So this is my first vacation since retiring. When Remy made the reservation and it looked like we were pressing the time, I asked her to go ahead and book a second week. This change in plans caused some problems with the already made bookings, but allowed us to do stuff at a more leisurely pace.

We left on Saturday, 11/12 at 7am and had a three hour layover in Houston, leaving at around 11 and arriving in Phoenix at 1 pm. I tried to get the two weeks of the car rental at Thrifty combined so that we wouldn't have to drive back to Phoenix the next week, but the girl couldn't or wouldn't do that.

It was about a 2 hour drive to get us to the timeshare. The first week we spent at the Highlands Resort at Verde Ridge, Resort ID: 8651, near Cornville. The resort overlooks a golf course but with Remy's condition I did not want to lug clubs that far and not really use them. We checked in, rested, then headed out to dinner

I had researched some places to eat around here, and we decided to try the Manzanita Restaurant in Cornville. They have an unusual menu that included french escargot as an appetizer. We hadn't had that in quite a while. I had the stuffed sole, whereas Remy got the scallops special. The snails were excellent and the rest of the food was ok.

Sunday, 11/13
We started for St. John Vianney in Sedona, but passed Immaculate Conception on the way, and turned around to see what their schedule was. I hadn't chanced upon this church in my search so it must be relatively new. It's Mass was already in progress so continued to SJV. We found it pretty easily. They served donuts afterwards. The theme of the readings had to do with the "end of times" and we had some good conversations with some of the members about the how long our parents lived and the coming of our demise.

On the way back we went took the Red Rock Loop off of 89A that took us through some views of red rock formations. We stopped at the park, but they are only a parking lot for folks doing hikes from there and Remy is not fit for hiking, so we turned around and continued on the lower loop back to 89A and headed back towards Cornville. We didn't take a lot of photos, Remy was reluctant for me to pull off the road for photo opportunities.

On the way back we stopped at Walmart to buy coffee and other groceries. I picked up some fresh steelhead trout that I cooked for dinner. It turned out pretty good.

Monday, 11/14
We got another lazy start, I'm having trouble getting Remy to say what she wants to do, so we went to the Tourist Information in Cottonwood for ideas. It seemed like the Olde Town area of Cottonwood has a lot of old shops and museums for Remy and I could do a short walk on the Jail Trail at the end of town. It follows along the Verde 'river'. The main thing I saw there is some huge cottonwood trees. There were lots of little birds and locus along the path. I got a picture of a hawk that was watching the little birds too. Also a photo of what looks like some kind of owl or something. Remy wasn't feeling too well and never left the parking area, so it was a good thing I didn't tarry very long on the trail.

Tuesday, 11/15
Had another slow start to the day with getting Remy moving. Eventually she got dressed and we headed to the Montezuma Castle National Momument. My Senior Pass for the National Parks Service got us free admission. The site had a concrete paved path that allowed Remy to slowly walk park and and see the preserved cliff dweller residences of the Hopi Indians.

Afterward we went to the Cliff Casino for lunch. I had a huge mushroom hamburger. I left Remy there and I headed past the town of Pine, on to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. It was a bit further than I had planned. I arrived there 3:30 and they close the entry and the trails at 4:00, so I hurried to the bridge overlook. I tried to call Remy, but there was no cell phone signal. Then I rushed down the Gowain Trail to bring me to the bridge opening.
It was a steep walk down the trail, and then it was a hard trip back up.
I started at the view point 4 and backtracked to the other view points. By the time I got to the trail to the waterfall, the ranger was already closing the gate. So I headed back.
I picked up Remy at the Casino and headed back to Cottonwood. We stopped at the Walmart and got some salmon and crab cakes that I cooked for dinner.

Wedesday, 11/16
Remy was still hurting this morning and wanted to go to the Emergency Room. We found one in Cottonwood, at the Verde Valley Medical Center. They were a lot more efficient than you find in Texas. We spent about 4 hours there, but they took a urine sample right away, and she saw a doctor in less than an hour. Before we left she also got a blood test, EKG and CT scan. The doctor had good news and bad news. They were both the same, he found nothing. So he gave here a prescription for tylenol with codiene for the pain and sent us on our way.

We left the emergency room and went to Denny's for lunch. Then we headed to the nearby CVS to fill her prescription.
I left her at the room to rest up, and I headed out to find devil's bridge which was high on my list of places to hike. I was thinking we might end up returning home early and I wanted to get this one in.

I passed the turn to the trail head and continued on Dry Creek Road so that I could take in the views. I pulled over at some pull out spots to get some awesome photos of the red rock views. Then I turned around and found the trail head at Dry Creek Vista, from which I could hike to the bridge.

