Dorothy Piotrowski’s blog

On one hand we are sad and on the other hand we are happy.  We are sad because we are leaving Sedona but we are happy because we still have a few more days of vacation.  We got the car packed up and were on the road by 9am.  We did make a couple of stops on the way back to Albuquerque.  One of them was at Oak Creek Vista and what was great about this stop, was that there were Native Americans selling arts and crafts.  Beautiful scenery and shopping … what a combination. 

The drive back to Albuquerque seemed long.  I think it was because we lost an hour due to a time zone change.  There were high winds, and tumbleweeds were blowing across the highway.  Beautiful scenery and blue skies the whole way. 

We checked back into the Monterey Non-Smokers Motel and the the owner let us know that there was an accident at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta today.  We watched the news and learned that they had cancelled the Wells Fargo Special Shape Glowdeo  but the AfterGlow Fireworks Show was still on.

We got to the Balloon Fiesta park and had just grabbed some dinner when the fireworks started.  It was a twenty minute spectular display.  We finished up our dinner and ended up walking around the park.

The evening ended curling up in front of the tv and laptop.  Hope the weather co-operates tomorrow, so that the balloons are able to go up. 

It’s our last day here in Sedona and we wanted to get an early start.  I picked up breakfast from the Wildflower Bread Company again which we enjoyed on our balcony.  We did a little shopping in uptown Sedona and then  hit the road.

We wanted to check out the Airport Vortex.  What is a vortex you may ask … “A Vortex is a giant magnet of energy that is either positive or negatively charged. Positive charged vortexes have feminine attributes: nurturing, calming and tranquil or yin. Negative vortexes are masculine, active, energizing or yang. “.  We didn’t actually make it all of the way to the top of the vortex because it was pretty steep, but the view was great from there.  As we were making our way down, a lady from New Jersey (Janet) took a really bad fall down the rocks with her husband (Jack) right behind her.  We got them to their car and drove them to the emergency medical center.

Our destination for today was the Oak Creek area.  Before getting there, we made a pitstop at Garland’s Indian Jewelry where we spent a bit of time and money, and learned a lot about Indian jewelry.  Fortunately for us, the Indian Gardens Country Store is right next door where we picked up a picnic lunch.  On our way to the car, we spoke with a man that had just captured a rattlesnake that was in the women’s bathroom.  He was kind enough to open the container to let us see what the snake looked like.  It was all coiled up in the corner.  Yikes.

Before we reached a picnic area, we came across many natives selling jewelry and other home-made crafts at some road-side stands.  Time for another stop, and more purchases.  We finally pulled over at the Banjo Bill Picnic Area and enjoyed our lunch on the banks of the Oak Creek.  It was absolutely beautiful there.  We got back in the car and drove about five minutes to the West Fork Trail.  We spent the next three and a half hours hiking approximately five miles, along the West Fork of Oak Creek.  We even had to cross the creek eight times, across stepping stones, or fallen trees.  More beautiful scenery.

We wanted to catch one more sunset so we headed to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  It was spectular.

The ranger at the West Fork Trail gave us a dinner recommendation, Casa Bonita.  We drove back to West Sedona and enjoyed a fine Mexican dinner.  Gotta love recommendations from the locals.

We went back to the hotel to pack and rest up.  Tomorrow we’re starting the third part of our journey.

We have been sleeping in the last few days because we know that when we get back to Albuquerque, we won’t be getting enough sleep.  We decided to have breakfast at the Coffee Pot restaurant … home of the 101 different types of omelettes.  I had fabulous fluffy pancakes, while Karen had the peanut butter and jelly omelette.  Strange but delicious. 

Today was a driving trip, to interesting places just outside of Sedona.  After stopping for some more photos of the stunning scenery on our way out of town, and a quick stop at an outlet mall in Oak Creek, our first real planned stop was Montezuma Well.  It’s a natural sinkhole that’s 368 feet wide, and surrounded by 70 foot cliffs.  There were some interesting cliff dwellings built into the side of the cliffs, where people actually lived long ago.

Our next stop was Montezuma Castle.  It’s basically a high-rise apartment building built into the side of a cliff very long ago, and is one of the oldest and largest cliff dwellings in the entire Southwest.  About 35 people lived within the 20 rooms, way, way up high in the cliffs.  It was amazing to see how people would live over a thousand years ago.  What we couldn’t figure out was how the people would actually climb the cliffs to get into the building.

