Day 16 – Sunset Volcano National Monument

Not long after we left the Grand Canyon National Park, we headed down the road towards I-40. Just a few miles prior to hopping on the interstate, we stopped at the Sunset Volcano National Monument. I was a volcano that had erupted long ago. I spoke with one of the rangers at the visitor center and he informed me that the area was home to 600 volcanoes. Albeit all now dormant, still pretty dang impressive!

The immediate area was carpeted with black pumice and ash. It was very surreal seeing the landscape be covered in black. You could almost imagine being there during the eruption. Thank goodness we weren’t. We didn’t stay in the park very long because wanted to try and get down the road to the Petrified Forest National Park before dark. Anna wasn’t feeling too good, so once we left the park she laid down in the back and tried to close her eyes.

I had about an hour and a half until we got to the Petrified Forest. It was a pretty easy drive and the surroundings kept changing about every 30 minutes. Crazy how the landscape changes so drastically in this part of the country. On the way to the forest, we stopped in Winslow, Arizona and had an incredible dinner at Red River Brewing.

Got to the entrance of the park and it had signs that it was temporarily closed. Bummer!!! Back on the road and I drove a little past Albuquerque and got us parked in the Cibalo National Forest for the night.