Sedona, Arizona

Vegas with a Sedona chaser.  What a wonderful idea.  We weren’t thinking along those lines when we planned the trip, but it makes sense, doesn’t it?  A few days of partying, followed by a few days of rest and relaxation.  Paul’s better at the partying, while I excel at R&R.

After consulting his road atlas (no sissy GPS for us), Paul decided to take…this road.  You know why? Because Paul does what he wants. He is an Aries on the cusp of Taurus.  You would think my Taurus would beat his Aries when it comes to stubborn but nooo.  Not even close.  So, we drove the rental car a good fifteen miles down said primitive road.

It was just us and the cows until we had almost reached the end, when a cowboy in an old up pick-up truck drove by, looking at us like we were alien invaders.  He must have lived in the only house we saw out there.

Here you see Jerome, Arizona…the end of the primitive road.  This picture is a teaser, because we were both intrigued by Jerome and decided to go back.  And we loved it so much that it gets its own separate blog post.

Here we are…this is more like what I was expecting to see.  Wow.  Gorgeous, isn’t it?  People say it has grown and changed.  I say whatever ~ it is gorgeous.

Our Colorado friend Sadie told us about this cool little village of shops and restaurants called Tlaquepaque. We both enjoyed it more than the other more touristy shopping areas in Sedona.  Paul does not like wearing hats so I was very pleased that he found and bought one for our upcoming hot weather hikes.

This is what Paul typically does when I duck into a shop.  Ideally, he sits somewhere, calmly.  He has been known to pace just outside the door.  Makes for a relaxing shopping experience (ha).  This time he had a nice bench in the shade and some company, so I took a little longer than I normally might.

There were sculptures all around Tlaquepaque and I fell in love with this one, The Kiss by Kim Kori.  “Instead of waiting for a kiss from a Princess, this smitten Frog Prince is blowing a kiss to the object of his desire. You see, it’s not a Princess that he wants. He’s been enjoying life in the Amphibian world and a lovely female frog has caught his eye”.   Good for him.  You go, Frog Prince.

Though Catholic in faith, as a work of art the Chapel has a universal appeal. Its doors will ever be open to one and all, regardless of creed, that God may come to life in the souls of all men and be a living reality  ~ Marguerite Brunswig Staude (world-renown architect and student of Frank Lloyd Wright).

The Chapel of the Holy Cross was built into the red rocks of Sedona in 1956 and is a one of the most stunning pieces of architecture I have seen, not to mention the views from it’s windows.  Calm and tranquil is how I felt  the moment I stepped through it’s doors and didn’t really want to leave.  Sadly, the website is mainly an online marketplace, so I won’t be linking it.  If you can experience this place in person, do so.

This picture was taken right outside the chapel.  I have a thing for bees.  They are remarkable creatures and we would be in big trouble without them.  I will name this flower as soon as I can find it.  Yes, I wrote it down and can’t remember where.

This is another shot with the unidentified flower.  My best guess is Prickly Pear Cactus, but I could be wrong.  If you know the answer, please enlighten me.

Per our Innkeeper Irith’s suggestion, we headed out to Cathedral Rock for the afternoon.   The weather held out, but we were warned not to hike in the wash, just in case.

There was lots of wandering going on, but I think most of these pictures are taken just off of Baldwin Trail (if not, then Templeton Trail, which intersects).  We stacked our own rocks, right across from Buddha Beach.

Three sweet local dogs decided to pay us a visit while we took a little water break.  Their humans weren’t far behind and come here all the time.  I am guessing these dogs have it pretty good.

What a peaceful place.  People talk about the vortex spots in Sedona ~ some discount their existence while others swear by them. Whatever it is, I felt a different energy out here…it was wonderful.

Paul felt it, too.  We later took a vortex tour with Jaap van Etten, PhD. which ended up being one of our best days ever.  You can find out more about Jaap by going to his website, Lemurantis.  I did not take pictures while on this tour and would suggest that you don’t either if you are fortunate enough to have this experience.

We broke fast each morning with a cool newlywed couple from the East Coast.  Boots and Saddles B&B is lovely ~ a little off the beaten path, which made for quiet nights in the hot tub under the stars.  Every single thing Irith suggested for us to do turned out to be perfect.  I didn’t take many pictures here, either, but you can get a better idea of what it is like on their website.

We poshed it up for dinner one night at The Enchantment Resort.  We asked for balcony seating (be sure to specify when you make reservations) as we both prefer al fresco dining and the views are incredible.  By the way, this is how Paul looks when he reads posh menus.  He is going to be so very pleased at all of the pics of him in this post.  Not really.  But sometimes I can’t resist.

Damn, that Prickly Pear Margarita was good. Fortunately for us, we had Steve Simon of Swift Rides drive us there and bring us back.  Irith thinks of everything.

By the time we left, night had fallen at Enchantment Resort.  Another fabulous day and night in Sedona.  We drove back to Phoenix the next morning…

and made a few stops along the way.  These are the photo ops I beg Paul to stop the car for.  I can’t help myself.  Nice contrast between Jack Ass Acres and Enchantment Resort, huh?   I meant to do that.

Farewell, Arizona.  I will be blogging shortly about our adventures in Jerome, AZ.  It was only a day, but what a day it was…