Beautiful Sedona

We are on vacation! We arrived in Phoenix about noon yesterday and after picking up our rental car arrived in Sedona around 3 pm. What an amazing experience to drive into Sedona and start to see these incredible red rock mountains! It is almost impossible to talk about, they are so beautiful and breathtaking. And they are there wherever you turn, just amazing. I can't imagine what it is like to live here and see this scenery wherever you go. I wonder if they get used to it. I was going crazy. After checking into our hotel and relaxing for awhile and checking out the pool and the spa facilities, we drove into town and had dinner and my first margarita (in Arizona) at the Barking Frog Restaurant. Today, we woke up early (still on east coast time) and took a long pre-dawn walk around the golf course here and we were able to see the sun rise over the beautiful mountains. What a way to wake up!

We decided just to have breakfast at the hotel because they have a nice outdoor restaurant. I love eating all our meals outside. After some eggs and pancakes we took about a 4-mile hike up toward Bell Rock and Courthouse Rock.

It was nice when we started out but started to get hot towards the end. We were dying of thirst after the hike (we weren't very prepared)  so we stopped and bought a styro cooler and filled it with ice and waters to keep in the car. Then we headed up 89A towards Flagstaff, which is supposed to be a beautiful drive. We stopped at Slide Rock Park which was alot of fun and dipped our feet in the water. What a fun place for families with kids. Then we drove up through Oak Creek Canyon with beautiful views of the pine-tree filled canyon. Then lunch back in Sedona at the Cowboy Cafe (fish tacos), where we had a great server--he is from Richmond--and we got to know the table next to us who was a young couple from Budapest and they are both race car drivers--in Hungary--who knew?!

After all this strenuous exercise and eating, we were ready for some relaxing at the hotel. Walt decided to swim laps at the pool and I sat by the pool and read for an hour or so.

Then it was off to watch the sunset up on Airport Road (our server last night told us it was THE place to watch the sunset), and when we arrived there about 6:00 there were tons of people already there with their tripods set up.

We found a great place for dinner, Creekside Restaurant, and had another delicious meal. I was more than ready for a glass or two of pinot grigio. A great day but we are both exhausted and ready for bed. Tomorrow we see the Grand Canyon!!