Final Days of the Trip

Our final days of the trip were spent in Sedona, Arizona. This is Red Rock country just south of Flagstaff. This is the southern most part of the Colorado Plateau. Having started our trip, 11,500 miles before with our first night with Tom and Les in Parker, Co, this seemed a relaxing and excellent way to finish the trip on the Colorado Plateau.
The rocks show great layers of color, with the Red of their name coming from Iron in the rock. Because of the different areas the sandstone is found, the process takes millions of years to form this Red, Orange, Tan, almost white array of rock.
http://www.sedona.biz/sedonageology.htm

We did a great drive down a forest road and picnicked at one of the Forest Service Campgrounds. We found the FS Campgrounds to be quite crowded with 1000s of people at Slide Park, probably because it is right on Oak Creek and has great access for swimming. Because this is above 4000 ft, the temps were perfect for sleeping! Sedona is known for its new age and psychic energies and there are four vortex experiences that they talk about. (CJ and I went to a couple just over a year ago and didn't really feel anything except the crowds!) http://where2camp.tripod.com/vortex.html

One of the places I saw that we had to visit was the Arizona Botanical Garden (sorry no website). They are located in Clarkdale, AZ. It's just on the other side of Cottonwood and has a wonderful assortment of xeriscape worthy plants. Francis was at the counter and offered us water and even took the time to fill a small bowl for Molli. He was great at answering our questions and giving us some ideas about what might grow in our area. http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SUNA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Arizona+Botanical+Gardens,+Clarkdale&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&view=text&latlng=16967781603470538633

The final days were quite relaxing. We enjoyed a night out at the Tavern Grill in Cottonwood. We ate outside and even enjoyed a light rain shower while we were there. Nicole, our waitress, had grown up in Cottonwood and told us a bit about growing up there, moving away and coming back. She's going to be studying lapidary with a master as she returns to school.

It was nice to get back to the farm after all that driving. The trip was one that will hold memories for a life time. A trip like this may only come once in a lifetime, I've actually been lucky to do it. This tirp took me to some remote areas that I'm not sure you could possibly do on a short week long vacation.

Now, to go through the pictures and get some posted!