Last day in the Southwest :(

  Tehachapi, California, United States
Saturday, November 15, 2008

Had another not so great night's sleep at a hostel.  I totally embrace the ideology that hostels are built upon and the culture it creates, but am afraid I have outgrown the actual involvement.  I have become a very light sleeper,and when you are surrounded with ~50 people with very different time schedules it makes for a disastrous night's sleep :)  I'm lucky if i got 4 hours last night.  So needless to say, I am tired again, and will be keeping this entry short so I can do so.  

Sedona

I left the hostel at 7:30am and headed to Sedona.  I was flip flopping on whether to go and am glad I did.  It is a beautiful area, although a little trendy.  They say it is some kind of energy vortex, but I don't feel any different ;)  I went to Red Rock State Park and took a guided tour with a naturalist.  It was very informative.  Bob, our naturalist, was chock full of info and did an excellent job of addressing my interest in how the indigenous people used the plants for nutrition.  Thanks Bob!  We saw all different kinds of ecosystems and even saw some petroglyphs!  Sedona is kind of like a managable Grand Canyon. 

Sedona

The Grand canyon is so immense, and surreal.  Sedona is tangable and you can get into it very easily.  Yet another place I have to go back to.  Flagstaff appears to be a neat little town.  Has a lot of character.  I recommend you check that out too, but if you stay at the hostel, get a private room or bring earplugs.  

I drove through the Mojave Desert (no idea what the desert is called, but the town on the endge is Mojave) and crossed over the third and final time zone on my way to San Francisco.  I stopped half way in this little town.  I'll put some photos up tomorrow.      Photos up!