Sedona and “The Egg”…
Originally Posted on March 20th, 2009…
Well, honestly, I started this blog period wondering if I could ever top the great discoveries made in the last one. To my absolute amazement, I did! It didn’t start out that way though. Day one the Atlas had me headed out to a road that should have been a beautiful scenic route that cut cross country. After going 40 miles to get there, I find out from the locals that the road only goes 3 miles to a Country Club and the rest was washed away 20 years ago when they built the Dam. Back-tracking and taking the long way around was disappointing as well as highly unproductive. But hey, it’s not like I’m on some kind of time schedule, right?
After getting back on track I headed to a known collecting site (my usual M.O.). Come to find out that modern growth has them paving this 8 mile long road into the wilderness. So, I decide to go off exploring on my own. After a couple hours of driving Forest Service roads and finding nothing, I figure it’s time to find a way to see the big picture of what was actually around me. The best way I know of to do that is to go to the highest point and look around. Turned out to be the best move I could make. I picked out a mountain peak, put it in 4WD and went to the top. Upon arrival I found the view so spectacular I immediately chose to spend the night there. So, of course, I have to go investigate the surrounding area and as I head out I glance upon a rounded sort of rock sticking out of the ground that just doesn’t fit in with the rest. Not really thinking much of it, I continued my search. After only about 15 minutes I spotted an odd looking piece that was covered with holes. Brushing it off and dousing it with water I discover that it’s a petrified Sea Coral. Before it actually sinks in, I find a completely different kind and colored Sea Coral. Imagine, petrified Sea Corals on the top of a mountain, proving that this peak used to be the bottom of the ocean floor. Amazing stuff, ya know? So, excited with my finds I head back to the car to put these rare specimens away and get myself some dinner. On the way back I noticed that same rounded rock sticking out of the ground but I’m way to excited to give it much thought. After a full belly and much contemplation of the Sea floor now being 3600 feet above sea level I figure “where there’s 2 pieces, there must be more”. I go out looking again, this time with no luck. But this time, on the way back to the Trooper I see that damn rounded rock for the third time…..now I HAVE to investigate. I start to brush away the dirt around the base to get an idea of the size before I try to extract it. As I brush I see some familiar markings, I’ve seen these before. They look like a gently cracked egg shell, I laugh, remembering that the place that I’ve seen these was a museum. Could it be?. I continue wisking away the dirt and finally fully expose the stone. I was in disbelief as I washed away the loose earth coating….my heart raced….OMG…No, OMFG!!! It is…It’s a Dinosaur Egg! Millions of years ago the original egg must have been engulfed in mud which formed a perfect mold. As the egg rotted away over time, the “mold” filled in with molten stone and left me with a perfect replica of the real thing. Now, I’ve only seen about a dozen or so of these, all of which were either at Shows or in Museums, but this is definitely authentic! Looking at the picture below, I’m sure you’ll see a huge resemblance to what you would imagine a dinosaur egg to look like. but believe me, no one is more astomished than myself. The discovery of a lifetime, I’d say.
After collecting myself the next day, I decided to move north to Utah. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Flagstaff and saw snow outside the restaurant, I said “screw this” and headed south again. Good thing I did or I never would have seen Sedona. This was a beautiful, upscale town with probably the best views in all of Arizona. Even though the cops ejected me my first night there, I still loved it. Spent some time there watching candles being made and even toured a pottery classroom/studio. It’s the kind of town where you wake up to hot air ballons in the sky everyday. Lol…it’s so “upscale” that McDonalds isn’t even allowed to display the Golden Arches!
After a couple days there I resumed my search for treasure and ended up exploring a couple of old Indian Ruins that were FASINATING! So, all in all, I’d say this was a Great Week. I’m headed to the California Coast right now for a little “beach action”. You can read about that in my next blog though. Till next time…….
