The Painted Desert

Got to spend the day at Petrified Forest National Park for work, today. I discovered that it is only a two and a half hour drive from our house, too. Good to know when we decide we want to go for a wilderness hike. Most of my time was taken up with discussing archeology-based education programs with their education specialist. They've got a pretty nice concept for a program, including a mock-excavation that looks way more funner than anything we've got.

See? Doesn't that stuff look like fun? Seeing that shovel was worth the drive all by itself. I've decided to basically steal all their ideas and try the same thing at the Castle. We'll get our own clipboards, though.

I did get to poke around the north end of the park a bit before I left for home. This is the "Painted Desert" of Wile E. Coyote fame.

It was a bit on the rainy side, though. And, considering it was bright and sunny at home when I left this morning, I neglected to pack any sort of clothing for inclement weather. Oh well...at least it wasn't hot.