In the last leg, the horses were freaking me out and I had to hide in my tent. Up early the following morning and headed to Sedona. Taking historic route 89A, The Mingus Mountain Drive that has 158 curves in 12 miles, I barely survived, and we ended up in Jerome, AZ. Jerome was the cutest little town with the cutest little shops, with the highest prices. I could have spent millions of dollars easily in Jerome. We strolled the town and the little shops and opted to head on down the mountain into Sedona to find camp.
We stopped at a tourist information booth to inquire about campgrounds. The information man gave us a list of campgrounds in the area. We also asked what there is to do and he pretty much avoided the question. He told us to go find a campground, set up camp and come back to town and walk around. We did just that. We set up camp at Manzanita. We had a lovely corner lot with direct access to Oak Creek and a wonderful boulder for climbing and reflecting. Before heading back to town we had a wonderful lunch of squash, pear and onion in a balsamic reduction. Delicious! I know, pretty impressive for cooking on a one burner camp stove.
Headed back into town we stopped at a roadside market with many vendors with authentic handmade Indian jewelry. All of it very beautiful, but slightly high priced. After browsing and a couple purchases we were back in the car and headed to Tlaquepaque, the art and soul of Sedona, according to the brochure. Tlaquepaque was fashioned after an authentic Mexican Village. It was created to be “the best of everything”. When you first walk in you notice the vine covered walls and the cobblestone walks to guide you through the many different galleries, shops and restaurants. With the giant sycamore trees providing shade, you would never know that it was 90 degrees. Since it was hot after all we opted to stop into How Sweet It Is for some ice cream.
As we were strolling along enjoying our sweet treat we came across a moth/butterfly/caterpillar making its way out of its cocoon. We are not sure what it was, but it was very interesting to see. Obviously, we did not wait for it to come completely out since I cannot tell you want it was.
We came across the New Age Shop and went in to see if I could make an appointment with Madison Morgan. She was not in, but we called and left a message to try to schedule. The concierge said that she would return my call and set up an appointment that works best for us. (Still waiting…)
After a full day of window shopping, we went to the local airport to watch the sunset. It was by far one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever witnessed in my life. To prove it, I have about 150 pictures of it. It seemed as though every time I snapped a picture there was something different and I had to take yet another. Of all the pictures, it does not even come close to what it actually looked like. Although I have to admit that Sedona is a photographers dream.
The sun was set and we were ready for some good southwestern cooking. Well, little did we know that Sedonaians run on their own time. It was slightly difficult to find a restaurant that was open. We ended up at the Cowboy Club. Our cowboy waiter Josh served us our cowboy pasta and cactus fries for dinner. Toward the end of the meal, we were making small talk with Josh about the area and what there is to see and do when Katie asks “Do you have moose here?” Josh responds with, “No, but we do have a lovely vanilla crème Brule.” Not exactly what she was asking, but we are still laughing about it.
We reviewed our hiking options and decided on the Boynton Canyon Trail. It was about 6+ miles round trip. We passed ancient Indian ruins, an energy vortex, beautiful desert natural gardens, the amazing red rocks down into a forest. The weather at times was very unpredictable. The sky was black and there was thunder rumbling in the distance. We pushed on trying to make it as far as we could before it actually poured on us. (Sedona boasts more than 300 days of sun a year and well, it rained both days we were there. Not all day, but partial days. ) We finally made it to the end and back with just slight drizzle actually hitting us. On the way into the canyon, there were many many footprints. On the way out, it was just ours. The rain had made a clean slate on the trail.
I was whooped. Looking back now, this was the first day that I was not feeling well. I was not sure if I was going to be able to make it out of the canyon, or if I would have to set up residence in the ruins. But alas, I made it out. We stopped at a fantastic little vegetarian café I had a fantastic hummus wrap.
After our lunch and a little rest for our legs we hit the road for Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was a chapel that was built into the mountain of 250 feet of rock. When you wind up the walkway to the entrance of the chapel it is all glass on the front and back to view the scenery. It is almost as if you are a part of the mountain. It was very peaceful, very spiritual.
After our spiritual journey in the chapel we drove to Schnebly Drive and found the most perfect spot to watch the sunset. All of the tourists were at the airport to watch and we were in our new favorite spot all by ourselves. I was clicking away on the camera while Katie was catching up with her journal entries. Everyone should witness a sunset in Sedona, AZ at some point in their lives.
Walnut Canyon National park in Flagstaff was our next stop. More cliff dwellings, these were much more pronounced and recognizable. More hiking. Very Interesting. It took a lot less time than we thought that it would so we made the executive decision to head to the Grand Canyon.
We made it to the Grand Canyon just as the sun was starting to set and the thunder clouds were getting closer and closer. We could see it raining off in the distance so it was a race against time to get camp set up before we got drenched. Of course we beat the clock; we are after all professional tent putter uppers. By the time we had camp set the storm had passed us by and we were in the clear. We raced to see what was left of the sunset over the canyon. B R E A T H T A K I N G ! ! !
Up early the next morning packed up camp and drove along the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. It was after all on our way back to Vegas. We stopped at several of the overlooks, took great pictures and read about the canyon. We stopped at the gift shop and browsed for a bit. I purchased some vitamin C and throat lozenges. (Now my not feeling well was really starting to kick in.)
Back in Vegas we finally got a shower after four days. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool and had a lovely dinner with friends. Early to bed, we have a flight to catch in the morning…
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