as we left the grand canyon and the sun set, the snowfall only picked up. after the mishap at the start of our trip i was a little apprehensive to put a lot of miles in when the road in front of us was barely visible. we decided to make it a short night and headed back to flagstaff to meet up with an old friend for dinner. the roads were starting to ice over so we drove to the nearest rest are where we spent another night sleeping in the car, something we are far too used to at this point.

by the time we woke up the next morning the snow had stopped and we headed to the petrified forest national park for the eight a.m. opening. when we rolled up to the park the gates were closed and the road leading into the park was completely iced over. after numerous calls to the park office no one could give us a straight answer as to what time the park was going to open, or if it would be opening at all. we decided to hang around for a few hours and explore the area surrounding the park in hopes they would eventually open.

after three hours a ranger finally opened the gates but informed us that the hiking trails running through the park would remain closed due to the conditions. we were pretty disappointed with the hours lost and the fact we couldn't explore the interior of the park; i guess you win some and you lose some. we snapped a few photos of what we could see from the parking lot and hit the road again.

looking at our map and weighing our options we decided to do what we do best; just drive, straight through from arizona to austin. we rung in the new year somewhere along the old dark highways of west texas.

the unexpected event when we embarked, twenty two hundred miles of driving and two national parks were a great way to start two thousand and thirteen. we cannot wait to see what kind of adventures this year has in store for us. ramble on!