Ghost town approach, part III

Here is the third installment of my southern New Mexico road trip with Lisa of LaughingOrcaRanch, my Sister-in-law, Lynne, and my Mom. It's hard to believe we saw all this in just one day, isn't it?! I will definitely be going back to this area in the future to explore it further since we ran out of daylight that day. We found the greatest rock formations just outside of Grants in an area known as the Badlands. Who says New Mexico doesn't have tall trees? These were huge!There was a even natural arch called Ventana Arch.

Poor Lisa looks a little bedraggled here. I'm sure she was getting tired. We left at 8:30 in the morning, so, by this time, we had been driving over 11 hours. This was one of her first times out of the house in months, because of her accident and knee surgery. She was quite the tourist, jumping out every time I stopped the car! What a trooper!! And, you would not believe how windy and cold it was!

Look here for some awesome photos taken under the arch.

I was fascinated by this formation. Look how the rock broke off and is forming a cave.
Can you see the face pointing to the right? I think it looks oriental or Hindu, maybe a fertility goddess? Isn't this pretty? It's like an island in the sunset. On the way home we stopped for gas. They had a couple of huge pieces of petrified wood. I guess the green must be lichens growing, or the lighting.