Today, we bid a fond adieu to Flagstaff and relocate to
Sedona. Neither of us have ever been there before, so we are excited to visit
Red Rock country. (As if we haven’t seen a lot of Red Rock country already!)
We enjoy a leisurely morning and finally hit the road (Hwy
89A) south at about 11:00 AM. It is gorgeous! However, it seems to be that time
of year; there is more highway construction going on for this road. They are
widening 7 or 8 miles (near Flagstaff) from 2 lanes to 4. There is
a long section of road that is restricted to one lane of traffic only, so we get to wait patiently for our
turn. The scenery is pine forest. Sort of like the eastern
slopes of the Cascades in Washington.
After the construction, we enter a narrow, 2-lane section of
highway that twists through the Oak Creek Canyon. After a few miles, the canyon
opens up and starts to transition to Red Rock.
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| Highway 89A North of Sedona |
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| Getting Close to Sedona |
Finally, we are in Sedona:
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| Sedona |
We locate our lodgings for the next two nights in the West
section of town.
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| Casa Sedona 1 |
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| Casa Sedona 2 |
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| Cactus in Bloom in the Garden |
We wander into the office area and learn that check-in time
is 3:00. We’ll head to lunch and return in a few hours, but before we do, we
need a “pit stop”. Amy goes first. She comes out of the restroom and declares,
“you must experience this!” I take my turn, and now I feel that I really have
arrived in Sedona! There is soft flute music playing. An electric candle
burning sets the visual mood with soft light. I have never had such a visit to
the toilet. This is the Sedona of Myth. Are we in a Vortex?
I tear myself away and we get in the car to head to the
Uptown District. But as we drive along the highway, I see it! I stop
and get photographic proof! There really is a McDonald’s with no golden arches! (The arches are against the building code in Sedona.)
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| McDonald's, Sedona Style |
I have wanted to see this establishment ever since I read
about it over 20 years ago! Check one more item off my bucket list!
The next order of business is lunch. Back to the Highway and
back to Uptown. We park the car and head on foot toward Hwy 89. A woman is coming
toward us with a plastic bag obviously carrying take-out. Since she looks every
bit the local, we ask her about food and she directs us to the Outlaw Grille. Amy
has a chicken sandwich and I have a burger, both very good.
After lunch, we walk up one side of the Highway and down
the other, whiling away the time until we can check in. This is the first day
of our trip that is truly hot. It must be pushing 90. Three o’clock comes and we
check into the Casa Sedona Inn.
We get the lay of the land from the owner, Kim, and ask her about dinner suggestions, saying we are considering Mariposa.
Enthusiastically seconding our choice, she offers to call the restaurant to
engage their van to pick us up and later bring us back. The X3 will stay
parked!
After relaxing in the room to recover from the drive and the
heat, we dress for dinner and await our driver on the garden swing in the front
of Inn. Eric shows up at the appointed time and whisks us to our meal. We are very early for our reservation because we want to sit in the
patio, which we can if we wait our turn in the bar. After a short, but enjoyable
wait, we get the call and get seated in the Patio.
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| Mountains in Sedona from the Mariposa Patio |
Dinner was very good. The setting was superb. Amy had
lemon-roasted chicken. I had steak and potatoes au gratin. We were too stuffed
for dessert, so we rode (with Eric) back to the Inn. One final item for the
night was to enjoy the backyard Hot Tub under the stars. And wow, were the
stars out over Sedona. Life is Good!
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