Breakfast was included with our hotel stay in the form of a coupon for the neighboring restaurant, Tom & Suzie's Diner. Each meal came standard with meat, but the waitress was kind enough to switch the bacon out for toast for me.
On our way out of town back to the Petrified Forest, we stopped at a couple touristy dinosaur displays.
For scale. Yeah, you're not going to be outrunning something like this!
Little uns
The classic Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Triceratops battle
The Long Logs Trail (located near the Rainbow Forest museum) took us through one of the largest concentrations of petrified wood in the park. The way the logs are arranged suggests an ancient log jam crated by prehistoric rivers. Some of these conifers stood 200 feet (61 meters) tall. We first headed toward the Agate House.
A map of the trail
How reassuring!
To get to the trail, we had to cross a bridge which spanned the Jim Camp Wash. Not sure who Jim Camp was... but he's got a wash named after him.
A bunny heads quickly for the cover of grass.
A lizard takes advantage of the warm pavement.
It was a lovely easy trail.
Pieces of petrified wood were scattered everywhere.
Such rich colors and patterns!
A Collared Lizard adds to the display of vibrant colors. I wonder what his mood is?!
A small desert reminder
Standoff with a Prairie or Fence Lizard
The Agate House is perched on top of a small hill overlooking the vast landscape. It was built by the ancestral Puebloans between 1050 to 1200. This date is estimated based on the ceramics discovered at the time of excavation. The 8-room building was probably built by seasonal farmers or traders as a temporary home.
In the 1930s, the one of the rooms was reconstructed based on ideas by archeologists at the time (hence it may be inaccurate).
The walls contain chunks of petrified wood, the most abundant material nearby.
A glimpse inside
Just as we saw in the Taos pueblo, the only entrance would have been through the roof.
The second part of the trail took us into the 'badlands' with its bands of grey, maroon and brown. The fossils of giant reptiles have been found throughout the area.
Heading off toward the distant hills
Size is...
... all relative.
Crystals
Arriving at the badlands
