By Rob

We spent the last few days enjoying our second visit to one of the most visually-stunning places we have been (definitely top ten): beautiful Sedona, AZ. The red rock formations and cliffs liberally sprinkled throughout the city, along with the the city’s strictly mandated aesthetic to preserve natural beauty by design regulations requiring building and sign colors to blend with the natural red rock landscape, make the whole area just one big “WOW!” We were wondering if the locals get used to being surrounded by all this natural beauty or are they always impressed by their surroundings. All of these views are from just driving around the city!

Sedona is known for several things, including hiking, shopping, local artists, spas, crystals, natural spirituality (including vortexes), and aliens! We did our best to take part in most of these experiences. We bought a t-shirt, bought some crystals and locally made earrings, and had to buy some fudge (as every good tourist town provides). We also entered a vortex, visited with aliens, and ended the night with stargazing and UFO searching.

We had a nice little rental unit in a downtown neighborhood. The unit was a detached apartment next to the main house, was wonderfully stocked with snacks and drinks, and conveniently located to all we wanted to do in Sedona.

We were also able to get in a nice hike on the Birthing Cave Trail. This is a 2 mile hike (round trip) to a cave formation. It is a gently sloping trail for most of the way (about 275 feet elevation change) with the last portion being an 80 foot scramble up the slick sandstone to enter the cave. The views from inside the cave are wonderful.

Sedona is definitely worth a return visit. We are back on the road tomorrow and will post from New Mexico next. Thanks for adventuring with us.