Phoenix / Sedona / Grand Canyon (Tuesday, April 23)

Odyssey Unlimited description of today's activities: 

We leave Phoenix today, bound for the Grand Canyon. First, though, we’re headed to Sedona, one of the most striking spots in the American Southwest. Famed for its range of towering red sandstone formations, Sedona ranks as a popular destination for artists, filmmakers, photographers, hikers, and mountain bikers. We have time for lunch on our own and to do some exploring before we encounter this dazzling landscape in style, as we take a Pink Jeep tour for an exciting offroad excursion. Winding over dirt roads, we enjoy stunning panoramic views and learn about the region’s cultural and geological history. We also visit the Honanki Heritage Site, a 700-year-old Sinaguan cliff dwelling. Then we continue on to the Grand Canyon and our nearby hotel, where we dine together tonight.

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Bag pull was at 7:30. We were on the bus and rolling out of the resort shortly after 8:30 on route to Sedona. The forecast called for possible morning showers with party sunny skies in the afternoon.

Our group is 22 people.  Happiness is a almost new, 56-passenger bus with Wi-Fi, electrical outlets, USB ports and a toilet.

Soon after climbing past 3000' the Sujaro cacti suddenly disappeared, leaving nothing but low vegetation in all directions. While still hilly, the terrain became noticeably flatter. After cresting at about 4700' we started a 1500' descent into the Verde Valley. As the name implied, the vegetation got greener (and in places tallest).  

We continued on to Sedona,  our first stop being on its outskirts of the city to view one of the red and white sandstone buttes for which the area is famous. We learned that red sand was carried in by water and white by wind.

On our way into the center of Sedona, we stopped the nicely laid out arts and crafts village of Tlaquepaque.

The center of Sedona had changed a lot since Pam & I were here 17 years ago.

Literally every parcel of land that could be built on has been built on.  Sedona is surrounded by National Forest Service land. It cannot expand outward.  The only way to build something new is to tear down something old. 

With 90-minutes to browse and eat before our afternoon excursion began, we wandered passed gift shops, crystal shops, places to eat, etc. 

Apparently a lot of non-mainstream beliefs, ideologies, spiritualities and philosophies intersect in Sedona. There were a number of healing crystal shops.  We were told something about "vortexes" and other things that did not stick with me.  Hey, as long as everyone seeking a path plays nicely with others, hopefully whatever they chose works for them.

More in the mainstream were expensive vacation homes, high-end art galleries, etc.

Eventually we worked our way to...

...which when translated from fundraising item to company name was...

Our driver Duff loaded us aboard and off we when, first along the paved streets of downtown Sedona, then the paved roads outside of town and eventually over dirt roads.  The speed did not change as the road quality declined.  The latter part of the trip was a bumpy ride.

 We arrived at the Honanki Heritage Site, a 700-year-old Sinaguan cliff dwelling people who lived along what is believed to have been a trade route.  I will leave it to the Wikipedia links embedded in the previous sentence to expand on both, limiting myself to adding a few pictures.

Petroglyphs

There is apparently considerable variance in the interpretation of the meaning of the symbols which I took to mean that everyone has an idea best categorized as an (un)educated guess.

We rumbled our way back over the dirt road to the paved one, then cruised the rest of the way back to town where we transferred to our bus for the two-hour ride to our hotel in Tusayan, AZ (which is located about 5 minutes from the main entrance to the south side of the Grand Canyon).

It was about 8 PM when we ate dinner. By 9:00 we were headed back to our room doing some unpacking before rolling into bed.

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This post needs some serious work, which I do not have time to give it now. I am several days behind on posts and am trying to get caught up so think of this one as a draft.  The next few posts will also be written in somewhat abbreviated form.  After we get home, I look expanding them.  And of course I will be happy to respond to any question you send me.