I've already shared the deep and personal gushy details of our trip - now for the fun pictures! Admittedly, photo-taking was not the huge focus of our trip. If it were, you would be getting an eyeful of us in our swimwear, basking in the sun by the pool. But we spared you and didn't take a single picture on the real camera of that. The pictures of me would have included a giant box of Kleenex and a stack of cold medications anyway...not really a glamorous sight. I literally could not taste, hear or breathe or smell a darn thing until the 2nd to last day of our trip which was a real bummer. I tried to live vicariously through Graham, as he narrated aloud how good the food we were eating was. My ears were so plugged that I assigned Graham the important job of letting me know if at any point I started raising my voice and yelling. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I sent my drink back the first night, before I really knew what was going on. I mean, it tasted HORRIBLE. I'd tried to be adventurous and try something new and chalked up my dislike to the fact that I must just not be a whiskey girl. When the margarita they replaced it with tasted just as awful, It was then that I realized the problem was me, not the drinks. Whoops.
Like I said, this series of pictures makes it look like we were out and adventuring a lot but in reality, we laid nearly dead by the pool for 4 full days. And it was awesome. We took breaks on occasion to eat but otherwise, books poolside kept us good company.
After sniffling and blowing my nose by the pool for 3 straight days, I finally rallied enough gusto to take Graham on a hike. The guidebook boasted that the Echo Canyon Trail up Camelbak would provide some of the best views of the city. At a mere 1.2 miles, how hard could it be?
As it turns out, HARD. Like really hard. I'd never been on a hike this vertical in all my life.
We were literally scaling walls of rocks gripping a metal pole while we pulled ourselves upwards with our arms. It was awesome! And you know what is more fun than hiking up in this fashion? Coming down. I'm totally serious. I LOVED IT!! If there were an extreme sport that involving galloping down rock cliffs using the a bar for support, I'd be all. over. it.
One of us made it to the top quite chipper and ready to take on the next peak. The other one of us decided he'd had enough hiking for the year. I won't divulge who was who. Oh wait...
The views from the top were AMAZING.
Unfortunately I think our non-exercise clothing gave away our ill-prepared nature for this hike. You should have seen all the gear everyone else had on - Camelbak water packs, gloves, the whole 9 yards. Sun hats are sporty, right?
King of the Mountain
The following day, we headed north toward Sedona to play tourist. We stopped just before town to do some wine tasting. We stopped at three different places, basking on sunny patios while tasting at two of them. Rough life.
Upon arriving in Sedona, we headed up toward the airport to take in the views. I've always wanted to visit the red rocks of Sedona and am pleased to get to check it off my bucket list. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL and our only complaint were the cool temperatures (56 degrees).
We started up the West Fork Trail, a lovely, FLAT hike along a creek. What we saw of it was awesome before we opted to turn back around (someone - I won't mention any names!!! - was not in the mood).
Someday I am going to do the whole hike. Which I guess means I just added to the bucket list I was slowly whittling down....
I will close with this shot, which is jaw-dropping for obvious reasons. I mean, REALLY!? These home owners definitely made a valiant effort to compete with the scenery...
So now I can say I "saw" Sedona but I'm hopeful to one day also say I "hiked" Sedona. What a beautiful place! And what a lovely trip!
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