Sunday – April 16 – Happy Easter all. Today we went to Denny’s for breakfast and Kel, it wasn’t too bad. We found the Seniors menu and ordered an omelette which was very good. We then headed to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, both of which were very fascinating.

The petrified wood is pieces of trees that lived in ancient ecosystems over 200 million years ago. The logs were buried in layers of sediment along a great river system and silica gradually replaced organic material. The rainbow colours found in the wood come from trace minerals such as iron and manganese oxides. There are all sizes of wood and the colours are absolutely beautiful. When you see these pieces of wood lying on the ground they look just like wood logs, but they have all turned to stone! Don’t think they would make good logs for the campfire!

There are many stores selling pieces of petrified wood which have been cut and polished and we have seen large pieces priced in the many thousands of dollars. Oh, if only I were rich I would love to buy a large piece for a coffee table or even a couple for end tables!

The Painted Desert was also very beautiful and again it is hard to get the full beauty and grandeur in pictures. On the way through the park we saw 6 pronghorns so John got some good pictures. He also got a good picture of a large raven sitting on a sign, the raven was really screeching at him as he tried to get close for the picture.