado” – The Painted Desert. And just look at all the colors!
One of the stops in the Painted Desert is the Painted Desert Inn. Built almost 100 years ago, and originally made of petrified wood (the facade has since been changed), and though it was an inn and restaurant, today it serves more as a museum, where you can see what it once looked like, and you have amazing views of the painted desert.
There are also restored murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie.
And that was our day adventure, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. Extremely beautiful, hope you get to check it out one day!