Sedona (?)

We spent the whole day today in Sedona, also pronounced Semonia or Senoma, as some people in my family think. We headed out this morning around 9:30 to Sedona and took the scenic highway that our tour guide yesterday told us about. It took us through windy mountain roads near Oak Creek and the views were incredible. I was 100% in my element in the mountains. They are more cliff-like and rocky than the ones I am used to seeing, and they had sort of a fantastical look, almost like they came out of the movie Avatar…rocky structures jutting up towards the sky. I am currently listening to the Avatar soundtrack, and the images from today’s trip are just flowing through my mind 😊. There was also a lot of red in the rocks, especially once we actually got closer to Sedona. We stopped on the side of the road at Midgley Bridge which overlooked the creek and gave a good view of the surrounding mountains and rock structures. It was beautiful, but again I felt just the slightest bit tortured because I could not get to the water. Driving next to it on the mountain road and not being able to stop and walk down to it was very hard for me. I am hoping to be able to find an access point tomorrow or Thursday, and my trip will not be complete until I touch the water…even though we are supposed to get snowed on sometime in the next two days. I really love the angle and views that I had today. Seeing the Grand Canyon yesterday was amazing, and being above it and looking over the expanse of it was mind-blowing. However, I absolutely love the view from below. To me it increases the sense of wonder to look up at things and to feel so small. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s how I feel. As we drove, my eyes were constantly moving, taking in every detail possible. I decided as soon as we reached the mountain road that today would be a highlight of my trip…when mountains are involved, it doesn’t take much to fill me completely. I feel complete contentment and rest surrounded by towering cliffs and peaks, realizing the littleness of my existence and embracing the innocence of a small child in the midst of her Father’s big vast world.

We made it to Sedona, which is a lovely town with lots of shops and restaurants, surrounded by red rock mountains. Our big reason for going to Sedona was for an ATV tour (Clayton’s one request for his senior trip) which wasn’t scheduled until 1:00, and we wanted to have time to see some other things first. So, we went and saw the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a beautiful chapel built into the red rock. We were able to walk up to it and even go inside and look at it. The views from up there were expansive and really gorgeous. After that, we went and found a park to eat lunch at (we had packed sandwiches and snacks that morning) and we spent some time “playing” at the park until it was time to head to our tour. We made it to the ATV tour place and were given bandanas, helmets, and goggles to cover our faces completely since the trails are really dirty and dusty. There were 14 ATVs going out total, our family taking 4 of those (we all rode doubles), so there were quite a few people in the group. One of the men gave some instructions and demonstrations on one of the four wheelers and then we all had to take a lap on a small little track they had made to prove that we could drive one. I started driving our family four wheeler when I was 9 or 10 and all my siblings learned young too, so we are all used to driving one, but not everyone else there had the same experience that we did. Thankfully they broke us into two different groups since there were so many of us, and my family got put in the more experienced group. We headed out to the trails and got situated on our ATVs…plans for who would ride with who had already been made on the way there, and not too much arguing went along with it. Clayton and Anabelle chose to ride together, Bryce wanted to ride with dad, Mom and I didn’t really care so we were put together, and Memaw wanted to ride with Papaw. Today was their anniversary!! It was a lot of fun! The whole trip on the trails was between 2 ½ and 3 hours, and it was a blast. My mom let me drive the whole time, and Clayton and Anabelle switched halfway through. We made a couple stops and our tour guide had some fun facts to share. At the last stop with the beautiful view of Bear Mountain (I’ll include pictures) he told us that there had been 43 Western movies filmed in that area, featuring stars like John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Elvis Presley. It was at that stop also that Anabelle and my mom decided they just couldn’t wait any longer to relieve themselves after drinking a lot of water and riding on bumpy trails. So…the four of us Terrell ladies (Memaw included) went off on an adventure to find a good all natural bathroom facility. It was a bonding experience, and I’ll leave it at that. The road back was even dustier than the trails we took to get to the viewpoint, but it was very open and you could see everything…so many mountains in the distance in every direction. I was beaming under my gaiter and goggles, and I felt more like myself on that drive than I have in a while. It was refreshing and seriously so fun. We all loved it, and Memaw and Papaw said it was a great way to spend their anniversary together. We are so glad they came, they’re heading out tomorrow. We were all covered in dirt when we got back to the vehicles; it was everywhere. Even though we were completely covered, it got inside everything. We had dirt in our mouths and noses and somehow inside of our clothes, and our clothes themselves are covered in a layer of dust. For that reason, we opted out of going to a restaurant to eat dinner, and decided to head back to the house, take showers, and pick up pizza. We had a relaxed evening and saw a beautiful sunset, and I am now sitting on my bed writing this and becoming very tired.

Today was a really good day. I’m in love with this place and can’t wait to see more.

This was taken outside the Chapel of the Holy Cross...Bryce's idea

Bear Mountain behind us

The kiddos ready for our ATV ride

 

A view from the drive

The view from Midgley Bridge...see the creek...so far away!!