One Month at PEFO

   In March we have been learning all about Petrified Forest National Park.  We have worked 4 rounds of weekly shifts.  Now it will be easier because we are not on such a high learning curve.  My back has not taken well to 9 1/2 hour days 3 days in a row, which is our work schedule.  It was four in a row! I feel like an old lady, which I am.  We became great-grandparents today with the birth of Audrey Mae weighing 7 pounds and 13 ounces so John has to sleep with a great-grandmother now!
   The PEFO staff is very young by my standards and their lives are centered on the internet.  It makes a difference.  I know they forget our ages and we are just not as savy as they are about internet or as young and healthy. It is a minor problem we will overcome.   The weather is windy but beautifully warm in the afternoons.  The high desert badlands are lovely colors and change as one drives through the park south.  The leaves are budding and birds are chipping so spring has started to come.  God has blessed us by us seeing spring in this special place as well as our addition to our family.  Happy Easter everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!


Painted Desert from the Painted Desert Inn



Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Yesterday we traveled into the Navajo Nation to Hubbell Trading Post and Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  We came back the way of scenic Navajo Route 12 traveling through Window Rock.  It was an all day adventure.  We have been reading novels by Tony Hillerman that take place in this part of Arizona so the ride and towns, buttes, etc. lent extra meaning to our trip.  We found very ancient ruins in the cliffs, a trading post still trading with the Navajo, ice on a pond as well as snow in the nearby mountains.  It is desolate country with awesome beauty.


This is White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly.



The Canyon is very steep. 



The ice on the pond and snow in the mountains



Roadside scenery on Navajo Rte 12



In this valley there is a Navajo hogan and ranch still used but without modern amenities.



Agate House in Petrified Forest NP

Last Wednesday our volunteer hours were spent roving the park.  That means we take a park vehicle and hike where we want in uniform and answer questions asked by visitors.  We went to Blue Mesa trail, Long Logs and Agate House trails as well as Puerco Pueblo .  We can count the minutes talking to visitors about the park as informal interpretations and keep track of these statistics for the park. Hard volunteer hours, huh???!!!! 

In the south end of the park there is a hike to petrified wood plueblo ruins called Agate House, one room of which has been reconstructed with roof.  The floodplain beyond is where people grew crops.

John, in uniform, is looking at the ruins.  If we hike with uniforms it is considered volunteer hours. 



The wall of Agate House




These are pictures taken from our Blue Mesa rove/hike.  Can you see the petrified log on the left upper corner?



Snow in Petrified Forest National Park

Yesterday was a beautiful sunrise

But then came the snow!

It was melting on the patio of the visitor center but a ranger children's program moved inside.

Yesterday John and I worked the main visitor center.  It was very quiet, then lots of people at once.  We felt very comfortable working with the public and could handle everything ourselves.  It was our first day alone on the job. The patio is our view out one of the windows.  Interstate 40 was OK until Flagstaff where 11-16 inches of snow was falling.  The Grand Canyon had lots of snow. People slowed their travels to avoid the snow ahead. Also the continental divide was not good traveling in New Mexico.  Here snow melted in the late afternoon but for a Saturday not many people stopped by to visit.  It was very cold last night and cold and windy today, our first day off.  Plans are laundry/chores today and shopping/travel tomorrow.  Tuesday will be a sight seeing outside the park and Wednesday we are given an "explore the park" day.  We will be taking advantage of that.

2nd Day of Training

Both John and I worked a long day but it was not like yesterday.  He worked at an historic Inn and the north visitor center and I just learned the north visitor center.  I am very, very tired but lots of people came in and I learned quite a bit about the park and how to correctly answer questions.  Tomorrow I go to the south end of the park.  It is 28 miles away.  Our time will sure fly by here!

Lacey Point Hike with Ranger Archaeoligist

We passed lots of petrified wood hiking the 2 1/2 miles to Point of Rocks

The archeologist found this stone axe, GPS'ed it's location, and took pictures so he could take the object back to the collection.  It was very exciting to handle a new find!

This is the Point of Rocks petroglyph that not many people see.  That and finding the axe made this hike very exciting. 

On our first day of volunteering we had the chance to hike with an expert.  He lead down a very steep area into the north end of the Painted Desert in the park.  John and I loved the hike but traveling back mid day and up that last steep couple of hundred yard grade did me in.  I went back to training in the PM but just barely made it.  We ate sandwiches and I said goodnight early.  Today I was much better.  I felt like my first day volunteering was going to kill me!  The day was 9 1/2 hours long and I am not used to being on my feet going all day!!  It will get better.  There is much to see in this park.

Water Problem

Yesterday the bikes were washed and oiled and are ready to ride. They were uncovered and very gritty traveling west. We also walked the Crystal Forest in the park and met a raven that was just watching Emma. Note the split log that is petrified. It looks very real, yet is rock. John is fixing the tubing to the ice maker today and hooking us up to water finally. We found a leak after the state park but could not find it. Water was on the rug in front of the bathroom. After caulking the shower and checking everything, we called RV repair which cost us a service call. Cutting a hole below our shower, he found the shower was fine, the problem was the ice maker tubing. John is fixing that today.

Petrified Forest NP Settling In

Home sweet home for the next 3 months

We arrived at our home for 3 months. There are 6 RV spots at the edge of the housing section in the north section of the park. We are going to be interpretive hosts in the north section. The north to south drive in the park is 28 miles and takes 45 minutes to an hour to travel. In the north section, next to I-40, there is part of the original Route 66, the restored Painted Desert Inn from early 1900's, great viewing points looking over the Painted Desert, the north vistor center and admin. buildings. At the south entrance there are more housing, the Rainbow Forest Museum, and a walk through some of the petrified wood. Between the two points are stops for hikes amoungst the stone trees, petroglyphs, and ruins of a Puerco Pueblo village.

Petrified Forest

We left the Phoenix area and the desert headed north to snow country. The San Francisco Peaks were snow covered and snow was beside the road. Emma watched as we filled our propane tank ready for the cold weather. We arrived on Thursday at Petrified Forest after staying in Homolovi Ruins State Park and visiting the sites of Hopi ancestors. There we met a Hopi potter firing her pottery the ancient way. Of course I did not have my camera!