Sedona

Another beautiful day--scattered fluffy clouds and blue skies. Today we drove to Sadona, Arizona. This is a drive that started well and just kept getting better.

We noted in some of the brochures that there was worthwhile scenery around the Sadona area. Since we’re waiting here in Williams one more day for our train trip to the Grand Canyon, we decided to hit the road.

On the drive to Flagstaff, one of the snow covered mountains and the clouds put on a real show for us. The picture is in the Yahoo site.

After arriving at Flagstaff, we turned south on AZ 89A. It’s a two lane, windy road that starts right off in a Ponderosa pine forest—the Coconino National Forest. The Ponderosa’s are very tall and the older ones have reddish trunks. Clearing underbrush is a big part of the fire management efforts in all the western states we’ve been through. Hundreds of volunteers in each area clear everything between the big trees. The scraps are piled every hundred feed, or so, and are burned after rains or snows. The effect here makes this one of the best drives for forest scenery I’ve seen. Looking into this forest, you can see the cleared ground under the collective canopy for well over 500 feet before the trunks make an impenetrable wall. It’s enchanting. Goes on for miles.

Toward the end of the forest, a sign announces a Viewing Area Ahead. Understatement. The Ponderosa forest is replaced with a vast yawning canyon. Giant deep red cliffs and boulders form the walls of the canyons. The rock formations are astonishing. This continues for the next twenty miles as we decent about 1,500 feet down the mountain on a very windy, narrow road complete with many switchbacks. You want to stop every hundred feet and take another picture. It’s a marvelous drive.

Shortly after getting to the bottom of the canyon, we started a brief uphill climb to Sadona. Sadona is situated in a vast canyon that goes in several directions. It is indescribable with its red rock formations. To get an idea, visit: http://www.visitsedona.com/. We drove through the residential part. No grass. All gravel, cactus, desert plants--different looking but nice. House counstruction was a lot like that in Santa Fe. We stopped at one For Sale sign and picked up a brochure. Becky said, "not bad", at the $275,000 price but then we realized that was for the small lot next to the house we thought was for sale.

We enjoyed this trip immensely. I strongly recommend seeing this area and city if you are travel anywhere near it.