Flagstaff Dec 14&15

Left Friday night and headed south down to the Sedona/Camp Verde area.  I was planning on crashing at the casino, but I was happy to find a rest area in the area.  I crashed early and enjoyed an early night.  Up early on Saturday morning and headed to the Tuzigoot National Monument.  The weather was pretty good, and I enjoyed some light hiking around the monument.  There was the remnants of an old civilization there, very similar to many others I’d seen in Arizona.  There were supposedly lots of birds in the area, but this time of year the birds are limited.  I really need to come back here in the spring. 

Next on the list was the Montezuma Castle National Monument.  The walking path to the site here wasn’t very long and was paved.  Easy on the knees and feet.  This was one of the most interesting sites I’d seen in a while.  It was carved into the side of mountain as a singular unit, like a castle.  Most of the others I’d seen were small individual cubbies carved out of a mountain or long lines of cubbies. 

It was still early and I didn’t want to hit Sedona until morning.  I debated my options and headed in the direction of Tuzigoot National Monument to check out the historic town of Cottonwood.  I hate to backtrack but I had over estimated the amount of time I would need to do both National Monuments and Cottonwood had looked like an interesting little town.  I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the downtown area.  Lots of small artist shops and wine shops.  Cottonwood claims to be the wine capital of Arizona and there were lots of wine shops complete with wine tasting.  There was also an adorable old hotel smack dab in the middle of the historic area.  It had a courtyard and looked very cute.  I expect this is a nice romantic getaway for wine lovers.

From here I grabbed my dinner and headed to the northbound rest area for another early night.  On the way, I found a sign for Montezuma Wells National Monument….a different site!  And I could have checked it out that afternoon had I’d known it was there.  But now it was dusk and according to Google, it closed at 5pm.  So…on the list and perhaps I’ll make another trip down to this area.

 

Up early and onto Sedona.  I drove Oak Creek Canyon 20 years ago when I was here on another trip.  At the time, I thought Sedona was one of the most beautiful places that ever existed.  The sky was perfect and the colors of the land were perfect and I couldn’t get enough of it.  As I started to drive Oak Creek Canyon from the southern end, it dawned on me that I probably built it up in my head and Sedona probably wouldn’t be able to meet my exaggerated expectations based on my memory.  It soon became apparent that wasn’t the case.  Sedona is beautiful.  Driving Oak Creek Canyon on either side of Sedona is beautiful.  There were dozens of trail heads along the route and it was a little overwhelming.  I knew I’d have to do some research before picking which trails to hike.  I drove up to Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is built into the rock.  I got some photos but I think I’m going to have to take a closer look if I come back, just to figure out how they built it.  I drove around looking for a place for breakfast and ended up at the Wildflower Bread Company where I ordered too big breakfast at too big price.  It was really good and the accompanying bread was fantastic.  I wish meals came smaller though, I don’t always want fast food but regular restaurant portions are insanely big.  I boxed up my left overs and ate on it all day long. Finally throwing out what was left at the end of the night.

On the northern side of Sedona, I was increasing in elevation and the sky wasn’t looking too good.  I found a nice roadside turnoff with scenic views.  They were also having some kind of arts market as well.  I was walking towards the ‘scenic view’ when the snow started.  By the time I took my photos and got back to the car, it was seriously cold.  No more stops on the way back to Flagstaff.  The weather increasingly got worse as I went and I rolled into Flagstaff early enough to hit the movie theater.  Figured I’d catch the new Jumanji movie and then the gym.  Movie was excellent, but by the time I left the theater it was super cold and super snowy and I knew that once I got into my car, I wouldn’t leave it until morning.  Slow drove on the slick roads until I found a place to crash, and I was out.