the hyatt in sedona is very beautiful and in a perfect location but a bit pricey. they have everything you could want in a resort. they have a full kitchens, dining rooms, fireplaces, shops, concierge service, a starbucks on location, multiple swimming pools, tennis cort, and much much more. our room was very nice and had a pretty view off the patio. there was construction going on but not during the time we where there. we ate breakfast at the sunflower that is on the resort grounds and it was very very good, everything is within walking distance. we ended up not paying a dime to stay there. the catch was we had to do a tour of the place and listened to a pitch about their time shares. we didn't really mind though because this is such a beautiful place. so if you have a little extra money that you want to spend or if you don't mind taking a 90 min tour try this place out.

my husband and i went on a helicopter ride in Sedona for our anniversary. it was so amazing and beautiful. there are a few different packages that you can do; one is the red rock roundup, two is the ancient ruins, and three is the Sedona deluxe. we decided on the ancient ruins tour because it was with in our price range. we got to the air port in the morning and met our pilot. he was a retired air force pilot and very knowledgeable of the canyons and history. once in the air we explored secret canyon's 2,000 foot red rock walls that you can't even get to by foot. we flew up and over the mogollon rim on what they called the "magic carpet ride" and explored more ancient sinagua Indian ruins. it is amazing to me that people use to live in these canyons and built homes out of the canyon walls. i would recommend some kinda motion sickness meds for the ride though if you have never been in a helicopter! overall it was a breath taking experience.

Sedona is one of those places that will take you breath away! it located in central Arizona off the 17. It is really easy to get there and a very pretty drive. all you do is take the 17 north, which is off the 10, for almost 100 miles. there are signs all over the freeway once you start getting close but if somehow you miss them exit on AZ-179 and turn left. after you exit you will drive for a little while, it looks like you are in the desert but all of a sudden these enormous red rocks shoot from the ground out of no where...it is so beautiful, i never get tired of it. Just keep going straight for a little while. you will drive through a small town that you might mistake for sedona but you have to keep going. 179 dead ends into sedona. i have been to sedona countless times and there are so many things that you can do there. from hiking to fishing and swimming, jeep tours, golfing, hot-air ballooning, horseback rides, helicopter rides and much much more. i have been on the helicopter ride and it was one of the most breathe taking things i have ever done. you can spend a day in Sedona just taking in the scenery: red rock, lush greenery, and the clear waters of Oak Creek.

If you think the desert is bare and ugly, you haven't been to the right parts. Sedona is breathtaking in it's own unique way. The red rocks aren't just called red because they are kind of red. They really are red and huge and you never stop wondering how they all got there. There are some really nice parks with hiking trails and some fishing too along creeks. If you really want to see the sites, you should probably look into the Red Rock Jeep Tours or even hot air balooning. I never did the hot air balooning because it was a bit out of my price range, but the red rock jeep tours were pretty sweet. You get to do some pretty sweet rock climbing and get up close and personal with these magnificent red rock cliffs. Plus they give you all the history on the area, which was interesting to me, but I'm kind of a nerd like that. I will say that the outfits the driver wore were a bit cheesy. I mean he had a freakin bandana tied around his neck. However, he did know his facts and kept it interesting and fascinating the whole time. Most of all, I recommend going here with amazing friends like I did to make it the perfect weekend. Krysta, an AZ local, and I have drove there a couple times while I lived in Phoenix for a while. Krysta and her hubby Nathan are still there for a while so if you want the hook up on where to go and 2 awesome people to go with - hit her up on my profile. :) She is the bestest friend I ever had and was the one who made me a Sedona admirer the first time. Oh, and if you do the jeep tour, I suggest doing the scenic rim tour in the morning when the sun is behind you hitting the rocks for the perfect pic. I went in the evening thinking the sunset would be a pretty setting for my date and I, but it was shining directly at me - so no good scenic rim pics :( We still had an amazing time though. ;)

