(finally) Sedona and leaving Chris at NAU...

Sedona hike... sooooo beautiful

Yes... I'm finally getting to the final photos of our week in Sedona while moving Chris to college at NAU.  Last I posted about this trip, we had moved Chris into his dorm and headed back to Sedona to enjoy a few nice and quiet days to ourselves.  Sedona is a SPECTACULARLY BEATUIFUL place... the red rocks... the artsy town... and even better, we had thunder clouds and rain come in everyday.  I don't think that Jeff and I have been on a vacation that didn't have some great rain, and there is nothing better than going on a hike and getting a cool and refreshing shower... or sitting out on a patio, playing cards, having a cocktail and enjoying the sweet scent of fresh rain, the cool breeze on your cheeks and just being... :-)



Starting our hike... and clouds are building...

Now, back to reality... although we were on vacation, Jeff still had to take care of business for a few hours everyday.  We planned to do about a 6 mile hike on a local trail (Boynan Canyon) and wanted to get started around 9AM before the triple digit heat hit... well... we hit the trailhead around 11:30... just as it hit 103 degrees.  We were prepared and decided to go ahead.  That hike is one of my favorite memories!  A thunderstorm started building about 1/2 hour into our 4 hour hike... the clouds were AMAZING against the landscape (although, we could have done without the intense humidity...)  The terrain changed several times throughout our canyon hike from brush to chaparral to pine forest.  We saw deer and so many butterflies fluttering around us it was as if they were our special guides... making sure we were alright on this adventure.
  

At the top... you can see the storm behind me...  hanging over the
parking lot where we started. (In real life, the sky was BLACK
and the lightning/thunder was on!  We had a 2 hour hike BACK
to the storm... And, yes, that was a steep drop right behind me...

By the time we got to the top of the trail, we heard the thunder and saw lightning coming, so we didn't hang out up top too long.  This was an INTENSE hike with the heat (that hit 113 degrees, the humidity and the oncoming storm)... and we wouldn't have changed a thing!  THAT is what we LOVE to do on vacation!  And the rain did hit... about 10 minutes after we left the hike!  It was a TURENTIAL DOWNPOUR that cooled the air from 113 to 85 degrees in a matter of moments.  It appeared the drops started as hail, but as they struck the pavement, they were gigantic and thunderous drops... and Jeff and I couldn't get out of the car fast enough to stand out in it!


Jeff at the top getting a very quick rest...

The hike down... so AWESOME!

Our second day was delayed by work until noon... and we finally got to the trailhead for a mountain bike ride by 1PM (again, a storm was starting to come in, the humidity was high and the temp was almost 110.)  Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, we had to bail out of that ride, but we enjoyed our bikes early the next morning before we left town.  Mornings and afternoons exploring Sedona, late afternoons with cocktails around the pool and evenings out at wonderful Sedona restaurants... and acting like boyfriend and girlfriend again... it was HEAVEN!   

This day could NOT have been better!

On our way home, we stopped in to visit Chris and had a great lunch and afternoon with his roommate, Connor, and his parents... back at the Flagstaff Brewing Company that we enjoyed a few days earlier.  It was a great trip!  Looking forward to our next trip to Arizona... surely there will be several over the next 4 years!

Connor, Chris, Me, Cheryl, Kasey and Jeff at lunch.  The boys played football
against each other in high school... cross town rivals... now roommates!