Petrified Forest and Holbrook, Arizona

Our original plan was to visit Canyon de Chelly, but it is remote and we didn't have a lot of propane--the nights there are cold. We decided to go to Petrified Forest near Holbrook, Arizona. We left Big Horn Campground in Gila National Forest and it wasn't long before we entered Arizona.Most of the morning we were climbing in elevation. There was snow on the mountain tops when we stopped at the Apache NF Ranger Station. Since we had been dry camping we also needed to refill our fresh water tank. The gas station next to the ranger station had water and propane, just no one to fill the propane tank until 11:30 a.m. That is when we realized that we gained an hour as Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time!
After filling the water tank we continued on our way to the south entrance of Petrified Forest National Park. First stop, the Crystal Forest Museum Gift Shop!
Bob had read that the gift shop was the place to stay! So we asked about camping--it was free since the electric didn't work. We set up camp then......
entered Petrified Forest National Park.Chris and DeAnna enjoyed climbing on the stone trees.
While we were in the visitor center, Chris and DeAnna applied to be Junior Rangers. As we traveled through the park, they answered questions.

Friday evening while I cooked dinner, Bob took them to see the dinosaurs in the gift shop parking lot.
Saturday morning we decided to go look for treasures in Holbrook.

We found one outside of town. The kids enjoyed picking the swag to trade.
One geocache was located at Holbrook city limits. There was a statue of and Indian who had chased a cowboy up a tree.Downtown we found a treasure near the old county courthouse. The jail was transported to Holbrook in one piece in the 1890s for a cost of $3000. This is one of the six cells in the unit.
Outside there was an open air cell. I tried to stay in it, but Bob and the kids said I had to go with them.
Chris and DeAnna got a kick out of the stage coach.
The most interesting fact about Holbrook was that Radiator Springs was based on the town. We found a treasure near the real Tow-Mater!
He was located at the WigWam Motel.
We explored all the old tourist places that were around when Route 66 was a thriving thruway. One stop had ostriches.
Each evening the kids worked on their Junior Ranger applications. Before we left Sunday morning, we returned to the park so they could be sworn in as Petrified Forest Junior Rangers.