We had to wake up kinda early today because we had the tour of the resort at 9 and we wanted to get our free breakfast before we toured the place. So we packed up and headed down stairs to check out and find the breakfast place. Well we found it and i was kinda surprised at how good it was. i was expecting it to be crappy because it was free but no...it was great! while we where eating we where talking about how much fun we had been having so far and we were not ready to leave yet. since i didn't work until Monday night and Nathan didn't have to work until Tues we decided to take a drive up to the Grand Canyon.

so we where off to the Grand Canyon. Nathan had never been there before and i hadn't been there since i was a kid. it is a nice drive, all you do it take the  89 through the canyon. the 89 is the road that the AZ-179 runs into in sedona. so the 89 will take you almost all the way into flagstaff. all you have to do is watch for signs. i think that the 89 turns into the 17 once you get really close to flag. once in flag take the 180 north and it runs right into the Grand Canyon.

We got into Sedona in the late morning. We stopped in the lower part of the town for some lunch before heading in. I have been coming to Sedona for a long time so I was excited to show everyone what it really has to offer. Once AZ-179 ends at the grand hyatt you can go right or left. if you go right you will go towards all the shops and then into a canyon. if you go left you will go up a hill where the small air port is and where one of my favorite spots is. i can never remember the name of the road you turn on but it is a left at the top of the hill.

well i decided rather than taking them to the shops i would take them there for the afternoon. this place is so beautiful, it has a cute little river and an amazing view. so we hiked around for a while until kami and bryan had to go because they had planned a jeep tour. But nathan and i stayed and hiked far into the forest.

after we where done hiking we decided we wanted to see what was beyond the shops and into the canyon. so we drove up and down this narrow road on the side of a huge cliff and we found some beautiful spots along the river.

well by this time is was already starting to get dark and we were not in the mood to drive all the way home. since we had just got our tax return back we decided to treat ourselves and stay the night at the grand hyatt. we didn't know how much it was going to be but as long as it was not crazy we didn't really care, this place is extremely nice. we ended up not paying a dime to stay there. the catch was we had to do a tour of the place the next morning and listened to a pitch about their time shares. we didn't really mind though because this is such a beautiful place and the rooms normally go for around 300+ a night.

so we went out to dinner at a pizza place and called it a night.

Laat in de Middag kwamen we via Cameron en Flagstaff in Sedona terecht. Bij de BurgerKing ff gebeld dat we daar stonen en ze zouden ons oppikken. We moesten uitkijken naar een witte ‘Cadillac’. Helemaal door de heuvels erachteraan gereden totdat we bij hun riante huis kwamen. Er stond ook nog een mooie Linclon voor de deur. Jonathan en Willie, zo heten respectievelijke onze gastheer  en vrouw. Twee hele aardige mensen die zo lief waren om twee ‘vreemden’in huis te nemen om er te overnachten, want zo is het toch uiteindelijk. Heel spontaan lieten ze ons niet alleen hun huis zien maar ook wat erin stond, en dat was heel wat. Daarna lekker tafelen, ze hadden heerlijke zalm, maarja, dat lust Marsje nie he dus ze hadden speciaal voor mij een lekker kippetje klaar gemaakt, heerlijk. Na een wijntje en een biertje en wat geklets was het zowaar alweer bedtijd. Om 21.00 uur zeiden de Robbinsons weltrusten en dus wij ook maar.

Dag 28 Zondag 17-8

Tja. Wat een voordeel is, is dat je er lekker vroeg uit bent. Om 8.00 uur zaten de Robbinsons al twee uiur te wachten op ons voor ontbijt, de lieverds. Lekker ontbijtje met eitje. Eigenlijk hadden we maar voor 1 nacht geboekt maar in overleg konden we er nog 1 blijven. De planning was alweer gemaakt; s’middags om 12.00 uur de ‘PinkJeepTour’ en de volgende dag om 9.00 uur een vliegtuig ritje naar, jawel, de Grand Canyon. Alletwee een geweldige belevenis.

