Started the day freezing at 11 degrees with frost on the car – brought me back to childhood days of cold winters in CT. Probably would have been a good idea to bring gloves on this trip. Another good idea would have been to put socks on. Doh.

First stop was the Petrified Forest National Park. Pretty much did a driving tour of the park, hopping out at a few stops to do short hikes to check out petrified trees. Navajo turkeys (aka ravens) stalked us at stops along the way (photos to be posted in a bit) hoping for food.

At the last stop in the park, we witness the year’s first Jr. Park Ranger getting sworn in. She’s a cute little 10 year old Asian girl. I snap a photo long enough that the ranger has noticed how amused I am by the ceremony. I vow to bring my nephew back one New Year’s Day so he too can be that park’s first Jr. Ranger of the year. Kidding. Upon returning from our short hike, the ranger hands me my very own Junior Ranger booklet since I meet the age requirements (10 and up!).

Next stop: Meteor Crater. Not as good as I thought it’d be but watch a quick film on the creation of craters, walk out to view the crater. Still neat though, personally, I’d allow visitors to zipline across the crater.

Rest of the day is spent on the road, listening to music and podcasts. 95 South in California is a fun, dippy road to drive (and practice speeding to overtake cars on a two lane highway).

California’s “Welcome to California” sign is poor compared to others. But the dark red sunset more than compensates for it.

We end the night at my roomie’s parents’ house, where we fill up on chili and soup, light firecrackers and dive into a heated pool. Life is pretty good when I can backfloat and see Orion up in the sky. It’s a balmy 60 degrees in LA tonight. Homeward bound tomorrow! Though I’m a bit tired of the daily long drives, I’m not sure I want the cross country drive to end either.

Most memorable town name on this leg of the trip: Kickapoo, CA.

Miles: 681.