Sedona-Jerome: Memorial Day 2007

There are like 10-12 perfect weekend getaways that are only 3-5 hours outside of Phoenix. You suck if you don't take the time to enjoy some of our surrounding beauty. Ever since I got my new camera my desire to travel has increased ten fold. A good camera and some imagination changes everything.

Anyways, we decided on doing both Jerome and Sedona since they are so close to each other. Future trips will include: Bisbee, Hauvusapi, Canyon de Chelly/Monument Valley, Sagauro National Park, South Rim, Snow Flake, and the Chiraquawais. We also need to make it over to Santa Fe to do some painting. I've learned that weekend jaunts to regional locations are the best ways affordably to utilize free time.

We went up with another couple that we know. They have been taking some photography classes so I was hoping that some of their education would rub off on me. (You can be the judge of that) We decided that two days was more then enough time to visit an area, enjoy its cuisine, and capture some moments.

Among the highlights:

• Watching the large "biker population" enjoy their leisure at Bisbee.
• Watching the hippies and the bikers peacefully coexist at Bisbee.
• To really see how vast and wide open some of this country is. The Verde Valley is beautiful and had me wondering why everyone chose to settle in Phoenix and not there.
• We visited the Airport Vortex in Sedona. We tried but felt nothing. It does, however, attract quite an ecclectic crowd at sunset. We were in the company of a group of Japanese people perfecting their meditations, an older hippie playing a guitar, some Indian tourists, some young hippies in search for meaning, and a bunch of people that looked just like us. We probably spent an hour or so up there...it was just so relaxing.
• Visited Slide Rock state park. That is quite the working class attraction, very cool. Nature provides some pretty cool and cheap diversions. There were scores of people up there who brought picnics, chairs, and radio to enjoy the day at this natural water park. The Oak Creek has literally carved a smooth path through the sandstone and river bottom that is very much like a water slide.
• And no trip to Sedona is complete without the requisite visit to Tlaqueqapuque. The ambiance, architecture, and shops are unrivaled. I never buy anything there but I always make sure that I visit.

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