Standin' on the Corner

After a week in Sedona, we headed north east to Colorado. It was a long drive that day but, as always, we try to break it up by stopping for meals and to see things. One of the stops that day was in...


See what's sitting in the window of this mural?...


See that guy "standin' on the corner"? And, do you see the "flatbed Ford" in the back ground?...


Yup! We were "standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona...it was such a fine sight to see..." They have a whole corner dedicated to the Eagles and their song, "Take It Easy". We figured that we might as well stop and see it since we were passin' through. Check out the "girl in the flatbed Ford" on the mural behind my daughter...


Here's my daughter standin' next to the flatbed Ford. I had imagined an older truck and not such good condition...


The truck and statue are in front of a brick wall (the wall looks like it use to be the side of an old building) with a mural. On the other side of the wall is "Standin' on the Corner Park". We read about it in our AAA book but there are no signs in the park and no benches...nothing...just grass, dirt, some small trees, and the park is really small...


This was painted on the wall of an old building down the street. I thought it was kinda cool...


Next stop...Mancos, Colorado...just outside of the Mesa Verde National Park. And...yup...were were listening to the Eagles CD along the way. :-)

Shopping in Sedona

One of the things I was really looking forward to in Sedona was shopping. I'd heard that it was great and that there were lots of artists. But, I had anticipated a much different kind of place than what I found. I thought Sedona was small and down to earth. Turns out it's pretty big with lots of expensive homes and galleries amongst touristy shops selling clear acrylic cactus' and other trinkets that I'm not interested in. We had to go off the beaten path and main shopping areas to find great stores. We didn't find a lot but the ones we found were great.

First, and most important...Yarn! I went to "The Sedona Knit Wits". The shop just re-opened with a new owner. She's really nice and the layout of the yarns was fantastic. They're organized by color and in a way that really works. She has a great selection with wonderful lace weight yarns and so many gorgeous colors of other yarns. She even has yarns that are hand-dyed in Arizona. If I had the money, I would have come home with bags full of yarn. But, I am on a budget...and, I'm trying to de-stash. So, I picked out one of my favorites. It's Ella Rae, Lace Merino and the color makes a perfect souvenir from Sedona...it looks like the surrounding red rocks. It's soooo pretty in person.



Another great shop was "The Victorian Cowgirl". The window displays caught our eye and we had to go in. The clothes are all custom designed by the owner and made in the shop. They're gorgeous! She even makes clothes for people from far away that can't make it to her shop. She sends a form for measurements and makes a trial piece that she sends to try on and adjust. She had gorgeous, Victorian and western type gowns along with lots of great pieces that fit perectly into 2010 and things that even go great with jeans (the most important clothing in my closet!). The prices seemed reasonable for beautiful, custom clothing. We loved her work!

Another great little find was "The Hummingbird House". It's in a National Historic Site that looks like a cute little house but was once the first general store in Sedona. I wish it had a website to show you some of the great things they sell...cute things to decorate the home, handmade items, and so much more. It was fun!

Those shops were great but the important one was Big O Tires! We had a blow out on our trailer on the way to Sedona and had to get new tires. We were so happy to find Big O there and they were awesome...in and out in less than 15 minutes! We got two new tires for the side of our trailer that seems to have been in the sun the most (it's a new-to-us, used trailer). We found out on the next leg of our trip, on the way to Colorado, that the trailer needed two more new ones on the other side...we had another blow out! Luckily, there was a great little tire shop/service station at the next offramp. Whew! Goes to show that a good tread doesn't mean a thing!

Next stop...COLORADO! :-)

Devil's Bridge

One of our Sedona excursions included a rough...I mean ROUGH...dirt road treck to the trailhead of "Devil's Bridge". My husband had read about it and found out that it's one of or the only natural bridge left in America that people are allowed to hike onto. He wanted to be sure to grab that opportunity before it was gone.

We headed out in our 4x4 SUV in the direction that he thought it was and the road was bad. But...it got even worse. It was so bad that I was ready to get out and walk! Some people abandoned their autos on the side of the road and did just that. All that bouncing and bumping was making me grumpy! At one point, I said that I thought we should just turn around because we weren't even sure if were going the right way. But, I knew that hubby reallllly wanted to find it. We stopped and asked some hikers who had abandoned their cars if we were going the right way. Their reply was, "I hope so...I think this goes to it". They obviously weren't sure either. We kept going and finally found a small parking lot at the trailhead. Unfortunately, due to poor parking skills of others who had gotten there earlier, there was no more room. So, we headed back down about a quarter mile or so and parked in a turnout. We put on our daypacks of water and other essentials and headed up. UP! My legs were already a bit tired from the climbing to see the Palatki ruins earlier that day. So, by the time we reached the last part of this trail to actually get up to the bridge, I decided to just rest in the shade of some of the big red rocks and wait for hubby and my daughter. Noodly legs wouldn't be safe.

I got to see the bridge from below. It's pretty...




Here's hubby and daughter on top of the bridge. Another hiker took the picture using my daughter's camera. She's experimenting with settings...that's why the color is different. What a great view!...


My rest and a little snack helped out a lot and made the hike back a lot better. Check out the view I had from under my shade rock...see the moon?...It's between the rock and the top of the tree...you can click the picture to enlarge it...



I'm glad we kept going. It was a fun adventure.

