rainbow colored wood

My last visit on June 22, 2004 was a pre-Navy, post-high school trip with my dad. He wanted to show me what freedom looked like before I locked myself into the Navy for 20 years – that’s what I had planned. I got out after 2.5 years and meeting my husband. This trip was a return into natural beauty because it’s something we both enjoy. Last time I thought the ‘rocks’ were pretty, but I was under the impression that the park was the size of a small petting zoo for trees.

a log with bark

This trip would show me otherwise. We had to drive to see other parts…well, to bring the car with us along the way. There used to be a happy little forest family living here, then one day…life happened, and now we get to see the rainbow desert that has evolved over the years. I can relate. Parts of me have changed over the years, but my love for nature and family is still growing and expanding. Other parts have helped me harden who I am – making me more colorful and stronger in hopes that I will last a long time too.

Out here I feel as though we have the planet to ourselves. I read aloud from the brochure so that we may learn how the wind, water, and Earth’s movements have helped shape this place and how determined thieves are to make less of the history. There are signs for inspection and my dad even makes a joke, but to us it’s no laughing matter. Naturally these wonders won’t be here forever, so there is no need to rush things along. We leave footprints, take pictures, then drive to Holbrook for lunch at Joe & Aggie’s Café.

I order some cheese enchiladas, look through the reading books they have available on the table, and then order some sopapillas too. We are in a Mexican food mood today because upon arriving home, and after I Skype Caleb, we will pick up Caroline and head to Gil’s Taste of Taos where I will eat a breakfast burrito…and some more sopapillas. We will return the next day for lunch with Christine after the guild meeting – that’s good food and great customer service that keeps us coming back.

me and dad in the Petrified Forest