Sedona

Sedona is such a beautiful area to explore. Known for its national parks, its vibrant art community, shops and spas — it cannot be missed!

The Montezuma Castle National Monument was our first stop. The Sinagua people lived in this dwelling (Wikipedia):

It’s an easy walk towards the cliff dwelling.

From thereon, we headed to our hotel which was in the Village of Oak Creek. This is not the more popular area of the city. However, we chose this area because it was more affordable and we were close to many restaurants and shops within walking distance.

The following day, we woke up early to do some hiking before the temperature reached  three digit figures. We chose Buddha Beach because we wanted to find an area that gave us Cathedral Rock and Oak Creek views. And we got beautiful views!!

We didn’t hike midday because it was the peak of the heat. Sometime after midday though, we withstood the heat and checked out the airport Mesa views:

 

They were stunning views of the mountains from afar. Again, another easy hike. We didn’t do any of the more moderate to difficult hikes. If you want to try these, I suggest Devil’s Bridge or the West Fork Trail.

Even at this hour, for us personally, the heat was not tolerable. So, we didn’t continue hiking and instead opted to go to Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village. This place is so cute! It replicates a traditional Mexican shopping village.

So we waited for the sun to go down in order to explore the Bell Rock trail. We are so glad we did because it was much more pleasant to walk around this hour. This trail was amazing. I loved the pink colored tones of the dirt to the pink color of the sky as sunset started setting in.

I wish we would have had more time to explore; but I am glad we got to see a little bit of Sedona.

The next day, we headed out to Old Town Cottonwood. It is a quaint town with many shops and restaurants. Unfortunately all the places I wanted to see were closed. But, we got to see them from the outside:

For a list of places in the area, check out this link: https://oldtown.org/.

Thereafter, we passed by the town of Jerome to check out this notorious ghost town. First of all, it is interesting where it is situated. Up in what seems like the middle of nowhere with narrow winding streets. There are so many cute shops (which again, because we left early, were closed); but the ambiance was wonderful nonetheless.

Passing Prescott we briefly passed to the Granite Mountain Hot Shots memorial. On June of 2013, 19 firefighters passed away as they battled a fire in Yarnell. I saw the movie “Only the Brave” and every time I think about it I want to cry. I am so grateful for the brave firefighters that die to protect our livelihoods.

Though it was scorching hot, we had a wonderful time. Enjoyed time with my loved ones and passed a unique Fourth of July in light of COVID-19. Our road trip was interesting because many of the fast food restaurants were closed indoors, meaning we ate in our cars often haha. It makes for good stories in the future. Hope you get the chance to check out this wonderful place!

 

“Montezuma Castle National Monument.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montezuma_Castle_National_Monument. 5/17/20. Accessed 6/13/20.