Sedona, I Love You

How do you describe a feeling to another person and have it be enough? I think you can try to explain, but it's best if the other person can experience it for themselves. However, I can't fly all of you to Sedona so I'm going to do my best to tell you what I thought.

It was an amazing time. Both Matt and I agree it is the place we want to return to the soonest - how nice to have Arizona as your neighboring state :)

As for the feeling, it sort of started on Friday as we drove down the mountain and into Sedona itself, and then grew overnight and into the next day. I had a pervading sense of calm, I felt light and good and happy and easy. Things were simply pleasant and I can understand why people flock to the area if they all had the same sensations that I did.

To get into the spiritual mood of the place on Saturday we went first to a place called the Mystical Bazaar to have our Aura photos taken. This was a move inspired by Harry and Linda who had theirs done recently and I was super interested in it. I also thought it would be a good time to go because Matt and I are very much in transition mode right now and I think if we have them done again in 6 months or a year it will show growth and change and be real interesting. I am not the most meditative person so mine is a little fuzzy in spots but I think it was really accurate (I'm a yellow). Matt, who can be still and calm always, had an amazing picture and impressed the woman who took the photos (he's an orange). So if this was a competition, he totally kicked my aura photo's ass. I hate not winning, but yes, yes I realize that's not the point . . .

Next on the agenda was searching for a vortex. I've lifted the following definition straight from wikipedia because I'm not sure how else to explain it:

In fluid dynamics, a vortex is a region within a fluid where the flow is mostly a spinning motion about an imaginary axis, straight or curved. That motion pattern is called a vortical flow. (The original and most common plural of "vortex" is vortices, although vortexes is often used too.

Now thats not exactly what they are meaning in Sedona but it gives you the idea of spinning in either air or water. Kind of like an invisible tiny tornado that lives in a certain spot. Now imagine that it's not water or air that spins, but energy. They believe that Oak Creek, which runs through the whole town, carries energy with it and it permeates the valley from the flowing water outwards. At certain places the energy spins and gets stronger. That is a Sedona Vortex.

There are supposed to be four vortexes that people agree on and we wanted to see a few of them because we were curious. Also, it is so beautiful everywhere that even if we didn't find energy, we would still find a great hike and scenery. Our first walk was a trail out to Bell Rock which is surprisingly enough a rock shaped sorta like a bell.

This was our first trip to a vortex sight - Bell Rock itself is on one or is one - but it was kind a far walk without changing much. The views remained the same for over a mile and we had so much more to see that we decided not to go the whole way but try another place. Our list of things we wanted to do was very long anyway.

As we were walking back to the car Matt spotted where a snake had slipped out of his skin. A little piece is now part of our car display, anchored by the alligator so it won't blow away.

This is when we took a break for lunch - nothing fancy, just a little Chinese for him and Japanese for me. Yes, I did eat sushi in Arizona. It wasn't bad. We had left overs which we dropped off in our room and then it was off to the next sight.

On the road to the Sedona airport there are two things to see. The first is the view from the lookout.

The second is a spot where you can pull of the road and park next to a rock called Airport Mesa. This is another vortex place and it is the easiest to get to. We got out and scrambled up the rock to sit on the top. For as busy as Sedona was - there were people everywhere - we were able to sit at the top of the mesa in relative quiet with only 3 other people. It was very pleasant. Matt was super amused with my particular version of climbing up the rocks. It was a hybrid of trying not to slip out of my sandals, not looking down, and making an effort to breathe normal - high altitude isn't really my friend. Here I am at my most graceful.

I don't want to over scenery you but the view from this spot was brilliant so I'm going to anyway. I just lay down on my back at the top and relaxed in the sun. Matt sat with me for a bit and then took the following 5 pictures which are a 360 degree view from the Mesa summit.

On the way back to the ground we climbed down the back of the hill instead of the steeper front. I found an obliging tree to rest in about halfway.

