Finally, the COVID situation is getting a little better and we are traveling once again. This time on a road trip headed to Sedona, AZ with Will’s cousin’s Stella and John. We left and were ahead of schedule, so we decided to stop for a few hours and enjoy the sites at the Painted Desert National Park. It was a beautiful sunny day and the views were amazing.
Great colors in the petrified wood 
We got to Sedona and easily checked into our accommodations, the Red Rock Retreat. The home is very comfortable 3 bedroom in a great neighborhood. The interior is a little dated, but we enjoyed the views and the walking access to a couple of great trailheads.
The next morning we woke up and were headed out to the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. We really didn’t research this too much and were pleasantly surprised at the size of the monument and the available campgrounds. The volcano erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100, making it a relatively recent eruption by volcano standards. We took a couple of hikes where you can really get a feel for this volcanic landscape.
After touring the Crater area we drove on up the road to the Wupatki National Monument. When the volcano erupted the many ancient Puebloan people were displaced. Fast forward a few hundred years and people began to move back into the area and began to once again cultivate the land near the crater. If you go don’t miss the Wukoki Pueblo. It’s a three story pueblo that was built on top of rock and the building just seems to rise out of the rock on which it was built. Everyone there visiting was truly impressed by this one in particular.
We headed on to check out downtown Flagstaff. We’ve been to Flagstaff before, but usually we were skiing or just an overnight stop as we were driving through. It was interesting to walk around and check out some of the buildings and sites from the heyday of the infamous Route 66.
A beautiful sunny day dawned and we set out walking from the house to hike a loop from one of the nearby trailheads. Sedona is known as the day hiking capital of the world and has numerous trails that can be combined to make loops or combined to create a length that you feel comfortable hiking. We started at the Mystic trailhead and looped around eventually ending on the Chapel trail and the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was really a pretty hike with some amazing views. But being the end of May in Sedona, it was also extremely hot with temps in the mid-90’s. We were pretty wiped out after our 6.5 mile loop and just lazed around for most of the afternoon. We rallied in the late afternoon with a quick scenic drive and a stop at the Sedona Beer Company before dinner. Dinner was once again at the Elote Cafe. They moved into a new location since the last time Will and I were there, but again the food was amazing. Note: If you want to have dinner at Elote, you must have a reservation. They start taking reservations 30 days out and you need to mark your calendar to make sure you reserve the first chance you get. We all enjoyed our food immensely and therefore I didn’t manage to get a single photo.
Well our time in Sedona was over, we were moving a little farther south to Cottonwood, AZ. But before we left the javelinas decided to have breakfast right outside in the backyard. We really enjoyed watching them from the living room window.
From Sedona it’s a short drive down to Cottonwood, so we were able to make some scenic stops along the way. The first stop was Montezuma Castle National Monument. This dwelling was built by the Southern Sinagua people between 1100 and 1300. Although you haven’t been allowed to tour inside the dwelling since the 1950’s it’s still an impressive site. This site is relatively small and takes between 30 and 45 minutes to walk the concrete path.
From there we checked out the Tuzigoot ruins, which are another village of the Southern Sinagua people. Then it was on to visit the cliff side town of Jerome, which is a historic copper mining town. The town is supposedly haunted and I’ve heard it’s a fun place to visit around Halloween. But if you don’t make it there at that time, you can always have a burger at the Haunted Hamburger. We weren’t hungry yet, so we just opted for a drink at Paul and Jerry’s Saloon.
The following day we made a stop to a couple of the local wineries, the Javelina Leap and Oak Creek. Javelina had a great atmosphere with different places inside and out to sit and enjoy a wine flight. There was also live music going on while we were there.
It was then time for the Rhythm on the Rails. Once a month the Verde Canyon Railroad has this music event where they have 6 musicians providing music on the train ride through the Verde Canyon. We were provided with very comfortable seating and a nice snack box full of fruit, salami and other snacks. It started with a champagne toast and we were off. A beautiful night for a train ride and it was easy to move between our car and the adjacent open air car to check out the amazing views. We even went through the North Pole, but nothing much was going on this time of year. The musicians moved from car to car and played a short set of 3-4 songs. It really was an enjoyable evening.
Another vacation comes to an end. We headed home the next morning, but managed to stop for breakfast at the Old Town Red Rooster Cafe in Cottonwood. Food was great and the place really got busy right after we arrived.