Dag 29 Maandag 18-8

On the ride back from Flagstaff we stopped in Sedona to see some of the Red Rock country.  I hadn't been here since 2002, and made my return to Cathedral Rock which I climbed the first visit.  Due to the weather (quite a bit of rain earlier in the day, light drizzle the whole time we were there) made us decide not to try the path, as it was slick and we didn't have shoes that were good for that kind of climb.  The river around the rock was raging though...much more so than the virtual desert conditions from August, 2002...

We stopped for some bread and cheese and managed a little picnic around Bell Rock as the weather had cleaned up before we left Red Rock Country.

Pheonix, Sedona, & Flagstaff, AZ

prior to our grand canyon raft trip some of us had the chance to explore a bit in phoenix, sedona, and flagstaff, AZ.  (may17 & 18, 2008)  in Phoenix, we visited F.L.W's Taliesin West, then the creative, elegant chimes of Cosanti (recommend this gem for sure).  must have been a bit weary when we were driving aimless, because i definitely appreciate Cosanti more now then i did when i was there.  'tis a fine thing to see such raw artistic freedom being exercised with serious rigor... even if the context around the facility has changed to a really strange floridian-like suburbia.

...on north to sedona.  sedona is located a hop & skip south of flagstaff, our orientation rendevous for the g.c. raft trip.  we decided to bunk there the night before to check out the vortex landscapes surrounding the city of sedona.  the local oak creek brewery supposedly had a few good offers as well.  after bunking in with claudia and dan lewis, we woke and negotiated a bell rock vortex hike just outside town.  didn't manage to catch any memorable energy spiral or twist spirits... but found many trees which had been obviously wound up over a peiod of time...left confused.  The landscape reminded me a bit of red rock Arches N.P. with much more in the way of lush green stuff...vegetation.  The trails and landscape seemed perfect for a return mountain bike trip someday.  Never managed to get a town gallery walk in either... so there are many reasons to return to sedona again soon.

after walking bell rock, we decided to fly (driving with todd willsie is not unlike flying) north to the south rim of the grand canyon and meet up with claudia's buddy to get a quick tour.  some of the group had never been to the grand canyon's rim... i envied their first glimpse.  we could feel the breeze pick up and heard through locals that some snow was forecast for the north rim...somewhere in the middle of the following week.  this completely floored us!  we couldn't believe that snow could make it to the grand canyon in the middle of may, but it was explained to us that spring was the most unpredictable season of all for the canyon.  we didn't anticipate the snow to reach the river...

we would later be proven wrong.

Up early enough to get some of the continental breakfast at the hotel, but only because they are the lazy kind that hate to put it away on time. It was supposed to stop at 9 a.m. and we were closer to 9:30. Not great, but better than nothing. Spoke to a couple from Canada and exchanged some good information. Nice folks.

First stop this morning was straight south from Flagstaff, Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, and Red Rock Canyon. We did strictly as a drive and take picture thing. Lots of great opportunities. Now I just have to download them from the camera and see what turned out.

From Red Rock Canyon we were supposed to catch a freeway north but somehow missed a turn and ended up about twenty five miles further south. And what made matters worse was they were not picturesque. We finally got to a place where we could turn ourselves around and headed for our next stop.

Just north of Flagstaff is a 12,000 foot peak that had just the day before received a good dusting of snow. And I was amazed to learn that the elevation in Flagstaff is about 7,000 feet. Well on our way back north today a heavy cloud was all over that mountain and dropping more snow or rain on it. We got a few drops of rain on our windshield but skirted the heavy stuff that the mountain was getting. Later we would see signs that it had snowed at the Grand Canyon too.

