Day 5 - Sedona, ARIZONA Day # 2

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We woke up to see a stunning blue sky out the window and the forecast is to be nice and warm around 32 degrees. It was most unusual to have a shower and not be standing in a bath tub for a change with a beautiful rainfall shower-head.



The Matterhorn Hotel is one of the few places we have booked that does not provide breakfast and given it’s location in downtown Upper Sedona we thought breakfast would be a breeze to arrange but we were actually quite stressed last night trying to find anything that was going to be open before 9.00am as we need to meet for our tour by 8.50am. They all seemed to open at 9.00am or later !



Eventually I found a place called Wildflower Cafe and it turned out to be perfect as it was only a 5 minute walk to where we had to check in for our tour. Kerry had pancakes and I had 2 eggs sunny side up. We had an awesome view of the Red Rocks from the outdoor patio. Sedona is just so relaxing taking in the views all around you. No matter whether you look left, right, forward or behind you there is mountain scenery from the valley floor that is simply breathtaking.



We arrived at the Pink Jeep tours desk on time and they were super organised which is not surprising since they have been doing these tours since 1960. The original owners were inspired to paint their jeeps pink after visiting Hawaii and going to a Hotel called The Royal Hawaiian (google this place and check out the images). Essentially on the Pink Jeep tour they take you off road in the trails to get in amongst the action. There was about 40 people waiting for their tours and we were the first ones called out (how special are we !) and we had a group of 3 ladies from Texas and 2 ladies from Washington State / China join us on our Jeep and host / driver was Allan who has been doing this for 9 years since moving from Rochester New York. They had about 3-4 other jeeps following us on the same tour.



Kerry got to sit in the passenger front seat cabin and in the back section they had bench seats facing sideways looking inwards (I was on my own behind Kerry’s seat) and across from me were the 3 Texas ladies. At the back of the Jeep there were 2 seats facing forwards and we had a canopy roof covering us all from the hot sun but it was fully open on the back and sides.



We had a short drive through Sedona on our way out to start the trail and I later said to Kerry after about 1 minute of hearing Allan’s commentary I knew were in for a great day. He was clear, articulate, interesting and far from monotone like someone we met yesterday.



Our tour is called the Broken Arrow tour (the trail’s name) which was named after a famous James Stewart movie called Broken Arrow that was filmed here in 1950. Allan said it’s available to download for free on You Tube so we will watch this at some stage on our travels. Allan said just be careful not to download the John Travolta movie by the same name as it’s story is a bit different from a Western movie.



The Jeep is purpose built for traversing rough terrain and we went up rock faces, over huge boulders and on the edge of cliff faces that put you on the edge of your seat at all times. We had about 3 stops where we got out of our Jeep where Allan would explain things like the geology, history, plants, animals and other fun facts about the region including how the vortex theories eminated. We have lots of agave plants at home and had no idea why one recently died after flowering for the first time until today (thanks Allan for explaining).



We had some amazing photo experiences and we saw the famous white line cycling track which is a death wish if you are brave (google White Line Sedona and watch some of the You Tube videos).



We had so many jaw dropping 360 degrees views it was amazing. The tour finished after 2 hours and it is now rated in one of my best ever experiences and I give it a rating of 20 out of 10 and whilst it was not cheap it’s a must do experience and whilst bumpy at times it was fine. Don’t waste time on doing the Trolley Tour.



At Allan’s suggestion we went to the Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village in downtown Sedona which is a recreated Mexican Village and appears authentic and had lots of small shops selling arts and crafts on the banks of Oak Creek. We had lunch at the Secret Garden Cafe where I had a Bruschetta and a Latte and Kerry had a humus pizza. It was nice, peaceful and tranquil setting with some guy playing jazz music.



Afterwards we went shopping at the local supermarket (Safeway) for Ciders / Beers / Grapes / Bananas / Salsa and freshly baked Mexican Tortila Chips to enjoy on our balcony. We then chilled in the room for a while snacking and had dinner at Sedona Pizza and Pasta Company across the road. We had the combination pizza for $25.99 and were done by 6.45pm.



We hit the road again tomorrow heading for Monument Valley something I’d always wanted to do but the weather forecast is nottoo great.

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Photos

Kerry captured this amazing shot
To the naked eye there was nothing in the sky but took photo twice and it was there both times. Is this the vortex at play ?