Kokopelli Inn Sedona

It causes almost physical pain to see stupid retail shops built so near these breathtaking cliffs. It's criminal. It just shouldn't be. Arizona caved on this one--this should be a national park, not the purview of the wealthy.
Visit this eye-popping place and you can see how, were it not for national park status, the Grand Canyon could be another Sedona with trinket shops lining canyon walls.
We parked the car in a multi ...

Where do you go when the only safe place is UP? And there are 35 of you.
If you're in prehistoric Arizona you build what we flatlanders call a cliff dwelling.
Montezuma Castle (definitely not what they called it, as Montezuma died a century AFTER this had been abandoned) hugs the cliffs 100 feet above Beaver Creek.
Bob's sister Nancy is visiting from Florida so we took her on a road trip here, then on to Sedona. It was a great day full of interesting discoveries.

... kidding.”. I tried to take pictures but they don’t tell the story. In three different places Lynn had the hummer sitting with just two wheels on the ground. The other two were in the air. We went up and down the roughest spots slowly and even slowly we slid sideways on “slide rock”. But in the other spots we sped along bouncing all over the place. We laughed and yelled all the way. For 2 ˝ hours ...

... to get to Flagstaff.

Finding the hostel was a challenge too due to the one way systems in Flagstaff. We got there eventually and we were lucky enough that they had space for us. Having checked in we asked about the Lowell Observatory the place which discovered Pluto back in 1927, and we had just enough time to get there and spend about an hour. Off we dashed, though it was only ten minutes away, heading partly down the infamous Route 66. The planet the telescope ...

... spent! Can't believe we've only got a few days left. Don't want to come home, and go back to work and all that routine. Do they do the lottery out here, where can I buy tickets?? Lyn and Ci have just come back from taking the Harley back, as it had to be back by 9am. Cian is landed no as Lyn took him on a 30 mile trip up Oak Creek Canyon first. He loved it, and looks so cute in his bandana. Right, time to sort out what we are going to do today!

... is rocky. The big rocks forming the mountains ( I hope I'm not getting geologically too technical for you there ! ) and then you get rock sized rocks, and the desert floor is basically smaller rocks, going right down to stone size and of course mud  (if it were wet ! ) and dust. Then dotted around at really regular distances are cacti. Little ones that looked as tho someone had planted them at about 2 1/2 ft intervals and then every now and again there were great big cacti. I really ...

... River - that would be such a fab way to explore the canyon and see it at different times of the day. I was quite shocked at how badly affected the Canyon is by pollution. The Canyon acts as a vaccum for pollution. Mostly from fossil fuels which are burnt in California, Arizona and New Mexico, these pollutants are bought to the canyon by winds and is forced into the canyon. As a results the visability at the canyon is often very poor. On the day ...

We checked out Sedona twice during our trip to Arizona due to the fact that it was so peaceful and laid back. Plus we got free rooms by hearing a pitch for time shares (luckily we didn't buy one) but did enjoy the free rooms with ...

... the main building. Then head up the road, stopping to hike up the cactus filled hillsides. Earlier than we thought into Sedona, so we hit the red rocks running. And out to the airport. There's a vortex out there, haven't found it yet, but I'm hoping to. Scampering up and down rocks, then over to a flat surface to sit for a photo. The camera is programed to take three shots in quick succession.. The third shot has us sitting pretty good ...

... a fun adventure. We made it nowhere near to the top of the cliffs before turning down. On the trek home, I tested my Crocodile Hunter skills and caught a footlong dinosaur-faced lizard. "By craiky!" he was cool. The only place nearby where we could beat the heat was in the leg-numbing, 54-degree Colorado River. It was possibly the coldest swim of the trip, but it was beautiful. The quick river was a healthy green-blue color so clear it seemed illuminated. It seemed ...