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Published: April 30th 2013
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Sitting at a Barns/Noble near Flagstaff Arizona. Got into the area this afternoon and signed up for three nights at a KOA campground....after about a month of campgrounds with pit toilets, no showers, or if you're lucky lukewarm pay showers with the button you gotta push every 8 seconds to keep it going....a KOA campground is like a luxury, toilets that swirl with water and take the waste away, unlimited hot shower water, electric and water at the site. Shannon says Ahhhhhh, and so do i. I told Shannon she could spoil herself....(it doesnt take much,,, 😉
On the way here we stopped in Jerome AZ. An old copper mining town now supported by tourism, small town, mile high, window shopped and got a BBQ lunch. Someone told us to check it out, it was just ok.
Spent a night in Prescott AZ, someone else told us to check it out, its not far from Sedona, they said the town had lakes in the area....lakes in the middle of hot Arizona are hard to come by so we headed for them. Person was right...there were lakes, four of them, and we soon discovered all of them state ''Swimming By
Persons & Pets Is Not Permitted At Any Time''.....but gasoline boating, fishing, etc is all ok. Did some quick research and their reasoning is that the lakes are not fed by water throughout the year, so during the summer months their basically just a stagnant body of water and people *primarily peeing in the water elevates the bacteria count such that the lake is out of whack and its been determined...no swimming. So we quickly moved on to the Flagstaff area this morning and here we are. Spending few nights here then back to Sedona for 4 more nights, big Mtn Biking bash coming this weekend, demo trucks and group rides with sponsored food and beer. We put that on the to-do list.
In The Shadow Of The Moon The series of pictures was from a few days ago - i was holding out till we got a strong internet connection to update with plenty of pictures. We did a day hike to Cathedral Rock to check it out in the day time, we'd be returning at night under the full moon for a unique Sedona experience that was mentioned to us. Our day hike was
followed by a clean up river session that we all enjoyed. Other pictures included are from the pre and post full moon nights where we found good spots and picnicked out to watch the full moon rise...
The experience was a gathering of locals on an outcrop of Cathedral Rock, tradition has it that people gather here under the light of the full moon for good times and a tribal music. The instruments included hand drums (bongo style drums), various types of native style maracas, tambourines, native style flutes and about mid way through a few guys joined with Australian didgeridoo's ( a very neat sounding instrument consisting of not more than a long hollow piece of wood , players learn to blow out a constant breath of air, a one of a kind sound and one a very much enjoyed when i was in Australia, YouTube it!).
Music was playing when we were approaching and it directed us to the crowd, hiking was easy under the shadow of the full moon, no headlamps needed. The night progressed nicely, comfortable temp, big bright full moon, and we had hiked in some brews. We slowly got acclimated to the
people, sounds, smells and sites. Various people were jamming away on their instruments, drums held the beat and were heard above all. Rhythm was good then intermittent at first. Several domesticated wolves were perusing the crowd and made the experience all that more authentic. The full moon was igniting the Red Rocks under our feet and casting silhouettes of the infamous rock formations around us including Cathedral Rock directly in front of us, Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock in the distance. Random hoots hollers and howls were coming from the crowd, one howl would lead to another and another and another. Some people were holding distant vocals, some were dancing in the middle in a wholesome earthy hippie kind of way. As the night progressed additional instruments and people gathered and the beat picked up and became more organized and unison. At its high point we counted 14 people playing instruments and drumming in harmonic harmony and you couldn't help but slap your thigh and move your feet to the rhythm. Drums and percussion lead it all.
A great experience and one id recommend if you happen to be in Sedona and it happens to be a full moon...
Put that one on your to-do list Mr Big Bird Daigle
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Sonny
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Yup, look like hippies to me. The drums, dancing and the smells are a sure giveaway. Great images.