And the driving begins...

Josh got off work at 3:30 on Friday afternoon on May 18th, and we were on the road by 4! First stop: Flagstaff, AZ with our friends, the Joiner family :) We visited with them for a bit Friday night, and Saturday morning before we took off for a full day of traveling.

First, we took the scenic drive into Sedona, AZ...the drive, the scenery, and the town itself were absolutely gorgeous!!

The plan was to get out and do some sightseeing and touristy things...but Naomi fell asleep on the way there, and it was quickly decided those things weren't worth waking a sleeping baby...so this is to remind us we took all these shots from a moving car and that we would like to go back again some time and get to look around a bit more! :)

After driving through Sedona we headed back north to jump on I-40 East again.  Next stop: Petrified Forest National Park.  This is a really interesting National Park.  We didn't know before we got there, but it is simply a 28-mile road that drives you from one end of the park to another, with a few little pull-offs or paved paths you can stop at along the way.  We stopped once for Naomi to take a stroller ride, and another time to try out her new backpack carrier!

The Teepees

First glimpse of The Painted Desert...the colors were incredible, and as usual, the camera didn't do much justice to the beauty!

Family pic along the rim of The Painted Desert

Some more scenery shots:

            

Happy Hiking Baby!

Stopped by the Visitor Center at the north entrance on our way out and got to sit on a petrified log...Naomi was obviously very interested ;-)

   

Writing Naomi a postcard...we are trying to get a postcard for each unique place we see/go to, date it, and write to Naomi what we did there. Then we have been sending them to our address so when we get home we'll have a postcard collection documenting what her adventures entailed!

Daddy-Daughter Shot!

After the Petrified Forest, we had dinner in Alberquerque, then stopped for the night in Tucumcari, NM...and that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the 1st half of the road trip back to the Midwest!