(Apologies – slide show uploaded backwards, so pretend I went to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest first, and ended in Sedona!)
I purposely stayed in Sedona so I could wake up and see the red rocks. However, I did not remember that when I first awoke. In fact, I didn’t remember anything. For the first time on the trip, I woke up completely confused. I had no idea where I was, when it was, nothing. Thankfully, I remembered WHO I was. It took longer than it should, but I finally pieced it all together and got myself up, out of the motel and on with the day.
Daylight Sedona did not disappoint. My only regret is that I didn’t have time to go hiking or horseback riding on some of the many trails in the area. More things for the next time list (which is rapidly growing). I wanted to try to stick to my schedule and arrive at Tina’s Aunt Marion’s home in Albuquerque, New Mexico by 5ish – keeping in mind that I lose an hour since I go back to Mountain Time.
As you may have guessed, I wasn’t on time. I’m going to blame Mother Nature. The world surrounding the roads between Sedona and Albuquerque are much too beautiful not to stop and take pictures every few minutes along the way. And there were some pretty big distractions:
- Coconino National Forest and Oak Creek Canyon
- Meteor Crater – “the best preserved and first proven meteorite impact site on Planet Earth”
- Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert – “In the mid-1800s U.S. government mappers and surveyors exploring this area carried stories back east of the remarkable ‘Painted Desert and its trees turned to stone.”’
I was also tempted to get back on good ole Route 66 again, but held off, except when Aidan told me to. So you’ll see a few of those pictures mixed among the landscape photos, but not many. I do think I’ll devote one future vacation to the route, though. It deserves it!
I finally arrived at Marion’s about 8:30, and was welcomed with homemade beef stew – thank you, Marion! We figured out our plan of attack for the next couple of days including Santa Fe, Pecos, an acapella concert and, of course, Albuquerque. I think I’d better charge the camera battery…
Amy's America 