Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

On the way from Canyon de Chelly back to Flagstaff, we drove through the Painted Desert, which is just bizarre, the hills vividly striped in precise horizontal bands. 

(That's one of our rental cars; we needed two for all of our family and luggage.)

On the same road, we were suitably amazed by the Petrified Forest, where the petrified logs really look exactly like fallen fresh trees but are made of brilliant agate and amethyst. Even the wood chips look exactly like wood chips but are gems. We were all stunned.

Jordan demonstrated that even though what he's holding looks like a soft wood chip, it's as strong and hard as a rock (because it is a rock).

I wonder how many generations of tourists, though, are lulled by the name "Petrified Forest" into imagining the trees are still standing. Would it not be incredible, to walk through a forest turned to stone? This is not a forest. But it's still a very imaginative place.