Day 4-6: Flasgstaff to Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon
After the Grand Canyon, we stayed two nights in Flagstaff. We chose to stay in Flagstaff because it was in between several places we were going to and to be honest, a lot cheaper than Sedona! The first night, we found a great Indian restaurant for dinner. The place was PACKED, and only about 6 people were not Indian. In other words, we got the good stuff. Considering we'd spent the whole day in GCNP, we were able to eat aaalll the good stuff! We ate it so fast that I forgot to take a picture!
The next morning, we woke up and headed for Sedona, the city of enlightenment and energy vortexes. The drive itself was gorgeous, and took us along the Oak Creek Canyon, which was full of winding roads along the creek. We paused at the overlooks and loved the twisty roads. We saw a few cars pulling over at a park, and we decided to risk the $10 entrance fee. So glad we did! We stayed for two hours at Slide Rock State Park and got our first taste of the red rocks.
Slide Rock was a great little state park, and I can easily imagine it with its summer crowds. The park has a romantic history. It was originally the Pendley Homestead, a 43-acre apple farm. Frank Pendley acquired it under the 1910 Homestead Act, and you can see a lot of the original buildings and farm equipment. The farm has a creek that is full of interesting pools and slide rocks! Apparently it's a huge hit in the summer, and I would love to give it a go sometime.
We arrived in Sedona around 1pm and had lunch on the main avenue. You already have a feel for the town just by walking the first few blocks - lots of little upscale hippy shops, tourist shops selling a variety of trinkets and new age gems, and restaurants. While it was an enjoyable walk for a short time, I think it could become tiresome over a few days. I think the locals feel the same, as it was obviously mostly tourists walking around.
We wanted to get out in nature a bit and see a vortex, which are (supposedly) centers of energy that enhance meditation and healing. We chose the closest, Airport Mesa Vortex, and drove the short trip out of town and up Airport Road to the scenic viewpoint parking lot. We hiked the easy mile around the mesa to arrive at the vortex, which is situated on a mini mesa in front of the trailhead.
While I did not exactly "feel" any of the energies from the vortex, I admit that the beautiful scenery and quiet calm atop the mesa did make me feel uplifted and happy. The panoramic view of the red rocks was awe inspiring and I was content to simply sit and stare. We were lucky to get there when there were only a few other people, including a couple taking wedding photos. We stayed atop the mesa for a while, but as more and more people arrived for sunset, we decided to leave and begin the journey back to Flagstaff. I was glad we did, as we were afforded a little bit more daylight to stop at a last overlook before it became completely dark.
When we arrived back in Flagstaff, we took a rest in order to prepare for a late night - did I mention that it was New Year's Eve? :) We went downtown to view the great Ponderosa Pinecone drop (similar to NYC apple drop), and since we knew it would be cold, we put on ALL our layers. It was very obvious to us that we were the only ones not prepared for cold weather. In fact, everyone kept remarking on how unseasonably warm it was! We saw several people wandering around in sweatshirts only - I would have died haha.
The jovial crowd great in the square until it was time for the pine cone to drop! It was cute, and everyone cheered and kissed and drank! Feeling good, we left about 5 minutes after midnight and went home to sleep. What a wonderful way to end the year!
The next morning, we wanted to start the year right...with copious amounts of food! We went to MartAnnes Breakfast Palace, and boy was it good. The decor is really interesting, and the plates were massive. I had a Mexican twist on Eggs Florentine and a Bloody Mary. Yes ma'am!
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