Red Rock Country After the Storm

What a day...

Fact is... yesterday is running into today... and it's going to take maybe five posts on the different parts of it... to do it justice.

Uh Huh... still have part of yesterday to do today! ;) buuuut... that's gonna have to wait for its proper time! :)

We stayed here... knowing a storm was coming... as many others bailed for "safer"?? environs. Trouble is... you do that... and you can miss a lot! We rode out the lil' storm... 

... and we woke up to fog. Thick grey fog that you couldn't see maybe 75 or a hundred feet... We dawdled around camp near Cottonwood figuring to let it lift... not realizing it was already lifting, and making for some special photographs over by Sedona.

Aw well, lesson learned. You can be early and wait for a picture... or you can be late and never get it! :)

*The fog still hanging over Cottonwood down in the low lands*

... anyhoo... once it began lifting here, we took off for Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon... Kinda like when we went racing 'cross Arizona a spring or so ago 'cause there was a storm coming to Zion, and we needed to be there to capture it!

*Fresh Snow on the Black Hills above Cottonwood, Arizona*

Coming into Sedona we kept saying... "They need a pull out HERE!... No HERE!... Why don't they have a pullout for pictures HERE! ;)

Off to the south we spotted a road climbing the side of a flat topped mountain and found our way to it. THAT gave us the perch I needed to get the view I wanted...

You know... Sedona, Oak Creek and a whole lot of Arizona is a lot different than when I was a kid chasing wild cows in the Santa Ritas, the Bradshaws and along the Mogollon. It's changed.

I miss the Arizona I knew as a kid... but... the Arizona that lives today is still one of the best places the Boss ever made.

I wander to Montana, the Oregon Coast... the Islands in Puget Sound. I itch to see the plains of Wyoming fading in the distance before me... I hunger for the Tall Trees in California and those spiritual places along Big Sur. There's no argument that those places are gorgeous, spirit expanding, soul healing places on earth.

But... on this Earth... Arizona will always be my Home.

*Snow in the pines above Oak Creek Canyon*

*at Slide Rock State Park*

*Snow and Red Rock Jeweled Sedona Arizona*

There's kind of a comical thing in Sedona... The "Vortices"... there's claimed by some to be some sort of a thing called a "Vortex" here... a spinning, focused bit of energy that whangs into your head and spirit and changes your life... yeah... Ok... Woo Woo Woo! :)

The thing is this... Folks always have to put a name and a theory and an explanation on things...

The simple fact is... The Boss created a place of such beauty and serenity that even the settling of too many thousands of people in, around and on it... can't erase the serenity that seeps into your soul in a place like the Red Rock Country of Sedona.

No Special explanation needed. The Boss knew what he was doing... You don't feel good in this country because of no dang vortex. You feel good here... because this special place... among these red rock canyons... is one of the better GOOD places on earth.

*The Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona*

If you go to Arizona... no matter the season... you miss a lot if you detour around Sedona. This is one of those places, if you're tired... if something inside you aches... go here... walk quiet... stand and breathe...

You need not go into her many shops... although a coming story will show you the fun of that! ;) just get out on one of her trails... look up at the sky and the cliffs, and the life around you... let a fresh perspective seep into your head... no special sensitivity to vortexes required! :)

*Deep in Oak Creek Canyon after the storm passed*

Come to Arizona people... leave your preconceptions at home... come with an open mind... and soak up the beauty my glorious Home State will offer those willing to see it.

Home Again
Brian