Advertisement
Published: April 6th 2009
Edit Blog Post
I'm sorry it's been a while since my last entry (again) - America seems to be split into two types of places: those with only wireless internet and those that have probably never even heard of the internet! I'm writing this blog entry in the lobby of a fancy hotel in Phoenix; the staff at the desk have kindly let us use the internet, so I'm writing this really quickly and probably won't be able to add photos - sorry!
The day after our last entry, we bid our farewells to the aliens and drove to Albuquerque, a desert city nestled in the Rio Grande Valley. This place has so much character; the architecture is very reminiscent of the Flinstones, all curves, oranges and yellows, with clusters of red chilli peppers hanging everywhere you look. We went out into the desert to Piedras Marcadas Canyon and Rinconada Canyon, where petroglyphs (images etched into the rocks by Pueblo Indians hundreds of years ago) are scattered across the landscape; patterns, animals and creepy demon faces look down at you from rock clusters. We spent a couple of hours clambering around trying to find specific images, and also sadly trying to distinguish between
ancient images and not-so-ancient graffiti. Also in Albuquerque, we earned certificates of bravery for visiting the world's largest collection of rattlesnakes (behind glass, of course!). I was hoping it would cure me of my ophidiaphobia, but unfortunately it seems to have had the opposite effect! They're more scared of us than we are of them...they're more scared of us than we are of them...they're more scared of us than we are of them...
From Albuquerque, we drove across the state line into Arizone, via Red Rock State Park, and headed for Holbrook, the most eerily dead town in all of America. It's a town of tepees and dinosaur statues (apparently the area is full of fossils), and walking down the main street, it felt like the human race was extinct and we had returned to the cretaceous period. We didn't just go there for the name (although, admittedly, I did get quite excited about it), but because of its close proximity to Petrified Forest National Park, the strangest place I have ever seen.
225 million years ago, trees grew in this area, and when they fell, they were covered by mud and volcanic ash. Silica seeped into the
wood, and eventually crystallized into quartz, leaving the most beautifully abstract coloured logs scattered across the Painted Desert. We visited Rainbow Forest and Crystal Forest to view them, and they really are amazing; you would never know that they were once trees! And the Painted Desert in itself is fantastic, producing layers upon layers of different colours, the iron, carbon and manganese making the sand formations appear blue, purple and green. The only problem with our visit was the wind, blowing at about 50 mph for most of the day. By the afternoon, we had retreated mainly to the car. The one time we did venture out, Mark's sunglasses went for a little trip over the cliff and across the desert (may they rest in peace). At one point, we were even engulfed by a sandstorm, and literally couldn't see a thing. But seriously, if we only went out when the weather was normal, we would still be in Dallas. So far (and keep in mind we have only been in the US for 2 weeks), we have seen rain, thunderstorms that have literally shaken the room, blistering heat, blizzards, 50 mph winds and a sand storm; I'll never complain
about the weather in England again!
From Holbrook we drove to Phoenix, stopping to see a meteor crater along the way. That journey was so varied; we began by driving through the desert, and eventually could see snow capped mountains in the distance. We reached the mountains, and with the deep green trees, patches of snow and circling birds of prey, it felt more like Alaska than Arizona! As we got closer to Phoenix, the mountains gave way to sandy, cactus-laden hills, and then we reached the city. I would really like Phoenix, with its bright colours, flowers everywhere, palm trees and perpetual sunshine, if it wasn't so overwhelmingly large. You can drive for hours, and still be within the city limits!
Yesterday we drove the Apache Trail, which follows ancient Indian paths, taking you through the ruggedly beautiful Superstition Mountains. Our first stop was Goldfield Ghost Town, an authentic 1890s mining town which has become a bit of a tourist trap. Despite the commercialisation of it, it was great; walking down the main street, passing the saloon and the old jail, with a cactus looming over you and the desert all around, I really did feel like
I was in a Western! We drove from there to Canyon Lake and then to Tortilla Flat, another old mining town, and then we drove up into the mountains, where we got the most unbelievable views!
It would have been an amazing day were it not for the incident that occurred on the way back to the motel. Things had obviously been going to well for us, and the gods of fate had decided that we needed a little bad luck to balance things out. So, while driving along the motorway, somebody drove into the back of us. It was nobody's fault really; the car in front of us stopped sharply, so we followed suit, but the car behind us hadn't left enough space, and so they crashed into us. We were fine, and the only damage to the car was that the bumper came off, but the other car was a complete wreck. The police came, the driver of the other car apologised to us, we swapped details, and while the other car waited for a tow truck, we folded up the bumper, shoved it in the boot and went on our way. We woke up this morning
with slightly sore necks, but other than that, we're fine. We drove to the car rental office to sort things out, and they were really helpful. All we had to do was fill in a form and give the police report to them, and they just gave us another car! All I can say is, thank god we opted for gold insurance!
And so it has been a very adventurous week! But there are still many places to see and many things to do, and thus the adventure continues (hopefully with no more car accidents!).
Advertisement
Tot: 0.142s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 47; dbt: 0.11s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Deborah
non-member comment
glad you're ok
Must have been scary, even if no-one was hurt. At least there was no agro. Your photos are amazing as always - I'd never heard of the petrified forest but it looks amazing and I'd love to see it! How much longer do you have to go?