My first day at the park.
I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning, which is when the sun comes up around here. Because trees have surrounded me for the last week or so without me being able to see a sunrise or a sunset. I really wanted to see a sunrise this morning, even if it wasn't great.
And I was right, it wasn't great, but at least I could see it from horizon to horizon, which was a lot better than the sunrises I was seeing in Flagstaff.... And speaking of Flagstaff, I could not believe the number of homeless bums in that town. I went to a gas station, and Walmart, and everywhere I went, bums were walking on the streets, panhandling on the corners, and looking for all the world like big cities in California.... What in the world is going on?
I bought myself some new sneakers at Walmart yesterday; my previous Walmart sneakers had almost completely worn out, but strangely enough, these $30 Walmart sneakers last just as long as the over-hundred-dollar REI Merrill and North Face sneakers that I used to buy all the time. I've got a feeling that Walmart sneakers are made by the same big-name sneaker manufacturers in China; they just leave a few doodads off the $150 sneakers so Walmart can sell basically the same shoe for 30 bucks.
I waddled a Few hundred yards. down the road and got to the gate of the Petrified Forest National Park at opening time, which is 8 AM. Even though the park would be a great place to take sunrise and sunset pictures, for reasons known only to the government, they open the gates late and close them early. Staying in the park overnight is possible, but it's somewhat involved and you have to jump through some hoops to do so and get those kinds of pictures.
Explaining the process of how to stay in the park overnight is sorta complicated, and I don't think I'll have room to explain it here, so I will do that in tomorrow's blog post, if anyone is interested, but I can't imagine why anyone would be.
Theboondork
When you turn off the main road from Holbrook, Arizona, you see two gift shops, one on each side of the road, that are owned by the same folks. If you drive past the gift shops for a couple of hundred yards, you will be in the Petrified Forest National Park.
And the folks who own those two gift shops really do have free boondocking. There's no need to check in; no spots are assigned. Just pull in anywhere and set up camp.
The gift shop across the street also has camping, but it has electric sites. And I believe it's about $20 a night, but I'm not sure because I've never stayed there... But I'll ask if I get a chance.
This is a picture of the gift shop I'm staying at. The RVs that you can see have picnic tables beside their boondocking spots. I'm boondocked farther on the left side in a big open area you can't see from this picture. It's more private in the big open area; you don't have people parked close to you as they do in this picture.
This is the gift shop across the street at sunset, and this is where the paid camping is.
Notice I'm boondocked off to myself, in the big open lot, which is where I like to be. The hills in the background are part of the Petrified Forest National Park.
I have an old geezer pass, which allows me to get into the park for free.… And I've got free boondocking next door to the park….. It just doesn't get any better than that.