I met a nice couple at the hike sign, Joseph and Tammy. We decided to take Route 1, the 4-wheeler road, to the Devil's Bridge Trailhead since it was already getting late.

The road was easy walking and it had a lot of good views of the rock formations. The climb to the bridge was quite steep in parts. It was worth it. I didn't walk out on the bridge but got pictures of those that did. People are crazy, no wonder they have a lot of accidents on the trails. I got some nice shots along the way especially from the higher area. I got Joseph's email so I could forward the picture of the bridge that included him, since his wife was recovering her breath and didn't capture that moment. I tried to call Remy from top, but it did not go through. I tried again when we reached the bottom, it went through but she didn't answer, so I left a message. When I got home and she was out like a light. I guess the pain medicine was working.

Thursday, 11/17
Had trouble getting Remy moving again, eventually I convinced her to get dressed. I dropped her off at the Cliff Casino around noon, and I continued on I-17 to the intersection of highway 179. From there I headed south on FR618 looking for the Bell Trail. I ended up stopping short of the actual trailhead, at the Bruce Brockett Trailhead which is intended as an access point to the Bell Trail for campers, trailers and such. Since it was getting late, I set out from there, assuming that this start point wouldn't add much distance to the hike and I don't think it did.

The Brockett Trail brought me through a cactus filled pasture and eventually connected to the Bell Trail. I don't think the alternate start point added much to the hike, but it wasn't marked that well so I was uncertain of my direction quite often. The path had a lot of little deer or wild boar foot prints as well as what appeared to be some kind of wild cat prints, so I was determined to complete the trip before dark. Once I met with the main trail, it matched the description pretty much.

You could hear the water flowing in Beaver Creek, but mostly could not see it due to the thick growth of sycamore and cottonwood trees. The sun was quite bright which added a lot of contrast to the views. I'm not sure the pictures will be as good as the actual views were. The first part of trail was easy as described and it got steeper and more rocky later ending up at a large pool in the creek. I rested a couple minutes there, then headed back. Apparently the trail continues on the other side of the creek, but the continuation path was not obvious and I decided to turn back.

Anyway I was already feeling a little tired in my legs from all the walking I've been doing on the last couple hikes. My round trip to where I turned around ended up taking 4 hours as it was. The temperature had cooled off quite a bit compared to yesterday, so it was a pleasant walk. When I got back to the Casino, Remy was waiting for me outside. The walk from the car to the casino was quite chilled as the temperature was dropping and the wind had picked up.

Friday, 11/18
Today Remy found her appetite and was in the mood for chinese food. An internet search hit on the Szechuan Restaurant in Sedona to which we headed for lunch. We found the sign at the entrance to a small mall easily, but had a struggle finding the restaurant. The restaurant was somewhat hidden in the back of the mall. I ordered my typical Sweet and Sour Pork, which was pretty good! The meal included some really good egg drop soup. It looks simple enough to make, so I researched some recipes for my project when I get back home. we are rested from all the walking, etc. since we need to return the rental car tomorrow and it's a long drive.

Saturday, 11/19
Today, we had to drive back to Phoenix to return the car and get another one. She had scheduled the return for 7 am and the next car for pickup at 3 pm, so there was a little disconnect there. In addition, our new timeshare check in is after 3 pm, so we had to work around those revisions from the initial one week plan. Basically got the same car although it was called a premium this time.

On our way back Remy remembered the approximate exit number that was advertising an outlet mall. We found the Anthem Outlet Mall near mile 229. I had to turn around at the next exit and make my way back there. I'm not much for shopping, but I walked throughout the mall and did get some photos of the Christmas Decorations.

Instead of taking 260 to Sedona, we stayed on I-17 a bit further and took State Highway 179, which is called the Red Rock Scenic Byway.I Pulled over a few times for some photos. We went as far as the Midgley Bridge which is a starting point for a possible hike to Steamboat Rock. We stopped at the 1939 vintage bridge where I was able to get some photos of the bridge and I went a very little way on the trail to get some photos of the valley.

Then we headed to the Sedona Pines Resort(#4968) for our next week stay. I found the turn off Highway 89A, but got lost in the subdivision and had to ask for how to get back to the resort area check in point. The room is different than the normal exchange. With their modular home type construction, it seemed more like a double wide trailer than a resort, but it was adequate for our needs.

