We cut our stay at Carlsbad short because we realized Terri would have to drive approximately 9 and 1/2 hours to the Petrified Forest KOA. We booked a site at an RV Park outside of Albuquerque which split the drive time up between the two days. When planning this trip, we knew we would have to modify our schedule from time to time. We arrived at Holbrook/ Petrified Forest KOA late afternoon on Terri’s birthday. We did laundry and relaxed.
We headed out early the next morning and we were attempting to get a selfie at the National Park sign when 2 men pulled up on Harley Davidson bikes. Jim offered to take our pic. We spoke to them for about 20 minutes and found out Jim was from Pittsburgh. This has been a common theme as we are running into many people from the great state of Pennsylvania. Some, a few miles from our home.
Jim and Ron have been best friends for years and do a lot of traveling together. They told us about their trip cross country via Route 66. Thanks Jim and Ron!
The Petrified Forest is vast and we spent 7 hours the first day stopping at overlooks, doing different hikes and taking in the beautiful views. We began at the North Entrance and the Painted Desert:
The trail led The Painted Desert Inn, constructed in the 1930’s. It was not open for tours at the time we arrived. The Inn had guests up until the 70’s.
I saw this in the trail leading to the Inn. We were 5836 feet above see level.
On the way back from the motel, I got this spectacular pic:
A partially dead tree-
A section of Route 66 cuts through the Petrified Forest.
Another neat aspect of Petrified Forest is the Petroglyphs that can be found throughout the park. Pueblos inhabited this area.
Here is a Pueblo ruin. A Kiva is a room, usually underground, used for rituals, ceremonies or social gatherings. 
More of the painted Desert. These are called Tepees:
Now to even more marveling sites- petrified wood. Here is a link explaining the geological process: https://geology.com/stories/13/petrified-wood/
The colors of the quartz in these woods is breathtaking when seen in person. I took so many photos. Here is just a small sample:
These logs are not cut, this is how they break, Petrified wood is mostly silica—quartz. The logs are very hard, but brittle. After petrification, the logs cracked under stress. Silica naturally breaks on a clean angle. Much like a piece of chalk.
We ended our day around 4:30-5:00. A long but exciting day one.