Beautiful – Wintry- #Sedona, Arizona

Bell rock Sedona

 

What a crazy weather week it’s been here in Arizona. El Nino has been playing some nasty tricks on much of the Southwest. Southern California is flooding with the multiple storms throughout this whole past week, leaving Arizona with remnants of torrential rains, snowstorms in the north mountains (Sedona), and big drops in temperatures.

I went from wearing short sleeves last weekend, to layers of sweatshirt, sweater, winter coat in Sedona (an hour and 45 minutes north of Scottsdale), back to long sleeves and a jacket until Saturday. I actually laughed at the sight of the few bathing suits I brought with me in hopes of getting a little suntan. But perhaps February will level out to the mid 70s where the temps should be, providing El Nino doesn’t keep striking.

Uptown Sedona
Uptown Sedona

 

Our guests (step-daughter and son-in-law), left Saturday, after a fun-filled week of adventure and weather mania. We went downtown to Old Scottsdale a few times, up to Sedona for 2 days, walked around Kierland Commons outdoor shopping area on another day, and finally succumbed to indoor mall browsing, and visiting a casino nearby where we could take shelter from the torrential rains. It was an action-packed week.

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Finally the sun came back. Outside my condo.

 

The sun came back to visit us in Scottsdale on Saturday, and although the temps stayed around 57 degrees instead of the usual 70, it once again began to feel like we were in Arizona.

 

Boynton Canyon Sedona
Boynton Canyon after it snowed

 

We were treated to a wonderful one night stay in Boynton Canyon in Sedona by our guests. We drove up to Sedona on Tuesday, which was supposedly the best weather day of the week of storms that were to hit Arizona all week. Typically Sedona is about 15 degrees cooler up in the mountains than it is in the valley where we are. It’s about an hour and 40 minutes drive north.

Cactus Alley
Cactus galore along Highway 17 North to Sedona

 

The scenic view is beautiful as you drive up Highway 17, and although the temps began to drop to the mid 40s, we hadn’t yet encountered any precipitation other than grey and overcast skies.

Bell Rock Vortex
Bell Rock Vortex

 

We walked around uptown Sedona and visited many shops. We then went visiting Bell Rock Vortex, which we couldn’t get close enough to for me to feel the energy that emits from the vortexes.

3 Nuns Sedona Holy Cross
3 Nuns and The Mother Mary with Baby Jesus

 

Then we drove up to the Chapel of the Holy Cross where we marveled at the rock structures known as The 3 Nuns (aptly named, rock formations) and the little chapel that was built up on the mountain beside it.

Holy Cross Chapel Sedona
The Holy Cross Chapel

 

As the weather was beginning to feel a bit colder and it was nearing 4pm, we decided we should head up to the resort and check in before nightfall. We had these beautiful rooms that were in little adobe buildings sprawled out over 70 acres of property. Every room had a view of the Red Rock mountains. It was spectacular.

Misty mountains Sedona
Mountains misting with fog

 

In order to get to the main building where the restaurants were, we dialed the valet who came to pick us up by golf cart to drive us back and forth on the winding sidewalk paths from our rooms to the restaurant or where our car was parked. It was a 3 minute drive, but pretty darned frosty by 930 pm when we were driven back to our rooms after dinner. I stared out the window for quite some time as I am always mesmerized by the beauty of the mountains. This was a view from our balcony:

Balcony view at Boynton Canyon, Enchantment Resort

 

The next morning, I jumped out of bed and opened the curtains. I was stunned by the new view. Our balcony had almost a foot of snow on it, the big mountain was spectacular with it’s blanket of snow, and the branches on the trees were weighted with heavy snow.

Sedona snow balcony
Morning view

 

When we got picked up to go for breakfast by the golf cart, I noticed that the wheels had chains threaded around them, to enable traction while driving around what became, ice and snow-laden paths. We huddled into the cart as we shivered to the main building.

snow chain tires
Snow tires, lol

 

golf cart transportation
Golf cart transportation

 

The snow continued to fall, so after breakfast, with a snow-covered beautiful restaurant view, we decided to pack up and head back to Scottsdale before the roads became harder to drive through the canyon.

snowy restaurant view
Restaurant view with the reflection of indoor lights through the glass

 

Airport Rd Vortex, Sedona
Airport Vortex,

 

We did manage to stop at Airport Road where there’s a beautiful scenic view at that Vortex (when it’s not foggy). My hub and I had visited it last year at sunset hour for spectacular views and photos. It was cold and grey this day, but we parked and walked up to the edge of the canyon. I was thrilled to be able to feel the energy vibrate throughout my body.

Leaving Sedona
Leaving Sedona

 

We then headed back to Scottsdale. Within a half an hour out of Sedona, we lost the snow. We still never saw much sun, even when we returned home, but at least it was back in the high 50’s, back to lighter jackets.

Next month, my husband’s brother and wife will be coming to visit us for 2 weeks. They can’t wait to see Sedona, and we can’t wait to go back there when the temps will be closer to 60 degrees. Then I will take new photos of the beautiful scenery, only difference will be the sun’s rays shining on the mountains to enhance the beauty and colour.

Here are a few neat photos I took:

Life is short
Life’s too short, found in a storefront window in Sedona, Arizona

 

artist statue
A statue of a cowboy painting with a little girl and a camera

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my little tour of Sedona. I can’t wait to take more beautiful photos when I go back and hopefully there will be no snow or fog in Sedona.

