Sedona is in the heart of "Red Rock Country" in the Southwest United States. It is also known as a "vortex" of New Age vibrations, and is just a lovely place to kick back. In April, 2004 my Mom and Dad and travelling companion Joyce spent some time there.
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We stayed in a lovely private home called alternatively "The Enchanted Sanctuary" or "The Dragonfly Spirit House". It included a fountain (complete with croaking frogs) and many little private meditation areas and was decorated with a miscellany of dragonflies, buddhas and other chachkis. |
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No place was more amazing than "The Mountain" behind the house, which backed up on State Forest land. The trek up some 86 steps was well worth the effort. |
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Sunsets from the top of The Mountain were pretty spectacular. You can see where the "Red Rock Country" moniker came from. |
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There were scenic vistas everywhere around. Here's one we stumbled upon when driving around. |
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The area was home for many years to Native Americans - mainly the Anasazi, many of whom built dwellings at the base of the rocks which are still extant. This one had a doorway with a wooden lintel that was about 700 years old. |
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The Grand Canyon is only a couple hours away. Dad hadn't seen it since 1951, and none of the rest of us had seen it at all (at least from the top - I saw it from the bottom on my rafting trip in 2001). |
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Of course, until you've actually seen it, the immensity of the place cannot be adequately described. From the river you can rarely see the top of the canyon, so seeing it from this perspective was amazing. |
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As you can rarely see the top of the canyon from the river, you rarely get a glimpse of the river from above. Because most of the river (and its particulate matter) is now behind dams, the Colorado no longer runs red as its name implies, but is a startling blue. |
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Another highlight of the trip was an early-morning balloon ride. Here the guys are heating up the air inside the canopy. The propane burners produce a huge flame and lots of noise. |
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The sensation when travelling in the balloon is remarkable. Because you are travelling with the wind, there is no sensation of wind in your face; You are simply floating along in a peaceful silence (except when the propane burners are going). |
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We had an unusual experience in that the wind petered out before our pilot could get us to an accessible landing spot. So we came down in a relatively open spot and the crew from the other balloon came and attached tethers to the balloon and "walked" it over a ridge. We then had a very nice cross-country walk to get to the chase vehicles. |