The Great Aventure of the Road; Day 8

A small portion of Sedona Arizona from Airport Road (click to enlarge)

On a very chilly Monday morning, we packed the car and headed south to Sedona Arizona.  We plan on staying two nights in Sedona.  In fact, I recommend, at some point in a long road trip, that you plan on a down day to just not have to drive, relax, catch up on any reading and recuperate from being on the road every day.  Sedona is the place where we decided to take the extra day.

We rolled into town from the north on a spectacular drive south on Route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon.  This is the only way to really approach Sedona. The canyon is spectacular.

One of the first things I like to do is stop at the local visitor's center to get the lay of the land, ask questions, get ideas about places to stay, eat, see and experience.  I found this an invaluable addition to any research I may do before arrival.

After the visitor's center, we drove up to Airport Road, as we were told the overlook there is the place to view the entire valley.  That was good advice and we did see the entire area laid out before us and it was spectacular.  Sedona is set in the red rocks in kind of a bowl with red and white striped mountains surrounding it.  The image at the top of the post is one small portion of our view.

From there, we decided to go the, not downtown area, but "uptown" as they call it here. We decided to eat lunch, but saw the portions were too large for one, so we ordered one meal and split it between us. Just enough.

Afterwards, we walked the town, browsing and shopping.  Additionally, we made reservations on the "Pink Jeep Tours" to visit some Indian ruins about 45 minutes out of town. I'm sure we could have visited them ourselves, but to have an experienced driver and guide take us there adds much to the experience.

After a first class dinner for a very moderate price, we retired for the evening to catch up on some reading and sleep.

Later today, we will take the tour and I'll report the experience.

The Nikon D810 continues to produce spectacularly detailed and sharp images.  I have made over 600 so far and my battery meter still shows 2/3 full charge.  On a trip like this, I would have normally made two to three times the number of images, but I am somewhat restricted in my endeavor by my traveling companions as they don't have the same interests as me so I have to moderate my photographic stops.  But, on the bright side, it gives me an excuse to come back in the future, which I surely will.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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