Sedona, AZ

After driving in, we all stopped for dinner at Chocolate Garden.

The Chocolate Garden is a natural food restaurant with really tremendous food. We highly recommend it to anyone visiting Sedona.

The following morning the four of us - Patty, Craig, Marilyn, & Mike drove all over Sedona to see what we could see.

The airport is on a high mesa and is an ideal place to view the entire valley that is Sedona. The panorama is a 180º view and does not do justice to the feeling of immensity you feel. Of course Marilyn & Patty, then Patty & Craig had to pose in front of this view.

Other aspect of our day consisted of shopping at the Tlaquepaque shopping mall - an open air affair that was full of interesting buildings and beautiful corners.

Of course we visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross, shown above, and took this scenic picture of the mountains surrounding that landmark.

The following day we drove to the Clarkdale Station and took a ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad. A slow ride through some fabulous country.

The train consisted of two engines, a caboose, and alternating coach and observation cars. Our observation car is shown below.

As we started up the canyon we first crossed the SOB Bridge - named for the Superintendent Of Bridges in the area - hummmmm!

Here Craig & Patty spent time in the Observation Car to view the rolling canyons of the desert.

We passed several ancient Indian homes built into the mountainside. This allowed Indians to safely keep away from the many bugs and irritants that live in the valleys and streams below.

The train passed through a 680' winding tunnel and across a very narrow bridge - best to keep your arms within the cars - before stopping 20 miles up the line at an abandoned station. Here the engines separated from the train, switched ends and hooked onto the caboose for the return trip.

These engines were the most common type of working engine in the U.S., but they are now very rare and we have two of them pulling our train.

It is interesting to see the two engines attached to the caboose in the picture to the right above.

As we head back to the station, Patty takes a bit of time to pose for the camera.

The return trip from Clarkdale Station to Sedona yielded this pretty view near sunset. The mountains really stand out in the evening sun, making this is a breathtaking sight, but all we could record was what the camera saw - there was no crisp feeling or breath of the immensity of the mountains conveyed in the picture.

We got up the following morning and, on our way to Prescott, we stopped at Bell Rock to do some hiking and visit the 'vortex' there. Patty found quite a bit to like about the area and the picture on the main Vacations page was taken here.

Above you can see the wide view from Bell Rock. Left, Craig stands in front of Bell Rock and to the side of Courthouse Butte.

Below is one scene starting up the trail and another with Patty coming down Bell Rock trail.

We stayed the night at the Hassayampa Inn - famous for it's look of 1920's American opulence - just half a block from the Prescott Town Square we so love.

That evening we dined at El Gato Azul, an Argentinean Tapas restaurant we had visited before. The food was just as good this time, even though we endured a short shower during dinner.

The following morning we met Lorna, Cristie, and Larry at the Lone Spur Cafe for breakfast. Their food was quite good and served as the main meal for the day - we left for Phoenix later in the morning.