March 27- April 14, 2015
Ahh…it’s good to be back in the red rocks of Sedona. I have already said all one needs to hear about Sedona (check out our previous blog here). If my words have not sparked a desire to pay this place a visit then good, it’s getting overcrowded here anyway. We decided to stay around in the area for three weeks and spent little to no time getting reacquainted with our vacation spot. The town of Cottonwood is closer to the RV Park than Sedona so only because of sheer proximity the little town became our home. Of course Sedona has a ton of great hiking trails, magnificent vistas, and health conscious food, so we did our due diligence of indulging when time permitted, which it always does when you are neck deep in travel. We did manage to do a few things that we had reluctantly missed on our previous visits so I guess I will write a little about them. Just keep in mind all the usual vortexes, restaurants, and crystal shops were revisited.
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So what’s new? Slide Rock State Park peaked our interest since the desert days were unusually hot for this time of year. This state park has easy walking trails and plenty of tourists and locals in bathing gear. Why, you might wonder? Well as the name implies there are a number of rock slides that backsides have smoothed down along with the raging river. Actually this time of year, before the monsoons begin, the water is not really raging and it is ICE cold. Refreshing is more of the term used to coax bathing cladded families into the pools and slides. Refreshing it was, and it was fun watching grown men and women take a turn at being baptized by nature in the cold waters coming from mountains in Flagstaff.
For those who don’t know the area Flagstaff is on top of a mesa, an area itself full of natural wonders and various historical places to visit. Walnut Canyon National Monument being one thing on our list of things to do on the next days visit to the city. Dried out with only a few back bruises we walked around the monument in conversations of what the Hopi call “Techqua Ikachi”, which means, blending with the land and celebrating life. The amount of shelters in and around the canyon are vast and blend in with the landscape making the visitors question what happened that has led us so far astray in our modern living style. We all should know the answers to this question, in case you don’t I suggest a start to one for you briefly here; we killed, tortured, and “re-educated” the natives of this country for hundreds of years. Most Native earth knowledge has been lost, and many living tribes will not share what knowledge they have remaining with the white man because he is too stuck in his own beliefs to understand it. Sound familiar? It should because it is a reoccurring theme amongst differing people. Be it political, religious, of social beliefs humans do seem to have a hard time allowing others to express who they are and what their traditions are. Anyway, we mulled all this over some pints at the tavern in Old Cottonwood. Heavy.
A day of rest follows such energy intensive ideas of equal yet different living styles. Then Kindy flies away. That was one of the reasons we came back to Sedona, because I feel at ease here and for me, while in this place weeks fly by as if only hours have past. I’ll let her tell you of tales of snowstorms, family, and Easter Bunnies, but first please let me finish what I’ve started. Once again I’m alone in the red rocks and vortexes and here strange things seem to be drawn to me. I put miles on the pedometer enjoying time in the sun walking to rocks with imaginative names. Along the path I meet various seekers and the occasional lost tourist. I feel as though I know this area enough to talk of local legends and guide people in the general direction of the places they are trying to find. All this is weird since I have no home and I am just a visitor here.
As happenstance would have it David Childress’s mother invited me to a low-key book signing at her bookstore in Cottonwood. I attend, meet and chat for hours with David Childress and Clifford Mahooty about Native American legends. There probably were only about twenty people that stopped by in the five hours he was there. Later I found out both are on the Ancient Aliens History Channel series. Now I need to watch it! I’d never seen it but since I met these guys and talked of common travels I’ve started watching some past episodes. So far it’s pretty interesting. Aliens! A few more hikes, days spent reading, and bam it was time to pick up Kindy from the shuttle. Time to move on.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]