Next post...shopping in Sedona and YARN! ;-)

Desert Delights

Our desert vacation was a lot more colorful than I had expected. There were colorful wildflowers everywhere! I've never seen so many in the desert or in such large quantities and concentrations. I think it has a lot to do with all the rain we had this winter. However, I'm a bit puzzled as to how so many wildflowers are blooming at the end of June...almost July. They're everywhere and so pretty! I love wildflowers so this trip was like wildflower heaven. Here are some of the flowers we saw in Sedona, Arizona...note the red earth background in the pictures...

I've never seen so many cactus blossoms...ever! As I was taking pictures of this one, the center started to wiggle around...


Here's why...a bee had burried himself deep into the flower. Here he comes now. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the green, twisted, knot-like center...


I love the orange inside. So pretty...




Double delight...or...double shot for another bee...


This type of cactus is interesting. It grows like a train, along the ground, one paddle attached to the next...


I've never seen these before...they're yucca pods. Aren't they cool?! I found out later that native americans ate them. I read that they boiled and roasted them. They look like chile peppers...


We saw this flower stalk on our sunset hike near the vortex. There were bees of many sizes and shapes buzzing all around. You can see some of their silhouettes in the picture...


Here's one during the day. They're actually very colorful...


And, very tall...at least seven feet...


A little purple star...


And, some more with their petals curving backwards...


These were such a treat to me because of the orange color. It seems like most of the wildflowers I see are white, yellow, pink, purple and sometimes red. It seems rare to find orange ones and I'd never seen these...


These look like little paint brushes...click the picture to see it larger...they're even prettier when the picture is bigger...


This one sure has long legs. I think it was at least 18" tall...


These were growing on tall bushes near the Palatki ruins...


Sweet little blue flowers and little buds...


These are pretty but I'm not sure they're wild. We only found them growing along the roadsides...as though the road department had planted seeds for them...


These were only along the roads too, as far as I saw, but so cute...


Some have orange on them...


The tall black centers really stand out...


Fluffy...


We found these on our drive up Oak Canyon at higher elevations. They remind me of tiny pinecones...


We also found these up the canyon. They look like bright little suns...


I love photographing wildflowers and try to get pictures of every kind I come across. Unfortunately, I saw amazing flowers along roadsides that I couldn't take pictures of because there weren't places pull over. How wonderful to have seen them though.

More on our desert adventure in my next post. I hope you'll come back. :-)

Palatki Cultural Site

When we were in Sedona, Arizona last week, we noticed right away that the light seemed different. Somehow...brighter. We've heard it described as "sharp". This may have something to do with why the sky is so incredibly blue. It makes a fabulous backdrop to show off the amazing red rocks. There are a lot of them...we saw "Coffee Pot Rock", "Snoopy", "Cathedral", "Bell Rock", "Courthouse" and so many more that had interesting shapes. It reminds me of how we look at clouds and see "things". There are a lot of rocks that are just pretty. Here are some that we saw one day on a drive out a long dirt road...


The red sand is not only pretty but it feels really soft...


The dirt road that we were on led to ancient ruins at the Palatki Cultural Site. These cliff dwellings are really old. It's estimated that they are from A.D. 1150-1300...


There are petroglyphs (carved into the rock)...


And, pictographs (painted onto the rock)...






In the 1920's the grandson of Lewis or Clark (they haven't figured out which one yet) moved to this area in his 60's, after his wife had passed away, and homesteaded 160 acres, which included these ruins. The first two years that he was there, he lived in a little structure built against the rocks. He later used this space to house farm animals...


While he lived in the space under the rocks, he built a home. It has been added onto over the years. It now serves as the visitor center and museum. I think it's cute and the setting is gorgeous...


While he lived there, he planted hundreds of fruit trees...apple, pear, persimon, walnut, Juju Fruit, etc.


This was a fascinating little excursion but the ruins were such a small example compared to what we'd later see in Mesa Verde, Colorado...I'll be posting about that soon.

Please come back soon for more on our desert adventure.

Thanks for stopping by. :-}

Salsa in Sedona

A little over a week ago, we hitched up our camping trailer and headed out for a desert adventure...hubby, daughter, me....and, yes, our dog, Salsa, and our cat, Duchess. We spent last week in Sedona, Arizona. We take Salsa out and about with us whenever possible. Duchess stays at the trailer and lounges the days away, loving every minute of her vacation.

Sedona is very pretty with red rocks, brilliant light and some of the bluest skies we've seen. There are also vortexes...places where the earth releases energy...and they say that Sedona has the largest concentration of them than anywhere else on earth. They are hard to find though because there aren't markers, only maps. We heard stories of how people go to Sedona and experience such a strong feeling of needing and wanting to be there that they move there soon after. Maybe it's the vortexes or the beauty, who knows. We also heard stories of how the vortexes make some people feel nauseous and sometimes dizzy. We were anxious to see what we would experience. My daughter and I thought that Sedona was beautiful but we felt "weird" all week. Hubby loved being there. And, Salsa?....we think she liked it too. She seemed happy there and when we went to a vortex she was very relaxed. Here she is at a vortex enjoying the view with my hubby...click on the picture to enlarge it and see her ears blowing in the breeze...so cute!...


After a few minutes, she laid down and seemed very peaceful...


After our visit to a vortex, we went to the Airport Mesa and watched the sun set...


The next morning, we went for a drive up Oak Creek Canyon. It was beautiful! At the top was a lookout and Salsa enjoyed the view...


On the way back to town, we stopped at a park and took a walk. We were amazed at all the ferns in the desert! All the green looks so pretty against the red rocks...




More on Sedona in my next post. Please come back. :-)