Sedona Scenes and Memories

It took me a little longer than I'd expected to go through my trip snapshots and ready them for posting, but I guess.......as they say, "better late than never!"

I've tried to pick a few photos that are representative of Sedona and the surrounding landscapes, as well as to show you a few shots of my dear hubby, Lee and me.

Both Lee and I love our trips to Sedona, and we never tire of the majestic red rocks and the unique beauty of the desert. For those of you who've never had an opportunity to see Sedona, which is, in my opinion, one of the great TREASURES of the SOUTHWEST, I hope my little travelogue photos will pique your interest!

I've started off (above) with an Uptown Sedona snapshot....this is the "touristy" part of town, with lots and lots of souvenir, jewelry, tee shirt shops, restaurants, etc., etc.

And another Uptown Sedona shot.....you can see that even the concrete is made with the local red dirt. Many of the large rock formations surrounding Sedona are named for their shapes...e.g., Snoopy Rock, Coffee Pot Rock, Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock....and so forth. I'm only beginning to recognize them, after years of traveling to Sedona!




Here's a whimsical pair of pink javelina sculptures in Uptown Sedona. Real javelinas (not pink, of course!) are known to roam the area near Oak Creek Canyon at night. We've even seen them at our little condo by the creek from our balcony! Javelinas are NOT pigs, believe it or not, even though they look like it. Their more scientific name is: collared peccary.





Here I am, having breakfast at the Sedona Airport Cafe.




And here is my husband Lee. He loves to soak up the ambience of the small airport scene in Sedona....having once been (indeed, still is) a small plane enthusiast and licensed pilot.



A typical landscape scene in the countryside around Sedona. I love the gnarly bark of these little cedar (I think!) trees.





And here's one of the many cactus plants around....I'm certainly no expert on desert plants, but I think this is a prickly pear cactus.....you see prickly pear jelly in a lot of the shops around town.




My husband tells me this is a ocotillo cactus. It looks pretty innocuous from a distance, but when you're up close to it, you can see it has inch long thorns! All these desert plants have to protect themselves, I guess.




Moi, soaking up some of the local landscape ambience. That's a Sedona tee-shirt I'm wearing....can you tell I'm fond of horses?



This is a scene from another of Sedona's attractions, the Tlaquepaque Shopping Village....it's a self contained outdoor shopping area that's been in Sedona as long as I can remember. It's nestled down along Oak Creek (which runs through Sedona) and was built to replicate a little town in Mexico by the same name. There are lots of unique shops and galleries, as well as restaurants in Tlaquepaque. Note the cobblestone pavement.




Here's one of several bronze statues in Tlaquepaque.








Me, in Tlaquepaque.




Hubby Lee, in Tlaquepaque. (See the cute bronze frog in the background?)



This was the scene just off the lower balcony of our condo time share at Arroyo Roble Resort (http://www.arroyoroble.com/) in Oak Creek Canyon. It was SO relaxing just to sit outdoors and listen to the rippling of the creek. Of course, this time of year, the cicadas were also singing from dawn to dark. (Growing up in Kansas, I'd never heard of cicadas...I used to call them locusts.) The Arizona cicadas seem to LOVE the huge old sycamore trees that line the banks of the creek.

You can click on the above (or any) photo to see it larger, and actually get a glimpse of the creek....I'll bet you'll ALMOST be able to hear the rippling of the water and the singing of the hundreds (or thousands?) of cicadas!





Lee, on the edge of Oak Creek.




And me, also on Oak Creek.




This gives you some idea of how HUGE some of the old sycamore trees are in the area. That's a sycamore tree on the right (Lee's left) and a cottonwood tree on the left. I understand that sycamore trees can live well over 100 years.

The above shot was taken in Crescent Moon Ranch State Park, near the Red Rock Crossing along Oak Creek, where many a photo have been taken of Sedona's most familiar natural icon, Cathedral Rock.




And here's my humble shot of Cathedral Rock......just taken across the pathway in the park, NOT from Red Rock Crossing.

I'm NO photographer (as you can tell by the fact that the sky in this last photo is "blown out"), but nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed these snapshots. I have certainly enjoyed being able to share them!