The warm Arizona sun and the spectacular red rocks welcomed us to Sedona.  We parked our home and set up our belongings. Our lot in the tree covered park of Rancho Sedona along Oak Creek was perfect and we had a very nice view of “Snoopy Rock”.  The new poinsettias and cacti made a nice garden setting out our front door.  The stay in Sedona was to be two weeks long and very busy.

The next day we eagerly awaited the arrival of our cousin Nora and her daughter Vicki. It was so wonderful to welcome them to our new home! We enjoyed a nice dinner and then had a good sleep to get ready for the next day. Our hike today took us along Huckaby Trail to Oak Creek, over to  Marg’s Draw Trail which then took us in front of, and around Snoopy Rock.  This was not a very hard hike but a great warm up to some of the harder hikes we were looking forward too.  The day was capped off with Andy ( Nora’s son ) and Leo ( Andy’s friend ) knocking on our motorhome at 10:00pm that evening.  Their travels around South and Central America finally brought them into the USA and to our home in Sedona. You can check out their exciting travels at:  www.andyleotravel.com

We started the next day making breakfast for our four German visitors and then we were off to hike up to Devil’s Bridge.  A nice hike up to a natural arch looking out over the rocks and valley.  On our way home we stopped for some tasty Mexican food.  The next day was pretty much the same, breakfast at our place and then off  to hike, this time, Cathedral Rock.  This rock formation is the most  photographed rock formation of the beautiful Sedona area.  We started on Baldwin Trail then followed Templeton Trail along Oak Creek before scrambling up Cathedral Rock to the saddle which is the end of the trail.  A side trail took us up a little higher.  What an amazing view from the top.

With American Thanksgiving approaching it was time to head up to Vicky and Paul’s place in Flagstaff.  They were very generous to put all 6 of us up for four nights to see part of Northern Arizona. We visited Walnut Canyon and the cliff dwellings as well as, of course the Grand Canyon with a walk down towards Indian Gardens.  We have done this walk several times and it is always amazing!  It also showed us some Arizona wildlife, Coatis (a raccoon like animal) Big Horned Sheep and Elk.  Not only did we get to see them, we got to see them up close and personal.  We also went up to the Arizona Snow Bowl, but with the temperature in the 20s there was no snow to be had.  There was some man made snow surrounded by a lot of green grass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in Flagstaff, we also got to meet up with some Zehr cousins, Don and Wendy, who were passing through Flagstaff at the same time. It worked out that we could meet for lunch, and it was nice seeing them and catching up a little bit.

 

Our stay up in Flagstaff also lined up with both of the Vickys birthdays, and a nice birthday dinner was put together to celebrate the event.  Then of course we also had a nice American Thanksgiving dinner, but instead of turkey Paul made Cornish hens.  The next day it was time to say goodbye to our German cousins as they headed to explore more of Arizona and we headed back down to Sedona. Before our goodbyes everyone had to sign the boy’s van with a white hand print and take a picture of all of us ON the van. What a wonderful visit and it was SO good to be with family!

 

 

 

Once we were back home, our company gone, it was time to explore with our bicycles.  Lots of hills, great bike lanes and stunning views,  makes a great place to cycle.  We also took a motorcycle ride up to Jerome,  an old mining town outside of Sedona.  We had a great meal, did some wine tasting and enjoyed a relaxing day.

 

 

 

 

With a couple days left in Sedona we had left two great hikes to finish with.  The first one was close enough to the campground that we could walk there,  Hangover Trail.  Not sure where it got the name but, WOW, it was stunning!  The last day we were joined by Vicky to hike Bear Mountain, another difficult and stunning hike.  At the summit we had our lunch while enjoying a gorgeous view.  Sedonna has a very quaint little shopping area, which we walked around after the hike and then had a lovely dinner with Vicky before she went back home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is amazing on how quickly two weeks can go by!