Ahhh, the glorious red rocks of Sedona--what a vision to behold!  Walking around the city you cannot help but feel caught up in the intense energy around you.  There are vortexes, or swirling centers of energy, coming out from the surface of the earth all over the place.  These vortexes were first discovered by the Native American tribes that used to inhabit the area.   I visited several through a tour agency, whose site is: www.sedona-spiritual-vacations.com.  I highly recommend using them for an unforgettable experience, as well as buying some of the soap bars made from the clay of the mountains.  They can be found in almost every store.  These bars smell delicious and they leave your skin feeling like silk.  I would love to return to Sedona again one day.  It was definitely a special place for me!

This area of Arizona is amazingly beautiful! These red rocks seem to have something spiritual about them. They are truly absolute peace. If you need some time away and want to have some peace in your life Sedona is a great place to go! If you need some TLC, go to one of the many spas for a treatment or if you are feeling adventurous try a jeep ride. A good company up there is Pink Jeeps. They have a variety of tours that go out on a daily basis and their tour guides are knowledgeable. I once took a tour up there with Open Road Tours from Phoenix. I had a great time with our guide and the other passengers. I liked it because we were not all crammed in like sardines. We had plenty of room and I could even stand up in the van. I hate feeling cramped! Anyway, this is where I was introduced to Pink Jeep and they also did a fantastic job! The areas of Sedona that they take you are exquisite and I got some fantastic pics! I think I am going to try to go to Antelope Canyon next; I have heard wonderful things about it up there and seen incredible pics!

Sedona is simply one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to.  I came down to Sedona the first weekend I was in Flagstaff.  The difference that 28 miles (the distance between Sedona and Flagstaff) makes is unreal.  Sedona is in Oak Creek Canyon.  It is a huge tourist place where people simply come to hike and look at the landscape.  There are some amazing hikes and views from tops of canyons and bluffs in this area.  I also hear that mountain biking is popular in the area- as I do not bike.  Sedona is home to many millionaires and famous people have residences here.  Housing is ridiculous here.  If you are to visit the area and plan on camping make sure to reserve plenty ahead of time. 

Sedona is also known for some great little restaurants and art galleries.  Make sure to check them out. 

It's after 1am and I'm sitting on the balcony for some peace and quiet. There are unidentified animals howling in the distance which reminds me how some parts of the U.S. are still quite wild and beautiful.

I can't wait to really see Sedona tomorrow (today). This morning was quite absurd, and I am reminded how important it is to pick travel partners wisely. The consequences can range from irritating to practically life threatening. Case in point I encountered both instances this morning. Spent the better part of the morning roaming around Scottsdale trying to find Eko a freaking optometrist because she threw out her last pair without waiting for her new ones to arrive. Irritating, as this was not how I envisioned spending my vacation. The more dangerous part came when Eko was driving and decided at an intersection that she wanted to look for something in her purse and put the car in park at a red light, asking me to trade seats with her so she could sit in the passenger seat and I would drive. AT A FREAKING INTERSECTION. I almost blew my lid and I ordered her to at least pull into a parking lot. WHO DOES STUFF LIKE THAT??

If someone were to ask me, where were you at your lowest in life? I would reply without hesitation, "I was smoking a cigarette dejectedly on a coin-fed dino ride outside a Wal-Mart in Scottsdale while people came up and offered me quarters. "

So my lesson here is to never travel with an asian fob again. The short term thinking is tremendously unsettling and in some senses I feel as if I'm traveling with a 6 year old, constantly being peppered with silly questions that could be answered if said person would spend 5 whole seconds thinking about her question before she asked it. No, forget the 6 year old, I feel like I'm traveling with Jessica Simpson as a matter of fact. Lord help me...

Sedona-natural beauty at it's finest. Granted, there is a TON of artists and stores in the area, if you can bypass that the scenery is quite exquisit. I let the scenery paint a picture of relaxtion in my mind while I breathed in the glorious air. I recommend bringing a jug of water, dried fruit, and a journal to document the view.