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Sedona, Winter 2001 |
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Sunday, December 2 - Saturday, December 8 : Our Red Rock getaway
It was cold and pouring rain in Oakland when we left (and had been for a week), so we were thrilled to land in Phoenix and find the weather hot (mid-80s) and sunny. Sky Harbor International Airport is possibly the most annoying airport in the country--it takes a good 20 minutes just to get out of the darned place after you get your rental car!--but we were soon on the road to Sedona, about an hour and a half north. On the way, we made the inevitable C.C. shopping stop at the Prime Outlets, where we made a clean sweep of the Gap, the Nike store, and Nine West. We also stumbled across a Bose discount store, which sold "refurbished" Bose radios for about 20% off the new price. Dave picked up my Christmas present there at a sweet discount--and they even threw in shipping for free! We drove into Sedona about 4 p.m., taking the route through the village of Oak Creek and getting the most magnificent highway views of red rock formations as we approached town. We were staying at a time-share resort called Los Abrigados, where we had our own one-bedroom condo. The resort also featured a full spa, an exercise center, two pools, a hot tub, two tennis courts, and a miniature golf course. Oh, and it had one other great thing going for it: it was perfectly located just off the so-called "Y" in Sedona, where the two main streets come together. Once we settled in, it was time for our week of fun! We'd been worried about the weather being terribly cold (the online reports we'd checked out predicted temperatures in the 30s), but it was mostly mid-50ish during the day, chilly at night. The beginning of the week featured a little rain, but it only slowed us down a bit...I found more shopping outlets in Oak Creek (and Dave actually requested a repeat visit when he discovered the Big Dogs store there), and we caught several movies. We also (naturally) hiked! Although not as much as we'd wanted to, thanks to the weather. However, we managed to spend a morning at Cathedral Rock, our favorite hike--it's more like rock climbing than hiking in some spots!--and discovered two new areas, Doe Mountain and Fay Canyon. We also spent quite a bit of time on the tennis courts, battling both each other and the ever-present blowing leaves that fell from the overhanging trees. The loaner racquets at Los Abrigados were barely functional, so we did a little research, hooked up with a local club and tennis pro, and arranged to rent a couple of racquets (including his! how nice!) for three days. (By the way, talk about an amazing location for a tennis clubs, with a backdrop of majestic red-rock formations! I'd never be able to concentrate on the game.) And we drove around the area extensively, enjoying the spectacular scenery and soaking up the electrically charged atmosphere; Sedona is reputed to have several energy centers, or "vortexes," and we swear you can tell when you're in or near one. Cathedral Rock is one of them, and we seem to gravitate to that place for the peace and calm it brings us. It was definitely a sybaritic week, hikes notwithstanding. We both enjoyed a couple of massages, some time in the hot tub, and even a class in "massage for two" (Dave now gives a killer neck rub). We also ate exceedingly well, stopping in at Robert's Creekside Restaurant twice (and there discovering the joys of grilled portobello mushrooms) and making it to our favorite watering hole, the Javelina Cantina, for the best margaritas in town. We checked out Steaks and Sticks, the flagship restaurant at Los Abrigados, and were pleasantly surprised to discover first-class food and excellent service; and Joey's Pizza, another on-site restaurant, put together the most amazing goat-cheese and sausage pizzas we've ever tried. The week flew by! On the way home, we swung through Jerome, a famous ghost-town-turned-artists'-colony, but were less than overwhelmed...it was too cutesy for a ghost town, but too run-down for a cute artists' colony. The views from the town, which was seriously elevated above the rest of the area, were fantastic, though. All too soon, it was over. But the memory of those red rocks and the energy of the vortexes would stay with us for a long, long time. |
David and I had both been to Sedona, Arizona before--me for a one-week vacation, both of us together for a long weekend--and were thrilled when my parents gave us a one-week, time-share exchange vacation as a wedding gift. We had to wait over a year to use it, but the trip turned out to be well worth the wait.