June 22: Dallas to Sedona

Dear Friends,

A new day, a new trip!  As usual, it was difficult to snatch any sleep the night before, when I was at Hart’s and invited to a wonderful dinner with her, Tony, Laura (Hart’s daughter), and Hart’s mother Carol.  We all had a great time talking about our various trips throughout the years, and Hart and Carol watched my New Orleans slides as well.  

This morning I had coffee on the side porch of Hart’s home with Carol, and together we witnessed a beautiful sunrise.  At 7:30 my driver arrived and got me to the Dallas-Love Field Airport in plenty of time to catch my flight to Phoenix.  From Terminal 4, when I landed, I walked about a mile and caught the commuter train to Terminal 3, where all Delta Airlines arrived and departed.  I had only about 30 minutes to wait before she showed up, and together we took the shuttle bus to the rental cars.  She settled on a Mazda CX 3, a very nice car and one she handles with panache.  It is so good to be traveling with her once again.  She is an amazing navigator, a caring and kind individual, and she and I travel like hand-in-glove.  

Before setting sail for Sedona, we had lunch at Chompie’s (salad, matzo ball soup, lox and bagels), and then began our trek to Sedona in temperatures that quickly escalated in the course of the afternoon to 112–a brick oven of heat which was very difficult to negotiate.  We decided not to do any hikes, but instead simply proceeded up I-17 North to Sedona.  

7.5 miles from Sedona we came upon the Red Rock Scenic Byway, a short but highly scenic drive which passes in large part through Coconino National Forest.  Sedona lies on the edge of the Colorado Plateau.  Beautiful canyons have been eroded back into the plateau, showing stunning colors among the rugged rock formations.  Sand laid down about 300,000,000 years ago became sandstone, which has been eroded and tinted red by the presence of iron, then shaped by water and wind into varied shapes with names such as Chimney Rock, Rabbit Ears, and Cathedral Rock.  The effect, at the shank of the afternoon, when we entered Sedona, was breathtaking—in spite of the heat.  

Plenty of roundabouts eventually feed the visitor into the town of Sedona, where the population stands at 4500 and the elevation is about 5000 ft.  We are staying for two days at a BnB in one of the canyons, and our window looks out on a tower-like sandstone formation that reminds us both of the Faustturm or Faust Tower in Maulbronn, Germany.  The Air BnB is an Arts and Crafts type of construction at the end of a cul de sac.  It is so quiet here, so that only the rustle of faint breezes can be heard.  We were told that at night there may be animals such as javelinas in the neighborhood.  I certainly believe it.  This is truly an awesome landscape—forbidding, scrubby, but with its own peculiar majesty.  

After unloading the car, we changed and went to dinner at the Secret Garden Cafe at the art enclave of Tlaquepaque, which we will investigate tomorrow.  It is one of Sedona’s favorite spots.  It is a cozy, European-style bistro and is known for its fresh, healthy, and delicious menu items.  Both of us actually sat in the garden veranda and had a prickly pair mango margarita.  For dinner, Alexandra had vegan chile relleno, and I had delicious chicken corn tostadas topped with homemade salsa and avocado.  We drove home in the gathering darkness, with the last light of day tingeing the tops of the hills.  Amazing day!

Alexandra is looking at the photos I took today (for the first time I have given up my camera and am shooting all my photos with my phone camera).  I still have to master the technique of keeping my thumb out of pictures, but so far so good.  Hopefully more progress tomorrow.  Off to bed soon, as the heat is exhausting us!  As ever, Sylvia.