Sedona...America's Most Beautiful City

That's their words, not mine.  However, it is an amazingly beautiful place.  It is about a 30 minute drive down from Flagstaff to Sedona.  You can take the interstate but the real views are down 89A through Oak Creek Canyon.  To be honest, after seeing the Grand Canyon...this is a bit of a letdown...

It was even a little hard for the boys to get excited about the drive down...

The rock down this canyon is of the red variety.  Bunches and bunches of red colored rock.

Sedona was a neat town (city?) with bunches of little shops everywhere.  They did a very nice job (I'm sure through local ordainances) to keep the architecture consistent.  I will say that there is a view out of every shop, house, road, etc.  It's almost like it is in a little hole with red sheer cliffs all around.  We did a bit of shopping (against the wishes of a few gentlemen - at least for a while) and discovered some local Indians doing some traditional songs and dance.  It was fascinating.

The guys got more excited when we went to a shop (Sedona Sunset) that had a dulcimer the owner allowed customers to play.  Suddenly, all was right with the shopping experience!  They also had some Indian flutes for sale and a way to let the customers try them out.  It was a good stop because Nathan came out with one of the flutes.  Another instrument in the Barrick household...oh my!

The boys enjoyed playing with the cactus...

This last picture is in honor of Kim Winemiller.  She'll have to tell us what it looks like...I already happen to know the answer but I'm sure she'll pick it out very quickly!

After the time in Sedona, it was up the road to Holbrook.  We stayed at a hotel that had an indoor pool and got there a little earlier than we had been so there was time to 'chill', do some laundry, get 're-organized', etc.  We really needed it by this point!  Next day was the Petrified Forest!

We didn't get a picture but we ate supper at one of the places off 'Historic Route 66' called Ranchero...or something like that.  The discussion was how red Brandon Phagan's face would be if he had some of their salsa ;)  It was a bit spicy!

Until the next report...