Day 47: Sedona

I wake up later than I want to. Of course. I didn't even bother to set an alarm so I should not be surprised by this. I get some coffee and some breakfast and decide to set out in the direction of Sedona. Tons of people I have talked to in the area have told me I need to check it out. I had planed to do such on my way back from Flagstaff. Alas, I had to change those plans.

On the way out of town, there is a place called AZ Truck that sells tonneau covers. I decide to stop on my way. I set my GPS to the address. 40 miles later (Phoenix is a pretty big place), my GPS tells me that I have arrived. I can't find the place at all. I drive back and fourth. Oh well. I will call. Or something. I get back on the highway and head toward Sedona.

I drive 50 miles or so and decide I should call AZ Truck. Calling would have been smart to begin with but it was on the way so I did not bother. I call and hear a voice answer. "Hello? Hellooo? Anyone there?" I yell into my phone. "YES!!! HELLOOO?? ARAGHH. FUCK. NOT AGAIN." I hang up. Ughhhhh!!! This is getting really annoying. I hope my phone does not do this if and when I need to make a really important call. (Mama, new phone for b day? Please :) ). I wait a little bit and try again. Exact same result. I seriously consider rolling down my window and throwing my phone out it. However, I conclude that while I can not make calls, it is still useful for other things. Disposing of it would be unwise. And besides, it is not bio degradable and I don't really want to litter.

As I drive, I listen to the radio. I have an iPod hook up that plays through the radio (Canada was going to be an even longer drive with no music..... something to play my iPod was a must). However, I get a fair amount of interference on the channel I picked and have been unmotivated to change it. In town, the radio has been ok. Today, I notice just how bad these stations are. I am used to the hit music stations over playing songs but this is extreme. I think there are only 5 songs that are played. Period. I am guaranteed that at least one, sometimes two, and occasionally 3 stations are playing "Good Feeling", "International Love", "We Found Love", "Turn Me On", or somthing by Adele at any given time. Don't get me wrong, I like these songs. However, I do get bored of hearing the same thing over and over again. I promise, there are other songs out there worth playing on the radio.

While I am talking about things that annoy me on my drive, let me again mention the purpose of having a left lane. Hello people, it is for passing. It is not for cruising at the same speed as the person next to you while going 5 mph under the speed limit. If you are not going as fast as I want to be going but are at least going faster than the person next to you, I can deal with that. However, if you are going the same speed and blocking everyone else, that is just rude. And annoying. It makes me want to ride your ass until you get over. Sometimes I do. Sometimes it works. Sometimes the person is completely oblivious and I give up and think about how people need to learn to drive and be more aware of the world around them. I then turn up my music and listen to one of the 5 radio selected songs and am happy again. While the songs get old, at least they are upbeat.

Now back to the narrative. Most of the way to Sedona, I see a sign to Motezuma Castle National Monument. Well, I had planned to go there too and it is not exactly out of my way. Let's go. I follow the signs, some of which are somewhat hidden or unclear, and eventually arrive. It is a pretty straight forward monument. Drive up the road, park at the visitor's center, go through a door, and walk a short trail and look at stuff. Some monuments are a little more spread out and you have choices of what you want to go look at. Therefore, you need some sort of a plan.

Anyway, I walk into the visitor center and have them swipe my pass. Excellent, after my next stop, I will have used this to waive $65 worth of entrance fees. After I stop at the petrified forest on my way to New Mexico, it will have paid for itself. I wander out the visitor center and check out these ruins. I think these are probably my favorite. There is a 6 story building built into the wall of a cliff hundreds of feet up. The part that I am the most impressed with is that it looks like the walls would just slide right down the cliff. I am curious as to how they stabilized these walls and if the area ever has earthquakes.... I also wonder how they got all of the materials up there and how long it took. However, I am continually amazed at the ingenuity of ancient cultures in that department.  It is the "how does it not slide down the cliff" question that amazes me the most. Most of the cliff dwellings I have seen are set back into the caves in the cliff a little more.

Motezuma Castle

I wander down the short path a little further and see another dwelling. This one was built at the base of the cliff and is not as well preserved. I am not so impressed with this one. Still cool though. I head back to the truck. Tuzigoot National Monument is nearby and on the way to Sedona so I decide to head there next. It is the same deal. I walk into the visitor center. The guy at the desk is showing some people a video he made of something or other. They are all pretty into it. He eventually notices me. "Two?" he asks. Ummm, me and what other person? I would like to admit my invisible pet dragon in that apparently only you can see. I guess people don't usually just decide to go check these things out on their own. I give him my card and he lets me in.

