Sedona, Flagstaff, Physical Geography?

We're back from an enjoyable trip to the cool pines of Northern Arizona! It was quite a whirlwind trip, but lots of fun for several reasons. We stayed at the Poco Diablo Resort in Sedona, where Kate had her workshop. The room was very nice, and while the resort was nice I wouldn't say it was plush, which I guess I was expecting. That's o.k., though, it was for sleeping. The room had large windows and a sliding door that opened onto the resort's par 3 golf course. No one was playing, so it was just a giant backyard where Elliot could run with the ducks!

Zane, Elliot and I spent Saturday morning wandering Sedona, driving around and eventually finding Sedona city park, which had plenty of swings and apparati to help blow a couple of hours. The weather was absolutely PERFECT, which helped. The morning flew by.

We met Kate at 1:00 and loaded up the car to head to Flagstaff so I could re-visit my college days and Elliot could see snow for the first time. We headed through Flagstaff and made it almost to the Snow Bowl turn-off where we found a day-use area. Perfectly clear skies and warm temps made for an enjoyable time where Elliot could run as well as have Mom help her build her very first snowman. It was an impressive snowman, the whole 12 inches of it.






























Now for the edu-blog portion of my ramblings. See the brighter white line running down the middle of the mountain?






















THAT, my friends, is known as the Monte Vista Trail. It used to be not as distinct, but while yours truly was attending the Harvard of the Pines, circa 1996, an avalanche occurred while two snowboarders were in the backcountry in this very spot and one of them was killed. I happened to be in a Physical Geography class at the time, and wouldn't you know it, my professor, Dr. Dexter, just happened to specialize in avalanches. He told us all about it. Just think of a "fluid" composed of Volkswagen Beetle-sized ice chunks careening down the slope, scouring the trail of trees. One guy made it to the side and was hurt. The other guy did NOT make it to the side. Geez, sorry to bring everyone down.

Anyway, after the snow fun, we headed back to Flagstaff and had lunch at Collins Irish Pub. Good burger, good beer. The trains going by reminded me of the old days and also made me wonder just how in the heck I ever slept in that town. Elliot got a kick out of them, too. Then it was back to Sedona. We did venture out to Oak Creek Brewery for a quick bite and a couple of beers on Saturday evening. Actually, I had seven beers, but it was via the "Seven Dwarves", which is seven five-ounce samples of each of their brews. They were some tasty brews. At this point we had some tired kids AND some tired parents. Bedtime!

All in all, it was a fun, if whirlwind, trip up north. Sedona's nice. Not to cold, not too hot, and the scenery is pretty spectacular. I'll admit, though, the copper cowboys and watercolor kachinas would eventually wear on me. Kate loved it, loved the workshop, loved the town. We'll probably be visiting again.

Thanks for reading and I'll post again soon!