 

DGKaye©2016

My Red Sedona

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Sedona was officially named in 1902 when Theodore C. Schnebly, a Dutch settler bought 80 acres of land near Oak Creek in 1901. He applied for a post-office permit. He wanted to use his name and proposed that he call the land Schnebly Station, but was told the name was too long (and quite frankly I don’t think the name would have done the beauty of this place any justice) when he made application for the post-office after many settlers complained that the mail service was very slow getting to town. His application with his name Schnebly Station was denied because the name was too long to fit on a cancelation stamp, and so he decided to name it after his wife, Sedona.

Beautiful Sedona is about a 4500 foot elevation as you drive north in Arizona, about two and a half hours from Phoenix. Along the drive and when you arrive you will see the beautiful canyons of Sedona.

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A magnificent town of red rock mountains. It is typically about fifteen degrees cooler there than in Phoenix during the day and considerably cooler at night and in the early morning. In the winter they get about two inches of snow and temps can hover around the fifties. In Sedona you will find the breathtaking views at every turn, along with lots of culture, particularly from the Indian tribes who settled there from the twelfth century.

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Sedona is known as a spiritual place and is known for having good vibes in its multiple vortex sites—the energy centers. Here you can find health and meditation centers, spas, springs, crystals, and numerous tours are available. To understand all about the vortexes, please click on this link http://www.lovesedona.com/01.htm

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We drove up and stayed there for two days. We walked, toured, shopped, and took in a lot of Sedona’s splendor. We took two trolley tours through some of the canyons and the national forest. We also visited Boynton Canyon which is a very special place.

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At that canyon it was deemed a holy site back in the 1950’s by a woman named Marguerite Brunswig Staude, a former student of world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. She built the chapel there up in the canyon to represent the sacred site for prayer and meditation. It was completed in 1956. It is known as the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and it now belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. The red rock formations there called ‘rock people’ are called the “The Twin Nuns” and in front of them it is believed to be the Madonna carrying the baby Jesus.

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From this canyon you have a bird’s eye view of Sedona and the famed “Bell Rock” which is a canyon shaped like a bell and said to possess very strong vortex energies.

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Before the tour guide even announced what we were looking at, I could have sworn I was looking at rock formations chiseled into the shape of people. But they are all natural formations over millions of years. I was fascinated by every moment I spent in Sedona.

Anyone I encountered that spoke of Arizona told me not to miss visiting Sedona and I found out why. It was truly an inspirational treat. We stayed right in the heart of the Upper Village which afforded us the luxury of walking out of our hotel room right on to the main downtown core. The view from our balcony was outstanding.

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I was advised to visit “Sedona Story” by a few people and found it was located directly across from my hotel. When I went to this healing and crystal center, I had a spiritual reading done which was pretty intense. I had my Chakras read and purchased some crystals there for energy and healing.

Another day, my husband and I found ourselves walking off the beaten path on our way to explore a gallery by foot. When we realized we had walked about twenty minutes, downhill on a winding highway road in the desert sun and found ourselves gasping for air as we drank our water bottles dry, we decided we should turn around and go get the car because my husband thought he wouldn’t be able to make it back up the steep hill. As we began to head back, we took frequent rests as my husband and I had to take cover out of the heat to cool down. Within a block I noticed a lone store on the hill called “Victorian Cowgirl”.

 

I told him we should go in and pretend we are shopping just to get a dose of some air conditioning. When we entered I was immediately captivated by the charm and merchandise in that store. There was clothing styled from the old saloon days. Frocks, boots, and all kinds of accessories were crammed into this little store. I thought it was a costume store and asked the owner if it was, but the owner told me they are all brand new clothes and she has clients who shop there from all over to wear her clothing. I saw frocks, hats, vintage handbags, hosiery and saloon boots made of leather and lace. And of course I had to have me a pair of those.

saloon boots

One evening we drove out to a place called Airport Rd. to visit one of the vortex areas and take pictures of the sun setting there. It was magical. We got there around 6:30 pm as we were told the sun would set around 6:50 pm. When we arrived we found about twenty other people already at the edge of this canyon, complete with cameras clicking away and some sitting on rocks awaiting the sunset and/or meditating.

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Within the next fifteen minutes, a flurry of cars drove up the winding, dusty road and parked and joined everyone else on the peak.

I wasn’t there but five minutes before I could feel a vibrating electricity flowing through my body, radiating through me as though I were being renewed internally. The sunset on the canyons were just like watching the pages of a storybook turn.

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After that solemn event we went to have dinner at one of the top recommended Italian restaurants to eat in Sedona called Dahl and Lisa DiLuca. Lisa is the chef who took over the place as her own when Dahl retired last year. All I can say about that meal was OMG! I have been to many a five-star restaurants and this place won the award from me for best Italian food. If you happen to visit there, you will be in luck if the soup of the day is Tuscan tomato!.

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After two glorious days in Sedona, we ventured back to Scottsdale for the next few days, back to our beautiful suite at the Fairmont.

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We’d often stop at Wholefoods and buy some cold cuts and cheeses amongst other delectable healthy treats to enjoy for breakfast and/or lunch on our beautiful balcony at our hotel. We woke early each day and watched the beautiful sunrise from our balcony while we sipped on our coffee and had breakfast and dreamed about the next time we would be back in Arizona.