Eastern Europe Trip

What a mixed day!

We woke in our Wigwam after a restful night, although we’re both suffering a little from all the changes of beds and bedrooms, as it is taking us at least one night to get used to being in each place. As we’re only staying here for one night, we won’t get the chance for a full night’s sleep in a wigwam… perhaps next time!

When we were up and showered, I took the opportunity of my first mobile phone signal since Vegas to make a quick phone call to our Estate Agents. You will recall that we’d put our house on the market, well, last Wednesday we had a couple come to see the house and the initial response was excellent. We had a very brief call with the Estate Agents on Friday in Cortez and they were optimistic and going to get a response the following Monday (ie a couple of days ago). We also had some more people coming to see the house on Saturday. So, all excited, I made the call… only to be disappointed as the “really interested” people from last Wednesday have gone cold and the Estate Agent hasn’t managed to get hold of the other couple. Disappointed to not having sold our house, we were determined to continue our holiday and stop calling home!

Without even grabbing a breakfast we made the short drive to the Petrified Forest National Park. Now, I know they sound like scared trees, but they’re not. Well, they might have been scared once, but now they’re actually “petrified” which according to Wikipedia is “the process by which organic material is converted into stone or a similar substance without decaying”. And in this case, what happened a long time ago is trees were felled in the forest and then buried under layers of sediment, which eventually seeped into the wood, replacing the cells of the tree. The effect is quite amazing, as what looks just like a fallen tree is actually ‘rock’. And as it’s layers of rock, the ‘rings’ are replaced by beautiful coloured rock, whilst the ‘bark’ still looks like bark… weird to say the least… and if you don’t believe me, check these pictures out…














Ok, so that’s the tree, what about the forest? Well, I had been expecting a forest (unsurprisingly, I guess!) but as these trees had all fallen down before becoming petrified, I really should have been expecting something different. And that’s what it is – a lot of fragments of trees, scattered across the ground, all of which look like the pictures above. Why were they in fragments? Well, again that’s down to natural forces, and a result of water getting into cracks in the trees and freezing, causing them to break into segments. From a distance, the ‘forest’ looks like this:






As we drove further into the National Park, we started to enter an area where the hills around we mostly made of rock, but striped with different types of rock, creating another weird and surreal landscape…






Further into the park we stopped to admire the petroglyphs – drawings chipped in to layers of “desert varnish” (weathering) on the rocks by the ancient puebloans who lived here 1400 years ago… there were lots of them across the rocks scattered around various points, including the remains of a small village (complete with Kiva).






Making our way even further into the park we came across another pull-in area where there was another of the information signs, so we pulled over to check it out. Unlikely as it may seem, it was a sign for Route 66 – the original road running right through the centre of the park!










Leaving behind this monument to the most famous road in the world, we continued on to where the Petrified Forest gives way to the “Painted Desert”… this is a viewpoint over a vast expanse of land that is made up of little hills all of a very bright red colour… This is one occasion when the photo doesn’t really do justice to the colours…






Having had our desire for scenery and weird sights suitably satiated, we made our way to the visitor’s centre, for a cup of coffee and a much-delayed breakfast. As with so many places around here, there was a Route66 theme, from the coffee cups to the tablecloths, although the chilli burger I had wasn’t a patch on the more basic cheeseburger I had yesterday in what felt much more like a “real” Route66 café.

With time getting on, we hit the Interstate for the drive to Flagstaff. By now we could also see a big storm approaching, with grey skies appearing on either side of us. We wanted to go and see the “world famous crater impact site” that we’d seen signposted off the Interstate, and were relieved when the weather improved as we approached the junction, but as we pulled into the car park the heavens opened again. Not a good time to go and stand outside looking into a hole in the ground, so we gave up on that idea and continued on our way. Flagstaff was a necessary fuel stop, which gave us the chance to drive through the old part of town (and down a little bit more of “historic Route 66”). With the weather improving, we headed into Oak Creek Valley towards Sedona, and took the first opportunity we came across to stop at a “scenic overlook” to stretch our legs and take a couple of pics…






Here the scenery had changed dramatically, as you can see, with lots of trees (not scared, either, by the look of them!), and a river in the bottom of the valley. Within minutes of getting to the far end of the overlook, the heavens opened again and we made a dash for the car (for once, we’d been driving with the roof up!). And then we joined the rest of the traffic threading its way through the valley and on to Sedona. We had booked ourselves into a B&B in Oak Creek Village just south of Sedona town, and they had provided us with excellent directions, meaning we found them without problem and pulled into the gravel drive. Here we were met by our hosts, Carrie and Mark, who immediately made us feel at home. But the big surprise was when we walked through the patio doors and out back, where the view (which was also the view from our room) took our breath away…






But that wasn’t all. When Tracy had chosen this B&B, I’d only paid lip-service to checking it out before booking, so had no idea what to expect. She’d chosen the best one on the whole trip – as the photos show!










As we had such a superb room, in such a fantastic location, we decided that we’d try and get some supplies in for dinner, instead of eating out, so hit the local supermarket. With beer and wine to drink and fresh corn-on-the-cob and various cheeses and eggs and salad stuff we returned and Tracy set about sorting out something to eat whilst I sat drinking what some would say was an appropriately named ale…






Whilst Tracy cooked up a storm, one was brewing outside, giving me reason to move and some excitement as I watched the lightning striking the not-too distant hills…






Now, you will recall the title of this blog refers to “microwaved boiled eggs”. But Tracy also somehow managed to “boil” fresh corn on the cob with just a microwave to hand. Don’t ask me how she did it, but they were delicious, as was the cheese and boiled egg salad. The wine wasn’t too bad either…






And so to bed, another great day over…