A day in Sedona

This morning we set off for Sedona via Oak Creek Road, a road as full of twists and turns as any I've driven so far. Just a few miles from Sedona, we pulled off the road and took a short walk on a path through the woods. It was full of pine trees and had the wonderful odor of pines. I found it a welcome change from all of the red and white rocks we have been seeing for the past week or so. At one point we came to a little glade down by the creek and it was a pleasure to just stand there for a while in the shade of the trees and watch the water go by.


                                                             Main Street and hills beyond in Sedona, Arizona

 Describing Sedona presents a bit of a problem. After Zion and Bryce, and the Grand Canyon, I am running out of superlatives. I had hoped to save a few for Mesa Verde, but it seems I shall just have to repeat myself. The center of the town itself it just a couple blocks square with lots of stores selling expensive clothing and souvenirs - very yuppy. But what a place to build a town! From everywhere there are views of the huge red rock formations surrounding the town. Below the cliffs themselves there are trees and bushes providing the cliffs with a green base not present at our previous sites. The cliffs themselves, red with white rock above the red in some places, also have some trees growing on them, like soldiers straggling up the mountain with an advance guard that actually reaches the top.

After a light lunch of pastrami sandwich and a delicious slice of apple pie, we set off to find the Heritage Museum. We found signs pointing to it, but they never indicated the distance, so we ended up with a nice walk through town but never reached the museum.


It was a hot day, well into the nineties, and Elise was feeling worse instead of better, so we found what turned out to be a very pleasant motel for just $50.00 about seven miles from the center of town and settled in there for a long afternoon nap.

                                           Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona, Arizona

 We emerged from the motel around 5:00 (an hour earlier than in the surrounding states since Arizona is one of two states in the country that does not go on Daylight Saving Time). We drove to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was not far from our motel. I generally feel that in my various travels I have long since met my lifetime quota for looking at churches, but this one was definitely worth making an exception for. It is described as "Frank Lloyd Wright inspired" and is built into a high cliff. From the road we looked up and saw the back of the chapel surrounded by red rock. We then drove up to the front of the chapel via a driveway lined with a variety of cacti, some with clusters of small yellow fruit(?) to see the chapel itself. On the way we saw one man climbing on the rocks surrounding the building, just above the sign which said in five languages, "Do not climb on the rocks." Well, maybe he was just illiterate. The chapel itself was not large or ornate, but very beautiful. A plaque on the outer wall of the chapel told the story of the chapel's creation, from the initial inspiration of one woman, to the search for the site, and its final design and construction.

Afterwards we still had time for a short hike on one of the nearby trails, making sure we returned to our car before sunset.





                                          statue in Tlaquepaque Shopping Center, Sedona, AZ

Just outside the main center of Sedona is the very upscale Tlaquepaque shopping center. Most of the stores were closed when we arrived after 6:00, but it was interesting just to walk through the beautiful grounds decorated with trees and statues and to window shop. We did find an open art gallery and spent a little time browsing the paintings and other objects de art.

We ended our day by picking up a couple TV dinners at a small supermarket, and heating them up in the microwave in our room for dinner.