Sedona Rocks

Monday, July 9

Sedona, Arizona is a city surrounded by red rocks rising majestically from the ground. Houses are tucked away in canyons and crevices of the clay mountains. We met up with a friend of Joy's yesterday who lived in the Hawthorne, Florida, area for years. She moved to Sedona 12 years ago and owns a massage school.

Nancy told us to wait until 6 p.m. to attempt any climbing. The temperatures soared to 106 degrees yesterday in the high desert of Sedona. We rested in our suite at the Village Lodge (a real treat at $79 a night for a 1 bedroom apartment). The "monsoon" season began when a rain storm hit (our first of the trip) so we were grateful we decided against camping last night. By the time 6 o'clock rolled around the rain had stopped, dropping the temperature down to 76 degrees. We climbed half way up Cathedral Rock and sat on an outcropping. All five of us including Nancy remained quiet for five minutes each lost in revery and respect for the nature before us as remnants of rain clouds and the setting sun provided us a light and shadow show against the red and brown limestone.

Afterwards we opted for dinner at the Full Moon Saloon where a welcome sign said Sunday was karoke night. We had traveled the whole way from Chicago on Route 66 looking for a karoke place so we could show off our singing abilities honed finely during the trip. Sedona marked the last night that Anna, Hillary, Joy and I would be on the road together since Anna flies out of Phoenix tomorrow and Anna and I are now at my brother's in Scottsdale. We had given up hope that we would find karoke but as we have found all along on this trip, things find us when we need it most.

We rocked in Sedona to On the Road Again, Get Your Kicks on Route 66, Sugar Shack and American Pie. We became known as "the Girls on the Road."

Tomorrow after dropping Anna at the airport I drive back to Sedona to meet up with Joy and Hillary and we continue on Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman on the longest stretch of old Route 66 in the country. Then it's on to Las Vegas for one night.