This is My Forties

The trip from Albuquerque to Flagstaff took us straight through The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park.  We were able to get out of the car and walk across the desert, collecting bits of petrified wood that were scattered all over the place.  Brennan got a little freaked out when a dust devil suddenly sprung up and blew right into us, but thankfully it didn't last very long.       The ground felt springy because it was super dry volcanic ash particles, which are even tinier than clay or silt.  We couldn't leave footprints unless we tried really hard.  It was interesting.  And very windy and dry.   Tristan brought back quite a few petrified tree bits... in his carry-on, which we found out about in the security line lol.  They let him keep them all, even the super sharp axe-looking one.  Thanks for understanding, TSA agent! ;)   Noah, Tristan and Josh were happy to get out and climb all over cliffs ...

First, let me tell you about the day before we left.  Tristan had come home from soccer practice Tuesday and complained his eye was hurting.  We hoped he was dealing with allergies since they had just cut the grass, and sent him to bed with allergy eyedrops.  It didn't feel better the next morning and it looked horrible.  His eye was killing him and we wanted to get it checked out by professionals, but were stuck in airports the entire morning.  We landed in Albuquerque after a long morning of travel, including a time difference of 3 whole hours.  We were all exhausted and starving, having been up since 4am, but it wasn't even lunch time yet in New Mexico.  Josh dropped Tristan and I off at an urgent care by the airport and took the other two with him to check in to the hotel.  As luck would have it, the urgent care was empty at 1030 on a Wednesday so we were seen right away.  Apparently, during his soccer tryouts the day before, he had ...