Day 14 - reposting Day 14 - October 3 We are in Sedona, Arizona. Sedona is known for its red-rock buttes, mesas, and canyon walls that are formed from a rosy colored sandstone, and rise into a beautiful blue sky. We head out this morning to explore and our first stop is Bell Rock which is aptly named. There is a parking lot at the foot of this formation, and several hiking trails that lead up to the top. The trails have various levels of difficulty and we start up one that is labeled “easy”. It is not easy at all, and after traveling for 2 weeks, we are tired and hiking steep trails is not what we want to do today. So, we decide to get in the van and ride around. We visit a small catholic church, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, that has been built into the side of the red rock mountain. It sits high above the road below and seems to grow directly from the rock. From there we can see on the adjacent mountain cliffs carvings that were done by Indians many years ago. We can also see a beautiful mansion that looks out of place in the valley below. After riding around all morning, we stop and book a jeep tour with Adventure Jeep Tours. It will take us up Schnebly Hill Road east of Sedona. There were several choices of tours and we choose one that is not supposed to be rough. We head up the mountain with our tour guide, Shawn, in an open jeep. The views are superb, but “rough” does not begin to describe how bumpy this ride is! I can’t imagine what the “rough” tour, the one recommended for kids, would be like! This ride is so scary that at times I am afraid that we are going to bounce right off the side of the mountain! And not only is the road bumpy, but it is also very dusty! Most of the vehicles we meet on the road are also jeeps which belong to tour companies. We meet a few people on the road who are in cars. I am guessing these people are in rented vehicles or wishing they were! As rough as this road is, I am sure glad we are not in our van! The bumper of one car is hanging to the ground. Near the top of the mountain we meet an enormous motor home with an older couple in it. They look frightened! Shawn says they got on this road at the top of the mountain. The entrance at the top is only paved for a short distance, and once you get to a certain point there is nowhere to turn a vehicle as large as a motor home around. They will have to travel all the way to the bottom of the mountain. I can’t imagine what kind of shape that motor home will be in by the time they get off of this road. The Schnebly Hill overlook, at the top of the mountain, gives us an astonishing view! Shawn offers to take pictures of us, and suggests that we sit on some large rocks that are hanging over the edge of the mountain. But, the wind is blowing incredibly hard and we are all leery of getting that close to the edge and putting any weight on those rocks! After our tour, we eat supper at Oaxaca (wa’ ha’ ka) Restaurant. The view from the rooftop cantina is beautiful, and it seems like a great place to eat, but as soon as the sun sets the temperature begins to drop, and before we finish eating we are freezing! We stop at a candy shop for dessert before heading to Sedona Summit, a time-share condo, where we will spend the next two nights. The condo is really nice with adjoining rooms, two kitchens, and best of all, a washer and dryer. After two weeks on the road, we have just about run out of clean clothes, so we start the washer as soon as we arrive.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:53:49 +0000
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