Sunday, 11/20
The Sedona Pines Resort provided a pretty good complimentary breakfast. I was expecting sweet rolls, but they cooked eggs and sausage, etc. After which they had various vendors describe the tours they were selling. We had received a door prize ticket on the way in, and each vendor pulled a ticket for a door prize they were offering. We didn't win any of them.
We signed up for the Vortex Tour at 1 PM. Our guide was Ron, the owner, who is trying to sell the business because he has moved to Florida. He gave interesting explanations of the universal forces supposedly associated with the various locations he took us to. It was nice having someone else do the driving so I could see the sites better. He took us to several of the vortexes in the area and tried to explain the power associated with them and the universe. We didn't go see the medicine wheel that was supposed to be part of the tour because it had started raining pretty steady. Instead he took us to see some interesting housing near a river in the Village of Oak Creek.
Based on our birthdays, Remy is a raven and I'm a sturgeon. He informed us of this when a Raven kept approaching the van when we were at one of the Vortexes. I think he was more interested in whether we were dropping and food crumbs.
Another concept he pointed out is how the end of life of one contributes to the start of life of another. He was pointed out how a century plant drops its seed near the plant, then it dies to provide the nourishment for the off-springs.
I didn't get this image where he pointed it out to us, but this tree that looks like it is dying is actually alive with the new tree growing on the wood of the dead tree. You wouldn't pick that out too look at it.

Monday, 11/21
The rain continued all Sunday night and into Monday morning. It starting letting up around noon, so I decided to do the Bell Rock, Courthouse Loop hike. It was a little muddy and at first there was still a few drops of rain falling, but it wasn't crowded and it had cooled off quite a bit. The colors were good with the cloud cover. I followed the loop counter clockwise and it is supposed to be about 5 miles around. Near the end of the walk, when I passed by the trail up Bell Rock, there were a lot of folks who came out intending only to climb the Bell Rock. I included a link to Cathedral Rock Trail below. This is one of the formations you can see pretty clearly along this hike.

Tuesday, 11/22
Prior to doing the hike yesterday we tried to sign up for the Verde Canyon Railroad Ride from Clarkdale to Perkinsville. We couldn't get a trip for yesterday and today was booked except for the first class section. The trip is two hours each way. The first class ride includes a glass of champaign and some snacks. The waitress also provides drinks from the bar. I rode most of the way on the outside car with occasion checks on Remy whose stomach wasn't doing so well. The open view from there made getting scenery pictures easier. The views were awesome. We also saw some cliff dwellor locations.

That evening we did the 8 pm Sedona Stargazing Adventure that I had purchased months ago. It was already quite dark by that hour, and the route to get there was a bit longer than I thought. We went south of highway 179 to the Village of Oak Creek, then took Verde Valley School road to where it changed to dirt road. We were met there by some dudes with flash lights to take us out on the rain soaked field. It was cold. Remy was not enthused. You easily could see the milky way and there were so many stars that it made picking out the constellations that are normally easy to find more difficult because there are so many other stars in the pattern that I'm not used to seeing. Our guide had a 12" reflector telescope. We saw a lot of shooting stars during the two hours of the event. I thought it was pretty interesting, Remy not so much.

Wednesday, 11/23
Off to another lazy start, I walked around the resort property. At first I was planning on using the heated swimming pool and relaxing for the day. Then I thought I can do that anytime at home, so I decided to walk the Bear Mountain Trail.

This trail is located on the west side of Sedona not too far from the Devil's Bridge Trail. The start point is the start for a couple other less strenous trails. When I was starting out, there was a group of about 6 girls getting out of separate cars and gathering for some kind of reunion of sorts. I think they were from some sorority, maybe from the college in Flagstaff. They ended up heading up the same trail as me and I kept hearing them giggling behind me. At one point I made a wrong turn and they ended up getting in front of me. You may say I joined them for a part of the way.
The views are awesome, I mean of the mountains. At one point we took each others photos of on top a view point from which you could see Bell Rock in the distance. The photo of me is what I used to lead off this page.

I did not continue up the steep last half mile or so to the peak since it was already 4 pm. I turned back. The girls continued on but they were going to have to hoof it to make it to the summit and back by dark. It looked pretty steep to the summit and I'm not as young as them. I watched them for a while and they seemed to be stopping too much to make it, I returned at a leisurely pace and took a lot more pictures on the way back.

Links:
Manzanita Restaurant
Highlands Resort at Verde Ridge
St. John vianney Church, Sedona
Sedona visitors guide
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
Verde Valley Medical Center
Bell Trail - Forest Service Page
Steamboat Rock
Sedona Pines Resort
Bellavita Ristorante
Szechuan Sedona
Anthem Outlet Mall
Sedona Vortex Tour
Bell Rock - Courthouse Loop
Cathedral Rock Trail
Verde Canyon Railroad
Bear Mountain Trail 54