Dorothy Piotrowski’s blog

Today is our last chance to see balloons.  We got up, got dressed and were at the park by 5:45am.  We took pillows and blankets with us and slept in the car while waiting for the balloon fiesta officials to determine if there would be a Mass Ascension.  After two pilot meetings at around 7:15am, they decided because of the winds, there would be no launches today.  Crap.  I’m so glad that we were able to see one Mass Ascension.  We went back to the hotel and had a nap until 9:30am.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to Old Town in search of breakfast.  We ended up at the Church Street Cafe.  The sopaipilla were yummy.  We spent an hour or so walking around Old Town taking pictures and checking out the stores.

Unfortunately it was time to leave.  Our flight home was through Baltimore.  We arrived in Buffalo at 10:45pm were home and in bed by 2:00am.

Another great vacation.

We got up at 4:30am and turned on the tv to see if the Mass Ascension at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was cancelled.  Nothing was cancelled yet so we decided to head to the Balloon Fiesta park.  We were lucky that we got a parking spot close to the gates which meant that we could have an hour nap.  At about 6:45am, they decided to cancel the Mass Ascension due to the high winds.  We quickly left and went back to the hotel for a couple of hours of sleep.

Since we had the whole day free, we decided to go to Santa Fe.  But first we needed breakfast and we went to the Frontier Restaurant since it was rated number four on Trip Advisor.  They are famous for their cinnamon rolls.  Yum-O!  The place was very busy, and they actually have signs hanging overhead telling you how many minutes in line, until you reach the counter to place your order!  (Just like Disneyland).  We also picked up some fabulous cupcakes from Cupcakeology.  I went with Red Velvet, Karen went with Oreo.  More Yum-O!

The drive to Santa Fe is only an hour from Albuquerque.  Our first stop was at the Jackalope store.  We wandered around looking at all of the stuff.  I always make a point to go and see the prairie dogs.  They are so cute.  We grabbed a quick bite at Tecolote Cafe,  a recommendation from Guy Fieri the host of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives“.  More Yum-O!

We found a parking spot very close to the Palace of the Governors which has Native Americans selling their crafts.  We just finished walking through when it started to rain which quickly turned into one inch hail.  The rain stopped as quickly as it started.  We walked around Old Town  Santa Fe checking out the various stores.

We got back to the car and fired up the laptop to see if the evening’s events at the balloon fiesta were still on.  Unfortunately everything was cancelled which meant that we didn’t need to get back to Albuquerque any time soon.  We decided to head over to Canyon Road which is Santa Fe’s art gallery district.  We spent the next hour driving around the neighborhood taking pictures.

We remembered that Rachael Ray had visited Santa Fe on her show “$40 A Day” and recommended the Cowgirl BBQ.  All we can say is even more Yum-O!  The place was hopping with a great band playing in the bar area.

We finished up the evening at the Santa Fe Place for some shopping before getting back to the hotel.

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.