We left the castle and headed to Jerome.  Jerome is located on top of Cleopatra Hill, and is called the “City in the Sky”.  It used to be a mining town but now it’s a tourist destination.  We walked around the town checking out the various shops and the view.  The whole town is basically clinging to the side of the mountain.  Driving is challenging up there.  Very steep in every direction.

On our way back to Sedona, the sun was starting to set.  So we drove the Lower Red Rock Loop Road, looking for the ultimate sunset photo.

We got back to the hotel and walked over to The Cowboy Club where we enjoyed a really good meal.  This place is very popular, and the food is superb.  We started with the Cactus Fries (which are Napolitas cactus strips dusted in seasoned flour and flash fried, served with prickly pear dipping sauce).  Not something you would ever find at home, but very tasty.   

Then it was back to the hotel for some R&R, before our final day of hiking and photography. 

We decided that we wanted to see a sunrise so we got up early (before 6am) and made our way to Schnebly Hill Road.  We walked around a bit and took some photos of the sun on the red rocks, and the town of Sedona below us, but there was no real sunrise over the rocks above us.  We thought we might as well go over to the Chapel of the Holy Cross to see if the view would be any better.  Since we enjoyed the Wildflower Bread Company yesterday, we picked up some yummy breakfast and headed back to the hotel.  (This was all BEFORE 8:00 AM.)

Karen received a list of places to take pictures around Sedona from Derek Von Briesen.  He recommended a place called Red Rock Crossing at the Crescent Moon Picnic area which is part of the Coconino National Forest.  First we went to check out Derek’s photos at Sedona Arts Center, and now we have something to aspire to.   

We got to Crescent Moon and the first thing we did was have a great picnic lunch compliments of Safeway.  We then spent the entire afternoon hiking along Oak Creek while photographing Cathedral Rock.  Towards the late afternoon, we finally found Red Rock Crossing and then took many many pictures as the sun was setting over Cathedral Rock.  This area is where the famous photos of Sedona have been taken.  We stayed until the sun had set, and the colours of the rocks changed as we watched.  It was really amazing.   

We had a hankering for Thai food and “Jack” was able to find us Thai Spices.  We picked up dinner which we enjoyed back at the hotel, while making plans for another day in beautiful Sedona.  After an entire day of photography, from sunrise to sunset, it’s time for a sleep in day tomorrow.

It was really nice sleeping in today.  And waking up to the magnificent view, including Snoopy Rock, right outside our balcony door.  Karen did lots of research on Trip Advisor and one of the restaurants that she found was the Wildflower Bread Company.  Everyone recommended it for breakfast.  We’re lucky that we are right in the middle of uptown Sedona and the restaurant was only a five minute walk.  We enjoyed our healthy breakfast on the outside patio with stunning views of the red rocks.  On our way back to the hotel, we stopped into the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and received lots of great information from Bob.

There are many things to see in Sedona and we decided to check out the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  The chapel is built into the side of the rocks.  We found it interesting that many people did not want to step inside the chapel.  We spent quite a bit of time here taking lots of pictures.  The setting is extremely beautiful, and the chapel was stunning.

Our next stop today was Tlaquepaque.  It is an arts and crafts village which has many galleries, shops and restaurants.  We walked around the village, took lots more pictures and ended up having lunch at El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano.  Very yummy tacos.

Karen got a recommendation that Schnebly Hill Road is a great place to check out the sunrises.  We thought we should drive up there to see what it’s like in the daylight.  All I can say is that it’s more stunning scenery.  It should be really nice tomorrow morning.

We were able to have a short rest before heading out on our Pink Jeep tour.  The tour is the number one thing to do in Sedona.  Here is the description from their website … “100% off road fun!  Eyes open wide on this fun-filled adventure that leads you on and over the red rocks while the magnificent canyon walls surround you.”.  We spent the next two hours laughing our butts off while Michael (our driver) took us on a dare-devil ride up rocks that you can’t imagine could ever be climbed in a jeep.  And down very steep steps in the rocks.  And through windy trails where you never know what is around the next bend, at what seemed like break-neck speed (but was actually 12 mph).  And out onto huge plateaus where the scenery was spectacular.  The tour makes two stops where you get to get out of the jeep and catch your breath.  There were a couple of times where I thought the jeep was going to tip over.  It was so cool to get that close to the red rocks.

After all of that bouncing around, it was time for dinner.  The man at our hotel’s front desk recommended The Hideaway.  It’s a locals’ place for Italian food.  What’s nice is that the restaurant overlooks the creek.  They serve really delicious food.

We ended the evening with a soak in the hot tub.