Sedona, Arizona: entry

Red Rock of Sedona, Arizona (a view from our hotel)

January 7, 2005

Leaving the sunny skies of Santa Fe, we drove right into a heavy Sedona snow storm. Driving conditions were extremely poor, but thanks to Dusty’s patience and skillful navigation… we made it safely into Sedona! This was not a simple task, a drive that would normally take about 30 minutes took closer to 2 hours. With such poor visibility, we caught no glimpses of the Red Rock that Sedona is famous for.

Somewhere along this treacherous journey, the windshield cracked. It’s debatable how this occurred: some say it was a small pebble, others argue it was aggressive defrosting. We may never know the truth.

Once we made it to the hotel, we were very happy to hear about the free shuttle service into town. Needless to say, we took advantage of that for diner. Thanks to our driver, Jerry, we made it into town. After a long day of winter driving, you can bet that we spared no expenses by spoiling ourselves a bit at the Cowboy Club and enjoying a great dinner. Thanks, Jerry, for the recommendation!

Later on that evening, Dusty & Becca took Sato out for his evening walk and introduced him to his first snowball fight. With snow flying, the dog that the world once knew as black was completely white covered in snow. Sato had a blast!

January 8, 2005

We awoke to clear skies and were fortunate to see Sedona’s Red Rock on our way out to Williams, Arizona. None of us could believe the breathtaking views and had no idea that Arizona truly is much more than a desert.

Our final destination for the day, Williams, known as the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon,” lies 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Once we were checked into our Holiday Inn, we leisurely enjoyed our afternoon walking around the historic downtown district. Unfortunately most of the downtown was still shut down due to the prior heavy snowstorms the week before.

We spent the rest of the evening watching the NFL playoffs.