Flagstaff to Black Rock City

We were all asleep by 10pm, and didn't wake until 7am. I took a long bath then we packed up to go. Before we headed out we stopped at the hotel restaurant for our complimentary breakfast buffet and stuffed ourselves. Next stop was the gas station and car wash. 

I wanted to see the red rocks of Sedona so we drove south through the hills. The scenery was breathtaking. We stopped to take a picture and saw a hiking trail... So we followed it. It ended at the best swimming hole I've ever seen. Deep clear pools connected by chutes of water from hollowed rock. I see why it's called slide rock state park. The temperature was around 60 but the sun on the rocks made it warmer. Freddie and Ru removed shoes and went wading across the river. After some more exploring and an impromptu swim by Freddie we hiked back to the car and went on to Sedona. 

 

I don't know what I was expecting from Sedona but I found the town both bizarre and pretentious. It was beautiful, but every other shop was some new age nonsense. Palm readers, tarot readers, acupuncture, aura readers, hot rock massage. OK actually a hot rock massage sounds excellent. 

 

We curled through the towns roundabouts and found the chapel built into the side of a mountain, and a giant traffic jam. So we turned and once again headed south.

Our bellies were rumbling, so my copilot Fred searched Google and found us a diner in Black Canyon City. It was an Amish cafe that served us turkey sandwiches on fresh soft white bread, sweet potato fries, and fantastic pie! We watched the birds frolic outside the window and then stuffed to bursting we drove south again. Ru was so excited to see his first cactus. We've of course been seeing cactus for days, but he meant the saguaro.

The first real cactus

The car wash was a necessity

The bird house tree behind the Amish cafe

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The beautiful red rocks of the Sedona area. The trickle of water isn't the main stream. They played in the water for quite a while.

You can find all this in Sedona