I don't know if I felt a vortex at this spot, but then I am a rather pragmatic person and I think I'd have to be literally knocked over to know for sure. The subtler vibrations in the world are often to mild for me to notice. But I'll tell you all this; I felt good when we came down off the hill. For the first time in weeks my back felt ok and not sore from horseback riding over a month ago. Being an overly analytical girl I could attribute this to the exercise of the day or the laying on my back on the warm rocks. Or it could just be that I was healing all along and just really noticed it then. What I do know is that I felt movement like I hadn't been able to in a long while. And I was really happy, too. If that is a vortex, then go vortexes! If it was just happiness and relaxation at being in a wonderful location with the man I'm crazy about, that's alright by me, too.

Now we made the decision to not search out the other vortex locations because it was getting later in the afternoon, but instead go straight to the source: Oak Creek. If this is where the energy comes from we should check it out. There is a spot called Crescent Moon Park which has a great view of Cathedral Rock and a path along the river itself.

When we got to the park we left the car and walked down a paved path to the water. As soon as we get close, and Matt sees that it is rather shallow, he's got his shoes off and is in the creek! That boy has water in his veins I swear. He just needs to be around it - or in it - to be happy. I'm a fan of the wet stuff, too, and he persuaded me to wade in with him. Let me tell you - it was Cold. So cold my toes were numb in mere seconds, but I'm glad I went in. The bottom of the creek was slick with claylike mud and it felt neat under my feet. Matt stayed in much longer than I did. He says that the view from the middle was simply amazing. It was too cold to see for myself, but he had his camera :)

The walk then took us into the woods where we saw -

wait for it -

DUCKS!

That's right, the Food For Duckers encountered actual, in the wild, cute as a button ducks. I figured I would spell out FFD with ducks in the background because, why not? Matt doesn't like my 'D' but I'm not a contortionist so this is as good as it gets.

A little farther again and we came across these amazing cairns that people had built all over this one part of the forest. They were feats of balance and strength in some cases which was very wild. The overall effects was lovely. We had to add one of our own to the display.

I simply had to dance through them. Here are two really amazing ones:

It was at this point that the mosquitos came out and decided I was dinner so we turned back towards the car. The sun was setting and we wanted to be somewhere higher to see it. On the drive out of the park and back to the main road we passed a spot where a lot of other cars were pulled over so we got out to look. It was perfect. A nice couple took our photo and we got to watch the mountains turn a lovely shade of deep red in the light.

For dinner this night we wanted something low key. The night before had been so fancy, and now we were a little tired from all the hiking around and there was a brewery within walking distance. Luckily we hadn't brought a gun so the bartender served us (joking people; it was hidden in my purse).

That was our amazing Saturday. We had a big day planned for Sunday so we hit the hay early. I slept like a log - it was nice.

Holy Scenery, Batman

On Friday Matt and I left New Mexico and entered the most amazingly gorgeous, scenery-ful, cool, neat and swell place ever, known in layman's terms as Arizona. We both took a ridiculous amount of pictures because we had no choice. Everywhere we looked there was another awesome hill or rock or something and we were forced to document it. I will make the herculean attempt to not post every single one of them on here.

First order of the day was to get gas and start the drive from Grants, NM to our destination of Sedona, AZ. While we were in the gas station Matt noticed a little stand of wild sunflowers and picked one to add to our collection of car things. Very pretty.

And then we were off for real. The drive was supposed to take only four hours so we decided to find something to see on the way. We decided on a meteor crater because it sounded cool. Then we looked at the price and it was gonna be $16 each to look at a hole in the ground. We are going to see the Grand Canyon, a much more epic hole, so we passed on that and headed for our second choice, the Petrified Forest. We got lucky here, because it was so completely amazing, no crater could have lived up to it.

We drove about 2 hours and then we were at the park. You drive in and there are all of these little pull over spots where you can park for a bit and see the view. What was really funny is that for many of them you don't know what the view is going to be of until you pull off the road. As we are approaching the first one Matt says 'do you want to stop at this one, it doesn't look like much'. I said yes so off we go and as soon as we get to the edge he immediately starts swearing like a trucker. And yes, it is swear-worthy. The next few stops were also just as wild. This is what we saw:

That is the Painted Desert which borders the Petrified Forest to the North.

