Sedona, AZ

 

     It was incredibly windy overnight here in Williams; temperature in the 20's when we woke up, but clear skies. After driving to Flagstaff on I40, we headed south on old route 89A. This is a beautiful drive, winding roads through Ponderosa Pines. We saw a "scenic overlook" sign as we were getting towards Sedona, and pulled into it. Fantastic mountain views (first picture above)

in all directions, and we could see the switchbacks we would be driving as we went south. There was also an area where native American women were selling arts, jewelry, and other locally made products.

     We drove into Sedona, and were surprised as to how busy it was on a Friday morning. Tough to find parking, particularly in an RV! We walked around for awhile, admiring the beauty of the surrounding sandstone mountains and the picture perfect, clean town that Sedona was. Streets were packed with art, bronze statues, every kind of quality "art" shop one would want, and--unfortunately, an awful lot of touristy outlets. Sandstone tee-shirts anyone???

Sedona is one of those cities that has adopted an animal as it's town "mascot" to be painted in various schemes. Sedona has chosen the Javelin, and we saw numerous examples around town. Jim particularly got a kick out of the one sponsored by the local Rotary Club.

     Driving out of Sedona, we went south and ended up climbing into those incredible hills!  The RV handled the climb and the hairpin turns with great aplomb.  The views were just spectacular, and we were really glad we had tried this alternative route back to Williams.  The land to the south of the mountains was back to your basic desert.  We had to stop and let the dogs do their business, and our big concern was rattlers!