Sedona

The desert off 160.

From Pagosa Springs, CO to Sedona there is a lot of desert.  I took US-160 most of the way there.  At points there I could only see orangish dirt and miles of road ahead and behind me.  There are few towns along this road and the ones that I passed through present the idea of a completely new way of life.  There is no shade, there is no water, there are few trees.  I admire the people who manage it.

First green after the desert.

I was able to pass through the four corners on my way to Sedona (one of the big plusses of being on 160).  As I was doing a backbend over the state lines I couldn't help but feel I had bested poor Jamie Sullivan who only got to be in two places at once (see: A Walk To Remember).  Once I got to Flagstaff, however, I was surprised (and a little relieved) to find a lot of green.  The Coconino National Forest on the way to Sedona is one of the most beautiful parks that I've ever seen.  Driving down the canyon on 89 A (my friend Bianca joked "how many 89s do they need in Arizona") I decided that this was my favorite part of the trip so far.  The red rocks tower over a forest of evergreens as the road winds downwards towards the town of Sedona.

Flagstaff

Once I got to my great Aunts' house I was taken on a little tour of their community...by golf cart!  It is a cute area with small roads and small houses with beautiful and unique gardens.  They took me out for a lovely meal at the Bistro located at the resort just down the streed.  I had vegetarian lasagna with everything from fried carrots with espresso powder on top to yellow squash, snap peas, and corn salad (with crushed corn-chips).  The lasagna was also rolled in individual sheets rather than layered so it looked much fancier.  The rest of the night was spent looking at picture albums of the family and then it was off to bed early because I was getting up the next morning at 5AM.

The red rocks of Sedona

The tourist bit of Sedona

 So, the next morning I got up at 5 and was surprised to find that the sun was up (or nearly there) and it was rather light.  This was very helpful (plus the cup and a half of coffee my Aunt Patti made for me). The three of us (my aunts and me) sat around drinking coffee out of mickey mouse mugs (they love Mickey) as I made a PB and J (not your average "J" either, I had Prickly Pear Cactus Jam!) and they loaded me up with an assortment of groceries including chips, 2 half loaves of bread, Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and a couple apples and oranges.

My aunts' backyard.

The sign for the community my aunts live in

So it was a bit over 7 hours but I made it to LA by 2pm PT.