Marilynne's World » Vacation 2009

Red Rock Country – Sedona

Marilynne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:10:06 +0000

Sedona is red rocks, automobiles, art galleries, and people – lots of people. It’s very beautiful and a very interesting place. We were there only overnight, so these pictures are not as good as I would like.

These are the red rock walls of Sedona. The town is where the creeks and streams and other green things grow. It makes a beautiful contrast.

This is the view from our motel.

Roy walked over to Bell Rock with the intention of a morning climb while I ate breakfast. It was higher and further away than he thought, but he did climb it a little.

The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest

Marilynne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:59:58 +0000

The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. The words sound like places in a child’s adventure book. Like most attractions we’ve seen, these are dry desert places, which, because the land is dry and barren make them special places. Let’s begin with the painted desert.

Many rocks and mesas have a cap of hard rock on top of a softer rock. This gives them a look of wearing a cap.

These hills and mountains are formed by many different layers of soil, each layer having a different color. It's beautiful, isn't it?

Here are more photos of hills, these having a whitish top layer

This is part of a tree that once lay in a swamp. Over time silica replaced the wood, leaving a beautiful agate that still retains the character of the wood.

Sometimes crystals formed inside of the wood. It's hard to see but there are sparkly white crystals running with the grain of the wood.

This petrified log lay in the way of a stream bed. For a while it spanned the stream. Later a concrete support was placed below it.

When our children lived with us, they delighted in creating Smith National Landmarks, which were three or more rocks stacked on top of each other. It looks like someone else likes to do that too.

Canyon De Chelly and Window Rock

Marilynne — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:19:26 +0000

Canyon de Chelly is the most beautiful canyon I’ve seen. I love the smooth rock, golden yellows and roses in some places grey in others. I love looking down to the bottom of the canyon and seeing a flat bottom, farmland, a river running through. It’s a stark contrast to the desert landscape where I stand looking in. Photos, of course.

First the massive straight walls, then the flat farmland below.

The bit of yellow is a string of trees in fall foliage.

An Indian woman retreats to a shady place to make the beaded jewelry she sells to tourists. When I asked if I could take her picture, she giggled. "I'm just doing beads." she told me.

The wind carves out strange holes in the rocks and stripes the walls of the canyon.

Window Rock is the native headquarters. You can see this hole in the rock for miles and miles. I asked a woman selling bead jewelry to tell me something about the place. She told me that a long, long time ago, when the sea covered this valley, the rock became soft. When the sea receded, a snake climbed through the rock leaving a hole. The hole was then the subject of wind driven sand and rain, and more wind until it became very large. I like the story. If you look carefully, you can see a small tree inside the hole. That tree is about the size of a man.

Window Rock. You can see how it got its name.

There is also a memorial wall for all the Indian men and women who died in the service of their country. Included are the names of the Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the enemy in WWII, by sending messages in the Navajo language.

A memorial for fallen service people.