Why am I writing this at well past midnight, you may ask? Because I had hot chocolate a couple of hours before bedtime and am still on a caffeine and sugar high. When will I learn?
When I first heard of Sedona Arizona many years ago, it seemed to be a quiet place, newly discovered. I pictured in my mind a big open valley surrounded by red rock formations, with a few people doing yoga. I wish I had seen it then, it must have been beautiful. It still is, but the large valley is now filled with businesses, shops, housing developments, wide boulevards and gated communities that encroach upon those red rock formations. It is a bustling metropolis. Does this seem right to you? A part of me wishes it had been turned into a national park before the developers took over.
Can you imagine having Sugar Loaf Mountain in your back yard? I think it should belong to the world.
Despite all this, I enjoyed visiting Sedona anyway. It was worth seeing, and there still are areas that remain undeveloped.
We started off the day by driving through Oak Canyon on the road from Flagstaff to Sedona. Oak Canyon itself is stunning, but offers only a glimpse of what is yet to come.
We quickly found a road that led out of town and to a local park. The formations here were as beautiful as any we have seen on our trip so far.
We came to a road that led to ancient Indian ruins, but you can only travel the road with a guide. The ruins are on an Indian reservation. We will have to come back again some day to see those. We turned around and headed back to town.
We found a restaurant with huge picture windows where we could eat and watch the sun bathe the rocks in brilliant red and orange hues as it set:
A truly magical place, and we didn't even look for the healing vortexes that people talk about!
