Sedona & Red Rock Fever

I would be remiss...

...if I didn't explain my absence from posting for the last two weeks.  Oh I was still being creative and hurriedly painting, taking care of business and tying up loose ends...and getting ready and taking a road trip to Sedona AZ.

I know some of you have seen a glimpse of our trip via email or Face Book...but here's the rest of the story...

Our little home away from home at Sedona Pines Resort,

just outside the west end of town with all the comforts of home...love having a full kitchen while traveling.

There are so many wonderful, history filled sites to visit around Sedona, and on our way to Grand Canyon.  We didn't spend much time on the art in Sedona...there was so much natural beauty surrounding us.

Five story, 20 room cliff dwelling at

Montezuma's Castle

built around 1100 by Sinagua farmers.

This is were we started spotting the local wildlife...

Rattle snake out for a late afternoon slither...

Tarantula on a street in Jerome...never seen one in the wild...eek!

Nibbling deer in a neighborhood yard.

Beautiful cactus everywhere...

this day the sunlight was lighting them up against the red rock

so nicely.

I had time to take a 2 hour oil pastel class at the resort

(never used oil pastels before...it was fun)

and paint cactus...and the cathedral built into the red rock hillside.

We did drive up the mountain to historical Jerome...Jim hanging out on a corner...seems to be preaching something!

We couldn't get enough of the beautiful rock formations & colors.

This is us on top of Doe Mountain...

we climbed up one week ago today...on a beautiful Sunday morning.

That's our car...way down there, half way up the climb...

and Jim on the trip back down the mountain.

 Next stop...Grand Canyon...

What can we say...it is Grand!

Still...we were much more taken aback by the red rocks of Sedona.

Hanging on a ledge...

My favorite site of the trip

the Wupatki Pueblo near Flagstaff

...Jim's a favorite too!

This was a ball court for a game like field hockey.

Built and occupied in the 1100's for 400 years...

some of the oldest ruins in North America

We were running out of rocks to climb and ruins to visit...

though checked out one more the day before we left...

Tuzigooot.

Built between 1125 and 1400 it had 77 ground floor rooms, 

and two stories high in places.

It started out as a small cluster of rooms that inhabited 50 people for 100 years.

Really...

I cannot tell you how spectacular it is to see these ruins.  You can just stand there out in the open plains, feeling the breeze, smelling the air...wondering what life was like all those centuries ago...very exciting and moving!

I could keep posting and posting and posting more photos... 

we took so many, everywhere you looked was more moving and beautiful!

Though...time to go home!

One last dinner and a toast to the red rock of Sedona

(The Golden Goose Restaurant is understated and delicious)

As we drove out of Sedona very early Thursday morning...the skies very dark signaling the rain we had ahead of us on our drive home...there was a group of hot air balloons, being hit by the sunlight against the dark sky.  This photo doesn't do justice to the send off the sight offered us as we left Sedona behind.

Enjoyed!