Remember how much fun field trips were when you were a kid? And if you’re a geologist, like me, you didn’t stop going on field trips when you grew up. My family consists of two- and four-legged rockhounds, so we decided that a fall field trip was in order. We ventured out to the Mesa de Cuba Badlands, near Cuba (New Mexico, that is), the day before Thanksgiving.

The shales of the Paleogene age Nacimiento Formation form beautiful badlands topography, and we wandered through it looking for petrified wood. A return trip will definitely be in order.

Here are some pictures from that lovely autumn day in the Land of Enchantment. Though I don’t see how it could be, I hope your Thanksgiving was this much fun.