I had managed to cover the looping half-mile Main Trail at the Petrified Forest near Calistoga, California. It was nearly time to leave, but when you find yourself in such beautiful surroundings, it can be difficult to drag yourself away! But as I approached the main building and the entrance gate once more, this amazing place still had one or two surprises for me. They included the large sign illustrating the story of Ollie Bockee, whose dedicated stewardship of this site has continued through subsequent generations of her family for over 100 years. And another wonderful surprise was to be found in the park’s gift shop, which I’ll share in my next post from the Petrified Forest.

This tiny flower is the Hairy pink (Petrorhagia dubia)

(Click to enlarge)