[You may view a map of Petrified Forest National Park in PDF format.]

I got up early enough to make it into Petrified Forest National Park when the gates opened at 8:00. The sky was completely clear as forecast — not too exciting for photography. I had my normal breakfast then left at 8:00 in the Jeep and ...

Entered Petrified Forest National Park. (You may view a map of Petrified Forest National Park in PDF format.) I stopped to photograph the badlands around Mile 24, and spent the whole morning there. Because the sky was completely clear, I minimized the amount of "boring blue sky" in my images. In the image to the far left, I had to be careful to keep my shadow out of the image. That reminded me that shooting with an even wider-angle lens creates even more problems like that, so I'll probably get a Canon TS-E 24mm f3.5 L II instead of the Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 14-24 f2.8G. Nearby, I found a broken boulder that looked like a broken heart (near left).
I returned to the RV around 9:45 and hooked up the Jeep to tow. Then I downloaded and downselected the images I took this morning.

I had lunch around 11:45 and read more of the December 2009 Outdoor Photographer. I stowed the solar-electric panels, and we got underway at 12:33.

We got on I-40 heading west at Holbrook.

We stopped at the Flying J in Winslow at 1:53. We dumped our gray and black tanks, loaded up on fresh water, and fueled both vehicles at $2.679/gal. We got underway again at 2:47.

We got on I-17 heading south at Flagstaff at 3:50, then got on AZ-89A heading south at 3:54. I think we hit a flicker at 3:58 — it disappeared at or below our grill level. :(

We stopped at the Oak Creek Overlook at 4:05. We wanted to purchase a Red Rock Pass, but the kiosk was closed. We got underway again at 4:16.

Sedona

We were on our way to Sedona. I had never been there before, but had heard great things about it, including from J who had been there before.

We went to the Post Office in Sedona at 4:49 to pick up our mail. The not-so-friendly postal worker said there wasn't anything there for us even though the Post Office website said the package had been delivered.

We continued heading south towards Cottonwood, then took a forest service road into Coconino National Forest to find a boondocking spot.

We found a great location overlooking some red rock formations. I parked the RV to maximize the view of the rocks instead of solar-electric power. We should be OK on the latter because the forecast is for sunny skies for the next few days. We changed to "go on a date" and left in the Jeep around 5:55.

We headed back into Sedona and stopped at the Giant gas station to pick up a Red Rock Pass so we'll be legal. Our National Parks (Interagency) Pass is valid in the area, but that will stay on the dash of the RV so we're legal there and we'll use the Red Rock Pass on the Jeep.

Valentine's Day

We went to Ken's Creekside American Bistro for Valentine's Day dinner. Yes it's a bit early, but we don't like to go out on the official date. J has fond memories of eating at Robert's Creekside Restaurant. (The restaurant changed hands about five months ago.) The food was so good that she had eaten there twice during her previous visit. The red rocks had lit up spectacularly on one of those occasions, and she ran out onto the porch overlooking Oak Creek to photograph them.

The food this time was delicious! First up was part of an excellent raisin baguette served with a bowl of oil, garlic, and herbs — very tasty! Then we split a Roasted Beet Salad (red pears, candied pecans, and goat cheese), and it was one of the best salads we've had in a long time! J had a cup of Normandy Brie Soup and we shared an order of Grilled Lemon Chicken (kabob style, corn pancakes, and apple-pumpkin sauce). J really enjoyed the soup (too rich for me), and the chicken was tasty. We also enjoyed the live guitarist who started playing part way through the evening.

After dinner, we went to Top Shelf Liquors to get some supplies, and they had everything we needed. :)

We returned to the RV around 8:20. We had a nice Verizon Wireless Broadband internet access signal. :) J discovered that we're not too far from the Angel Valley spiritual center that was in the news recently because three participants at the "Spiritual Warrier" program hosted by James Arthur Ray died after being in a sweat lodge on October 8, 2009. The program promised to "absolutely change your life" — it sure changed three people's lives.