It snowed more during the night – not a lot, but enough to leave a thin coating of snow on the car. We were up fairly early, and with the temperature around 35 degrees I put on some long pants and a pair of socks for the first time this trip. After some complimentary breakfast at our motel and a brief stop at the Wal-Mart across the street, we were on our way on highway 89A towards Sedona, which was only 25 or 30 miles away. As we approached Sedona, we made a few stops at some scenic waypoints for photo opportunities. The landscape of red rocks, spires and canyons is incredible, and the rain clouds and showers didn’t detract at all from their beauty. They did shorten some o
f our hikes and hastened our photo sessions, though.
In Sedona, we found some parking a block off the main drag, and walked up one side of the street and down the other, perusing the shops that interested us. Erin has a collection of glass seashells on the Potentate, and in one shop we found a nice one to add to the collection. It will ride around the rest of the country in its bubble wrap, then join us on the boat for our cruise up north to rendezvous with the Wills.
I doubt if many locals patronize these shops, as everyone asks where you’re from. One young gentleman was particularly chatty, interested in where we were staying and whipping out a map to show us some of the nearby attractions. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to get us to visit the time share resort he was pitching, but we did get some good information on a few scenic side-trips to take on the way out of town. We took the airport
loop road and another scenic side loop as well as we headed out of town, still on 89A. Besides the beautiful hillsides, we noticed many species of cactus, and most of them were in bloom. What a great time to see the area, even in the clouds and rain.
The shorter way south would have been to come back into downtown Sedona and head towards the I-17 freeway, but we took a scenic route that was a twisty mountain road climbing to the mining town of Jerome. We’d never been there or heard of it, but it looked like a fun place that we may return to some day.
We continued on to Prescott, and then over the Juniper Mountains on another twisty mountain road. The PT Cruiser was surprisingly nimble on the switchback curves, and the fact that it was pouring rain half the time took care of any yearnings for traveling this road on the motorcycle, at least on this day.
We arrived at Horst and Gay’s place in Surprise around 3:30, and the Tomtom led us right there, although it did try to take us through the unattended back gate first. We unloaded a few things from the car to the guest room, and changed into some cooler clothes – it was cool here by local standards, but to us it had now warmed up to a summer day. When we returned to the main house, Mike and Claudia, who now live just a couple minutes away, were there as well. We had a great time chatting about times past and just catching up. The dinner table was set, and Gay presented a wonderful dinner of sauerkraut, potatoes and pork ribs. That was followed by a dessert of tarts and ice cream. A little Bailey’s in the living room topped it off. The dinner was excellent, and the company was even better.
Tomorrow morning we’ll go to Mike and Claudia’s for blueberry pancakes, made with a mix imported from the state of Maine. We’re looking forward to that as well – it’ll be hard to leave!
f our hikes and hastened our photo sessions, though.In Sedona, we found some parking a block off the main drag, and walked up one side of the street and down the other, perusing the shops that interested us. Erin has a collection of glass seashells on the Potentate, and in one shop we found a nice one to add to the collection. It will ride around the rest of the country in its bubble wrap, then join us on the boat for our cruise up north to rendezvous with the Wills.
I doubt if many locals patronize these shops, as everyone asks where you’re from. One young gentleman was particularly chatty, interested in where we were staying and whipping out a map to show us some of the nearby attractions. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to get us to visit the time share resort he was pitching, but we did get some good information on a few scenic side-trips to take on the way out of town. We took the airport
loop road and another scenic side loop as well as we headed out of town, still on 89A. Besides the beautiful hillsides, we noticed many species of cactus, and most of them were in bloom. What a great time to see the area, even in the clouds and rain.The shorter way south would have been to come back into downtown Sedona and head towards the I-17 freeway, but we took a scenic route that was a twisty mountain road climbing to the mining town of Jerome. We’d never been there or heard of it, but it looked like a fun place that we may return to some day.
We continued on to Prescott, and then over the Juniper Mountains on another twisty mountain road. The PT Cruiser was surprisingly nimble on the switchback curves, and the fact that it was pouring rain half the time took care of any yearnings for traveling this road on the motorcycle, at least on this day.
We arrived at Horst and Gay’s place in Surprise around 3:30, and the Tomtom led us right there, although it did try to take us through the unattended back gate first. We unloaded a few things from the car to the guest room, and changed into some cooler clothes – it was cool here by local standards, but to us it had now warmed up to a summer day. When we returned to the main house, Mike and Claudia, who now live just a couple minutes away, were there as well. We had a great time chatting about times past and just catching up. The dinner table was set, and Gay presented a wonderful dinner of sauerkraut, potatoes and pork ribs. That was followed by a dessert of tarts and ice cream. A little Bailey’s in the living room topped it off. The dinner was excellent, and the company was even better.
Tomorrow morning we’ll go to Mike and Claudia’s for blueberry pancakes, made with a mix imported from the state of Maine. We’re looking forward to that as well – it’ll be hard to leave!
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