Sedona and Beyond (aka Prescott)

After spending the night at Schnebly Hill, we headed up to Flagstaff to resupply. Dog food, groceries, and a new Luci Light from REI later, we headed back to Sedona via Oak Creek Canyon.

It was a Friday afternoon – the Friday before Easter, so the drive down the Canyon, while beautiful, was pretty crowded. We made a deal with each other as we neared Sedona. The deal was that we’d drive through downtown Sedona. If we found an open spot, then we’d take it and check out the shops. But only if there was an open spot. I wasn’t about to waste time circle around looking for a parking spot. (I am so very certain that I sound just like my dad right now…)

Right at the end of the main drag it happened. Somebody was pulling out of their spot right as we came along. We left the dogs with some water and started our walking tour of Sedona. It was a typical tourist-trap kind of place: lots of t-shirt shops, jewelry stores, and fudge. There were a lot more signs for psychics and crystal vortexes, though.

We decided to go back to our original camping site west of Sedona. And as full of people as downtown Sedona was, the dispersed camping was wide open. The next morning we got up, ready to ride out at near Long Canyon. And once again, while the parking lot was full (ok, I’m pretty sure the lot was full. We didn’t bother to look, we just went straight to the jeep trail and parked off the road), the trail itself wasn’t that bad. There are just so many trails there.

It was my second attempt at this loop and so I expected to be a little faster. I wasn’t – we still finished in about three hours – but this ride was still incredible. The rocks of Sedona are like the sky at sunset, and I never got tired of looking at them. We got an earlier start this time, and so by 3:30 we were back at camp, relaxing.

Even Bailey chilled out.

Yeah, Sedona camp life is the good life.

I woke up the next morning to a special treat. Hot air balloons!

Actually, I saw hot air balloons every morning we camped at this site, but this was the closest they came to us. While I stood there taking this picture, a small plane came by and flew in between the balloons.

The plane actually circled around and did a figure-8, which was very cool to watch.

We packed up camp and headed to our next destination: Prescott. Our friend Wayne lives there with his girlfriend, Margaret, as well as their five cats, and he’d extended the invitation to come visit them.

Along the way we passed through a nifty little town called Jerome, which sits on Cleopatra Hill at more than 5,000 feet. Once the home to a copper mine, Jerome now hosts a thriving artisan community. It reminded me of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, except even more dramatic.

Of course, Eureka Springs doesn’t have views like this:

Jerome is a fun little place to visit. If you’re ever passing through, I recommend it highly. We didn’t stop for barbeque, but apparently Bobby D’s BBQ is outstanding.

We had a lovely three day stay in Prescott, and I’m so grateful to Wayne and Margaret for hosting us. They gave us the opportunity for a shower, laundry, and cleaning out the truck. Michael and Wayne went on a 4 hour epic mountain bike ride. Margaret and I went on a lovely 45-minute trail run.

We were able to take advantage of Prescott’s biggest dog park, the Willow Creek Beneful Dream Dog Park. I’d never been to a sponsored dog park before. This one was nice! Astroturf, troughs full of water, and about a gazillion tennis balls. Bailey was in heaven.

At Wayne and Margaret’s wonderful house, we separated the dogs and cats. Bailey and Elvis spent the days outside and came in at night, on a leash, going straight into the bedroom we slept in. I wasn’t too worried anything would happen – Elvis is too old to care about cats, and Bailey is so afraid of them that he hid behind my knees as we passed Miles the cat. But we didn’t want to disrupt things in the household, and keeping everyone separated just wasn’t a big deal. At this point Bailey and Elvis are pretty good at rolling with the punches. As long as they get fed, loved, and the chance to chase after tennis balls, they’re happy.

I also sat down with my laptop and searched out our next move. We were so close to Utah, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which was where we were when we got the call to head to Arkansas, to help out Michael’s parents. I wanted to resume our explorations of southern Utah.

But it just didn’t look good. See, everything immediately west of Arizona and Utah is desert. And things were already heating up in the desert. Joshua Tree National Park? 95 degrees. Death Valley? 100 degrees. We’d have to go pretty far north to avoid such hot weather.

Now, if it were just us, I would have said what the hell. But we have dogs, one of which is a senior citizen, and neither are able to tell us when they’re overheating. I just couldn’t do it to them.

Our best bet was looking like Mojave National Preserve, with temperatures in the low 80’s for the three or four days after our departure from Prescott. Plus, it was only about three or so hours away (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but 3-4 hours is our general limit when it comes to driving). From there we could be in San Luis Obispo, where Michael’s brother and wife and kids live, in a couple of days.

So, with a small sigh of disappointment for southern Utah, we made the decision to head west.