Stunning Sedona

There is something magical about this place and I’m not talking about the whole vortex thing.  I’m talking about the raw beauty of Sedona.  No matter what way you drive in, there is beauty and majesty at every turn.

Our first trip was in October, 1998.  Our school district runs a modified calendar and there is a two-week fall break in October, which is the perfect time for travel.  A person Mark worked with had a week available at his timeshare in town that he wouldn’t be able to use and offered it to us and all we had to pay was his transfer fee.  Oh heck yeah.  A new Arizona adventure, we were all in.

We had a fun week exploring this new place.  We drove to Slide Rock State Park and watched people braving the cold Oak Creek water sliding down the natural rock slides.  We were newbies for sure and hadn’t brought a change of clothes that day so it was just watching for us.  We found a spot to park close to Oak Creek where we walked along the bank.  The water was low so we could easily climb on the rocks.

 

 

One day we rented a Jeep and explored more than we ever could have done in my Astro Van.  We packed an ice chest with waters and snacks and headed off.   One stop was the Palatki Heritage Site a little northwest of town.  The site is a collection of ruins from the Sinagua that made their homes in the cliffs.  The site also has petroglyphs which were really cool to see.  From there we went to the Honanki cliff dwelling site.  It was a neat look back in time to how the Native Americans lived so many years ago.  Their ingenuity was astounding.

 

We got our money’s worth for that Jeep rental.  After we’d explored the cliff dwellings we headed through town and up Schnebly Hill Road.  It’s paved for about a 1/2 mile off of State Route 179 just east of the Oak Creek Bridge.  From there it’s a rocky dirt road that ends 12 miles north at I-17 in Flagstaff.  The road is much rougher now but way back on our first drive it was fun.  The views of Oak Creek Canyon are worth any bumps though.

 

 

We had dinner at the airport one night and were lucky enough to get a window table and watch planes take off and land.  We walked up and down the Y, which is the main drag of sorts.  It’s where State Routes 179 & 89A meet.  The street is lined with shops, art galleries and restaurants.

On that Y is the famous (famous in my eyes) Black Cow Cafe.  They make their own ice cream, pies, brownies, cookies and more.  I’ve seen people order other items but for me the menu stopped at brownie fudge sundae.  We stop there every single time we are in town.  I am going to be one sad person if they ever close.

When we camp, we like to stay at Rancho Sedona RV Park.  It’s on the bank of Oak Creek and close enough to walk to the shops and Black Cow Cafe.  One visit was in October, 2001 the same day as Game 1 of the Diamondbacks-Yankees World Series.  We decorated the windows of our motor home for the game. We pulled in just as the broadcast started and were trying hard to check in quickly so as not to miss any part of the game.  At the time, a couple owned it and the wife worked the front desk.  She saw the window decorations, told us what space we were in and said to come back and finish check in during a break in the game.  She may have been the secret Game 1 good luck charm for the Diamondbacks.  They have a group of campsites in a horseshoe shape with a giant fire pit in the middle complete with four giant log benches.  The owners stacked wood and a fellow camper started the fire.  People from nearby campsites would come and sit by the fire and we got to meet some really neat people from lots of different places.  The last time we stayed there we found out they were under new management.  We were sad to see the group fire pit was no more.  Our ongoing drought probably scared the new owners in regards to a brush fire.  Once a nightly hub of activity, it now sat empty the entire weekend.

We’ve done the Pink Jeep Tour twice and taken our own Jeep on many of the trails nearby.  It is a fun place to trail ride in a Jeep and I’m looking forward to taking our RZR there.

None of our visits to Sedona ever happened after a winter storm, until last year.  Our church was hosting a pastor’s conference, Mark and I volunteered to drive one of the vans up for a day trip.  It was the day after a pretty good snow storm for Sedona.  Boy, if you think the red rocks are pretty in the summer, a light blanket of snow added to their beauty by leaps and bounds.

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been to Sedona.  For us, it’s a great weekend trip that feels like you’re a million miles away.  Every visit is magic to my soul.  Maybe there really is a special vortex.