Weekend Getaway.

A few weeks ago Clinton and I had a couple of days off of work so we decided to get out of town for a day. Even though it's only a couple of hours away, neither one of us had been to Sedona for something like 10 years, and we had both been wanting to get back. I planned out a day of activities, packed a picnic, and off we went!

After rounding a corner, our first real view of the red rocks.

A little ways up the road on the right there was an information center that we decided to pull over at so that we could stretch our legs and give Emmy some time to run around and take in the new smells before we started our day.

Tiny pups gotta get tall to see their new surroundings!

Gorgeous.

 Next up, we headed to Sedona Community Cemetery to pay a visit to Clinton's maternal grandparents. I never met either of them, but we brought a photo of us and his parents from the wedding. There was a little cherub there, but it was stuck in the ground and broken into a bunch of pieces, so Clinton tried to put it back together... I mean, it didn't work that well, ha, but it was cute that he tried.

I didn't take any pictures of the actual cemetery because I thought it would be kinda weird and disrespectful but man, if I wanted to be buried (I don't) it'd be nice for it to be done somewhere like that. There were some incredible views in there, and the grounds felt a lot more organic and in tune with nature than a lot of cemeteries do.

Next up, a kind of odd detour - a fast food joint that we don't even eat at. I had read online that Sedona has the only McDonald's in the WORLD that doesn't have the golden arches. Apparently when McD's wanted to build there the town had to vote on it and they said they could only do it if they made the building flow with everything else - for those who don't know, Sedona is a VERY nature/Mother Earth-centric/New Age place with a lot of spirituality linked to it, and everything there is just kind of made to blend in so that it doesn't take too much away from the natural beauty. I just found it shocking that of all the McD's in the whole world, this is the ONLY one that has different arches, and they are one of my favorite colors, turquoise.

We didn't even go inside, so I'm not sure if the inside looked different or not, but I just thought it was really interesting and wanted to take a picture of it.

After that quick stop, we backtracked a little ways to go visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is a very famous place and I knew that I wanted to visit - I had been reading a lot of travel blogs that mentioned it and every one of them mentioned that it was an incredibly spiritual place (it's placed in a Sedona Vortex). I won't lie - I was a little bit let down. I really didn't feel any kind of intense spiritual experience here - I think because it's very touristy? I mean, they even have a gift shop. I wouldn't call myself religious, but I do believe in God and I have a spiritual connection outside of strict organized religion, so I did go inside and pray for a bit, but I just didn't really feel anything - so I was a little bit bummed about that. However, that doesn't take away from the marvel of the history and the architecture of the place, which I did still enjoy immensely.

I wonder how much mail this place gets? Probably way too much for the postman to ever actually put it in this box.

Inside the chapel.

Truly fascinating info about the architect and building of the chapel, Part 1.

And Part 2.

Guestbook.

On our drive to the chapel we drove past this CRAZY, INSANE, ABSOLUTELY BONKERS house mansion. It was the most elaborate house I have ever seen! I took a picture of it looking down from outside the chapel.

Just look at this place! And look at the view!

When we got home, Clinton looked it up and found out that this place belongs to the guy who created the machine for Lasik surgery! He also found out that the people who live in the other houses around there actually hate it! It's really an eyesore - as beautiful as it is, it's a huge distraction to anyone who drives by. Plus, it apparently screws up water pressure for everyone else in the general area. I mean... it's still a cool house, though, ha!





After our trip to the chapel, we did what I was most looking forward to - some hiking! We went to Oak Creek to do the Red Rock Crossing and go to Cathedral Rock.

First, we walked around at Buddha Beach - this is another vortex area.


The shallow stream meanders past the base of Cathedral Rock and through forested groves. On the bank opposite Cathedral you’ll notice dozens of stacked rock totems, looking like a miniature Stonehenge. This is Buddha Beach, considered to be the site of a powerful vortex. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states/arizona/sedona/red-rock-crossing-crescent-moon-ranch-picnic-area-thingstodo-detail-301351/)

This picture was an accident, but I love it! You can even see Cathedral Rock in the background.

We stopped creekside for a family photo op.

And I built a little totem to connect with nature.

After we had had our fill of totem viewing and making, we went back to the other side of the park to Red Rock Crossing - I forgot to take a photo, but it's basically just some flat rocks in the creek that let you get to the other side - and then we took Templeton Trail to Cathedral Rock.

Seriously, this is something that most people have only seen in movies.

It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Giving Emmy's tiny legs a much needed rest.

We hiked a good 2ish miles up Cathedral Rock to the part where it flattens out - there's a peak/needle that you can go up further for even more fantastic views, but we couldn't make the trek with Emmy, so we headed back down. We stopped for a quick rest back at the creek, and then went back down to the bottom to look back at the big ol' rock we had just trekked.

teehee

And then made our way back over to Crescent Moon Picnic Area to have a late picnic lunch, because the occasional piece of jerky on the trail just wasn't gonna cut it!

Emmy was so tired that she didn't even want to eat her favorite salmon jerky treat, and she almost fell asleep right on the table!

So with that, we decided to head home with dirty shoes, empty camelbacks, a sleepy puppy, and a full day of memories in tow.

Pooped.