Sedona – 2018

We drove over to Sedona, AZ 5/21/2018 and spent 4 nights there.

One of the days there we drove the 100 miles or so to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for a revisit of that very special National Park. Photos from the visit were recorded in a separate blog post. Our very good friends, Phil & Rene Thompson drove up from Phoenix where they live and spent 2 nights with us in Sedona. We’ve visited Sedona a dozen times in the last 20 years. It is one of our favorite places. It is a metaphysical hub for those of that particular crowd – there are lots of shops in town to cater to their interests and everywhere you go you’ll hear and read of vortexes and the like. Their understanding of the forces at work in our universe is quite different from mine, but they are good people and Sedona is a welcome place for people from around the world of all spiritual and cultural viewpoints.

The scenery from the drive down twisty Oak Creek Canyon from Flagstaff to the red rock formations surrounding the town is incredible.

Coffee Pot Rock towers behind and over Darlene.

One of the places we visit each trip is Chapel on the Rock. The structure was completed in 1956 on National Forest land after being issued a special use permit to the Chapel’s creator. The Chapel was gifted to the Catholic Church after construction but is not used by them for regular worship services. Access is granted freely to the general public during daylight hours. It draws lots of tourists – there are spectacular red rock formation pictures to take in every direction from the elevated site – the simple architecture as it sits on the huge rock amazes. You can see that the base of the cross was designed to extend down into the natural relief of the rock which appears as 2 rocks from the front. I always sit inside for a few minutes on one of the bench pews. There is a feeling of peace I get while sitting there which cannot be described well. I don’t necessarily ascribe the feeling to any external source, but it is very real to me. It is unusual, but the outside courtyard with the views can have 100 people milling around taking pictures, but only some enter the always opened doors to the darkened interior, and even fewer will sit down on a pew for a few minutes. I personally am not drawn to Catholicism in any way, but this is a place of peace and comfort that always draws me for a revisit each time we’re in town.

We talked late into the evening each of the nights Phil & Rene were with us. They are a little younger than we are, but we have children and grandchildren of similar ages – we both are active members of Church of Christ congregations – Phil was minister of a congregation in Grand Junction, CO we attended in the 1980s. Some of the time is always spent discussing Bible passages which we enjoy hashing out, though not always agreeing with each other’s understanding of them. It is a blessing to have long-time special friends to share this life with.

Our last day in town Darlene and I spent a lot of time hiking and driving around enjoying the scenery and taking a few photos. We hiked the Teacup Trail at the north edge of town during the morning hours. It has great views of Coffee Pot Rock the entire length and ends with a panoramic overlook view of the Soldier’s Pass area. There are lots of trails to spend time on in the area for those who enjoy hiking.

There is so much scenery to see in the West that is breathtaking. The scenery is diverse even over short distances – changing from alpine to low desert within a couple hundred miles in some places. We feel so fortunate that over the years we’ve been able by auto and motorcycle to see a lot of it. Time demands that some of the places be a one-time drive-through – others, like Sedona keep calling for us to return. If was a fun trip – maybe circumstances will allow a return one day – we hope so.