My couchsurfing in Missouri was great; super friendly and generous folks. I even got to return a bit of the favor; the husband left early for work with both sets of car keys, so I got to drive Becki to work. We were both happy to share.

I had another super driving day yesterday through the rest of Missouri, northern Texas, and in to New Mexico. About 100 miles before Amarillo I noticed a distinct haze on the horizon. I couldn’t tell if it was smoke from a distant fire or some kind of dust storm. I’ve decided it was the latter because the entire second half if my drive was cloaked in it, and it didn’t smell. The wind was wicked too, and the two combined to make me feel like I was in a twister movie and the big one was about to touch down. I have a good video of the tumbleweeds whipping across the road. I didn’t get a picture but occasionally I would drive by a cotton field that was stripped completely bare except for the cotton balls that had gotten stuck on the bushes while they blew across the fields. The whole picture was beautiful in a sad eerie kind of way.

I pulled in to Ute Lake State Park just before sunset. I was almost too nervous to even start my little camp stove with the wind but after tucking it behind a tiny wall I managed to boil enough water for a cup of noodles.

Oh! I haven’t shared yet the most exciting part of this trip! I’ve outfitted my car to be a tent in wheels. One of my requirements when purchasing a car was back seats that fold flat, and enough room to stretch out in the back. I’m actually writing this curled up in my sleeping bag, propped on three pillows securely locked into my car. It’s actually a pretty cozy set up. And thank goodness I didn’t have to try to set up a tent last night in the wind!

This morning I got up and out early and made my first real sight-seeing stop. Now that I’m in the desert my desperation to get out here has abated and I am more comfortable at my more normal adventurous pace. I detoured south to Salinas Missions National Monument. There are three ancient (500 year old) Pueblo city ruins in the are, all of which were abandoned as a result of overbearing Spanish overlords and missionaries. The missions built huge churches in all three, which make up the most obvious part of the ruins. I went to Abó, and while the ruins are interesting and attractive, the history is the most interesting. The cities were abandoned only 50 years after being discovered by the Spanish. This interrupted the old Indian trade routes that went all the way from California east across the plains and south into Mexico.

After a walk around Abó I got back on the highway, missed the turn for Malpais park and ended up getting off at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. I almost didn’t stop but now I’m glad I did. The formations reminded me a lot of Badlands National Park, and one of the informational signs there even referred to these types of formations as “badlands.” The colors here are spectacular. There are tons of petrified trees too (as the name implies). They don’t excite me like the landscape does, but there were some really huge and impressive hunks here. It was really cool to feel the quartz-ified wood and see the rock-ified bark that has broken off and litters the ground.

Before going in I spoke to the ranger and couldn’t decide if I wanted to camp there (which requires you hike in more than one mile off the road), or continue west a little more. I fought my old stingy self and ended up paying the ten dollars to visit the park, drove and hiked around for two hours, and then continued on to where I am now, Homolovi State Park. I just barely missed the sun, as I’m now on the other side of the Continental Divide and already into the Pacific time zone.