This one is the Painted Desert transitioning into the Badlands.

And this is the Badlands themselves. Now we were looking for a certain place to stop because there was a pueblo ruin from the 1300s located on the top of a hill and you could get out and walk around.
It didn't disappoint either. There was the ruin itself which has been reduced over the centuries to a low brick wall outlining what once were the rooms. The part I liked the best were the petroglyphs - pictures chipped into the surrounding rocks - which dotted the landscape. No one knows exactly what the different symbols mean anymore, but they are beautiful regardless of purpose.

A little more driving and we came to the location of the petrified wood that the park is named for.

The creepy bird was just an added bonus!

Matt had really wanted a piece of the wood but you aren't supposed to remove any from the park. However, and I find this odd, they will sell you a piece. I get not taking any so it's there for future generations, but then why are they taking it out of the park themselves? There was a booth at the exit of the park with signs leading up to it saying to prepare for a car inspection. We pull up to the booth window and here is how the scary inspection went:

Park Ranger - "Did you take anything out of the park?"
Us - "No"
Park Ranger - "Ok"

Wow.

We had spent a few hours in the park - much longer than we had planned but it was too pretty to rush through - so we called ahead to the Motel we were going to be staying at to let them know we wouldn't be checking in til 6.

For a little part of the way we were on the old Route 66 and passed a bunch of really cute old motels and restaurants. Our favorite was a place with fake wigwams that you could sleep in with vintage cars parked outside.

For some reason both of our phones changed to an hour earlier when we were almost at Flagstaff. This made no sense because the time zone is at the Cali border, not the middle of the state, so I had to google it. Apparently Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time so it was an hour earlier than we'd been thinking all day. Our phones just took a while to pick up on that. This means we are now 3 hours different from the East Coast!

The last hour of driving was the prettiest of the whole day. You turn South from Flagstaff and head into the Coconino National Park which winds from about 7000 feet down the sides of mountains to Sedona at 4500 feet. About half way down the forest begins to transition into the red rocks that the area is famous for. Add to that a setting sun and a nearly full moon and it was the loveliest thing ever.

Here Matt is concentrating on not killing us around the super sharp turns.

The cute motel we checked into had a nice view - the truck really enjoyed it :)

For dinner our first night we wanted to have something nice and tasty so we went to a wonderful restaurant called L'Auberge De Sedona. Oh my it was tasty. Matt got their foie gras because he won't be able to have it in California (it is banned there) and he liked it better than the foie he had at Corton when we were in New York. They had a great wine list and the waiter was a trip so we had a good time. After all the driving and walking and the time changing we were tired early and didn't have coffee or desert.

We headed back to the motel to get a good night's sleep. Hiking and searching for a vortex was on the agenda for Saturday and we were both wiped out.

Zzzzzz

I'll tell you about Saturday next time.

Thirsty, Cowboy?

To pick up where I left off; here is a quick recap:

Sunday 21st - drive from Oklahoma City, through Kansas, to Lamar, CO for the night
Monday 22nd - drive from Lamar to Colorado Springs, check into hotel and hang out
Tuesday 23rd - visit Garden of the Gods

So now I'll fill you in on what happened next.

Garden of the Gods park was about halfway from our hotel to our next destination in the little neighboring town of Manitou Springs. We were off to see the Anasazi Cliff Dwellings. These are very old structures from the Anasazi culture that were relocated from Cortez, CO with the help of archaeologists and anthropologists in 1904 to Manitou Springs to be a preserve and museum. They kept everything exactly as they had found it and opened it up to the public in 1907. It was truly amazing to be able to walk through the site and touch everything!

Here we have Matt in the tallest doorway on site. This is the ONLY time he could walk into a building without having to crouch down and scramble through. 

I loved that they let you go into the homes and really explore. I was struck by the tiny size of everything. These people must have either been very short naturally, or they didn't expect to stand up inside ever.

