SENIORS VISIT A NATIONAL FOREST



Seniors Awed by the Petrified Forest

21046 Annual2012 pass:GENERIC-05_proofHave you ever held a piece of petrified wood in your hands?  It is amazing what has happened to the wood over eons of time. This senior doesn’t understand it, but wood becomes stone by the process of permineralization.

Petrified wood is not rare, but choice pieces fetch high prices. It is found in volcanic deposits and sedimentary rocks at many locations worldwide. It is sometimes found where volcanic activity covered plant material. And it is found where wood in sedimentary deposits was replaced by minerals precipitated from groundwater.

I have a friend who bought a huge trunk-like piece and hauled it back from out west on a trailer. He wanted it in his front yard.  It is still there I’m sure!

 Seniors Drive Through Petrified Forest National Park

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The petrified forest in Arizona is one that my wife and I have driven through many times. Senior visitors will find hundreds of petrified logs at the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona on Interstate 40.

There is a store that carries many pieces and types of petrified rock on the outskirts of Holbrook. Well worth a visit, even it you are not in the market to buy some pieces. You will find each piece to be beautifully colored by chemical impurities such as iron and copper. Cut and polished petrified wood is used for jewelry, paperweights, and lamp bases.

The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is 346 square miles – 220,000 acres. The stone logs in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, are of the Triassic Period, more than 200,000,000 years old. Many were carried off by folks who simply walked through the area years ago and helped themselves to whatever they could carry.

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The remaining logs and pieces are carefully protected. Many visitors cannot resist taking small rocks, despite strict regulations and stiff fines against removing any material. So be forewarned. Buy your rocks at that store south of Holbrook.

 Painted Desert An Added Attraction

This popular tourist attraction sits adjacent to a sun-swept corner of the Painted Desert. Most visitors come to see one of the world’s largest concentrations of brilliantly colored petrified wood, and they all leave having viewed the beautiful Painted Desert as well.

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What is neat is that you can drive through the park, stop when you want to just look and walk along the many paths that are lined with the broken logs. Plan enough time to walk among the fossil logs and the Painted Desert badlands that are adjacent to the Park.

TripAdvisor explains each of the various portions of the huge park. Included of course is information on the Painted Desert just to the north of the park. So on you way to Phoenix or Flagstaff, plan a drive through this awesome park. Take lots of photos, but remember, no rocks, okay?  jeb

1 comment to “SENIORS VISIT A NATIONAL FOREST”

  1. weightlossrumor.com says:

    Appreciate you sharing, great article post.Really thank you! Really Great.

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