There was a balcony on one of the buildings and while I couldn't get far enough away to really show it, I thought it was the funniest thing to see Matt standing up there taking in the view.

For some reason they also had a fake tipi set up. I find it kind of random/awesome that they put up a structure that wasn't used by any native populations for miles and miles (we were in the mountains, they were used on the plains) but just went for it anyway. They even had a sign up saying it wasn't used in Colorado?!?! Perhaps somebody just likes a good tipi??

By now we were hungry so we drove into downtown Manitou Springs and found a place called Adam's Mountain Cafe. It was lovely. They had a menu using mostly locally sourced foods and a wine list that was full of biodynamic (and tasty) options. It was also nice to sit down because we'd been walking around for a while and I'd been having trouble breathing normally at this altitude. What a baby I am. Stupid lungs; WORK!

So in an effort of sitting a little longer we went to a wine tasting after lunch. It was at a little shop called D'Vine Wines and it was kinda weird and interesting. Apparently there are people in the Lodi area of California who grow the grapes for them and pre-stomp it, then ship it to their stores where they finish the wine making process in small batches. I've got to say it really wasn't the best wine I've ever had but the guy working there was nice and entertaining. And Matt and I made the incredible discovery that he has a bigger fist than I do, so that's something.

Now that I had my man all happily lubricated I floated the brilliant idea of having our picture taken at the Olde Tyme Photography Studio. He said 'Yes'!!! Now came the vitally important decision: do we do Victorian, Wild West or '20s style?

Obviously the answer is Old West. We were in Colorado after all, not Savannah or Chicago and I like to firmly adhere to 'When in Rome' (unless I don't want to . . .)

This was such a fun thing to do. The girl who took our picture was great. She accessorized us both with costumes and props and took a bunch of shots so we could find one we liked. The whole time she was shooting she kept saying things like 'chin up, Cowboy' or 'head towards me, Saloon Girl'. She never asked us our names but called Matt Cowboy and me Saloon Girl the whole time. I loved this!!

What I found so amusing, besides the obvious fact that we were all dressed up was that Matt was having trouble keeping a straight face. He always looks like a convict in photos unless I ask him to smile (and I say that with love, of course, but its true). Yet, here we were in a situation where it would look more authentic to NOT smile and he kept smirking! What a funny guy. We took about 10 shots and narrowed it down to 2 that we liked. Matt looks eerily the same in them both, but I am smiling in one and not in the other. We had a difference of opinion in which one I looked better so we just had to buy them both. There is a possibility I am an ego maniac. Not having a scanner I couldn't put a perfect one on here for you all to see, but I took a picture of the picture so you can get the idea.

By now we both had to pee real bad (after lunch and wine tasting I'm sure you understand) so we really had no choice but to stop at a place called Swirl to sample a little more wine - for me - and beer - for Matt - and use the facilities. This bar and wine shop was recommended in our Lonely Planet guide and it didn't disappoint. The people were so kind, the wine and beer delicious and the atmosphere was fun and relaxing.

That was our Tuesday. After Swirl we headed back to the hotel, it had been a long day and we planned on doing the Cog Railway up to Pikes Peak on Wednesday (which I've already written about in the previous blog).

On Wednesday we went up to Pikes Peak which took a lot out of us because it was so high up and took all afternoon.

After our trip up and down the mountain we went back to the hotel for our last night, rented and watched The Avengers - I flipping' love super hero movies - and went to bed early.

Thursday morning we checked out of the hotel and drove for a LONG time to pass through Albuquerque New Mexico and stop at a random Days Inn along route 40. The scenery was so beautiful as it changed from the mountains to the desert. Matt and I both agreed that there was no way to take a picture of the world when it looks like this so if you want to see what we saw you'll have to Google it. Take my word for it, it is so lovely.

Today, Friday, we are heading to Sedona for a few nights. Matt keeps reminding me as I write this that we have to check out and get driving in about 40 minutes and I still haven't showered, so I'm going to go get cleaned up . . .