This monument is pueblo style. I think that is what it's called at least. This is the biggest pueblo I have seen. It is a sprawling, 75ish room complex. It is on top of a hill. Kind of. It is too big to fit most of on the top. Rooms go a long ways down two sides of the hill. Pretty cool. However, I have come to the conclusion that I find cliff dwellings more interesting than the free standing ones. I think I am just amazed at the determination that it took for people to build and live in the side of a cliff. I mean, that is no easy walk or climb to get up to that dwelling even with ladders.

Tusigoot Dwelling

When I am done wandering around Tuzigoot, I head back to the truck. Oops, I left my lights on. I did not know that was possible. I am trying to get out of the habit of turning my lights on and off since I now have lights that are automatic. Apparently, if you turn them on after you have shut the vehicle off, they don't shut off. Good to know. Luckily, I was not gone long enough to kill my battery.

I set my GPS to Sedona and head on my way. I start seeing some cool red rocks. Awesome! Those are really pretty. As I get into town, I realize I have no idea what one should do in Sedona. Everyone has told me to go here but no one has told me what I should do. I decide hiking sounds like a good idea since that is what I usually do. I consider finding a 4x4 trail since there are 4x4 tour companies all over. There must be some good stuff around here. I decide to not push my truck. I am sure it can take it butttt I want to get home without further vehicle mishaps.

I end up stopping at a visitor center. I walk in and ask one of the guys at the desk if there is a short hike with lots of rocks I can do. He informs me that short hike he can do but he can't promise rocks. I go along with him and tell him that the rocks aren't really important. I didn't come here because of the beautiful distinctive rocks that make Sedona so popular. I don't think he catches my sarcasm. He might think I actually believed him. I can't tell. Anyway, a few minutes later, he has drawing all over two different maps to show me where the trail head is. One map would suffice but I guess two is better than one.

I make it to the trail head and start my hike. There are indeed lots of rocks to look at. I take lots of pictures and admire the pretty rocks. The trail goes around a rock called "Snoopy Rock". It looks like Snoopy laying on his back on his dog house. Cool. I like the combination of evergreen trees and cacti along the trail.

The trail is pretty easy. Not much elevation change or climbing. I am ok with that after my last hiking adventure. I spend an hour or so wandering and decide to head back.

Sedona is really cool. There are tons and tons of outdoors things to do. I could probably spend a few weeks here exploring. Too bad I only gave myself one afternoon here. Oh well, next time I am in the area....

Nice red rocks!

Do you see Snoopy in the middle of the picture?

Red rocks everywhere!

I decide to take the scenic route back. Route 179 has been deemed amongst the most beautiful roads in the world. I can't say that I agree. The road is full of roundabouts. Every major intersection is a roundabout. I think I drive through 10 roundabouts in a 10 mile area today. The scenery was much better while I was in town and hiking than along my drive. However, that might be a different story if I was coming the other way. Regardless, I saw a few more pretty rocks before rejoining the interstate.

I cruise down the highway. 2 hours till I am back! I see a black Tundra get on the highway right in front of me in the other lane. He has a license plate that says something about snow and a good looking pterodactyl sticker on his back window. I figure he is going to want over and will probably cut me off if I don't let him over. I am correct. He goes around the semi and gets back in the right lane. I pass him. As I do so, I have to look and see what kind of person is driving a truck with a dino sticker on it. Apparently my truck caught his eye too because we made eye contact. Oops. Blond younger guy with girl in passenger seat. 

Most of the way back, my mom calls. I try to talk to her through my GPS. I am still hard to understand. While the new truck is much quieter, the wind shield (and GPS) is further away from me. My voice does not carry well at all either. I give up and try using my phone to talk. We talk for a few minutes before my voice stops transmitting again. Ughh!!! This definitely is getting worse. We try to call each other back with no success. In the middle of this, my gas light comes on.

Great. I have no idea how much warning this truck gives me. I am 18 miles out of Mesa and I know T Rex would have made it. I still don't know this truck yet so I use my GPS to find a gas station. I pull off. 17.5 gallons. I have a 21 some odd gallon tank. Ok, good to know.

I get back on the highway. My mom calls and I am finally able to answer it AND she can hear me. Well, I am talking through the GPS. She can hear me but not well. I try to switch back to the phone again. My voice drops AGAIN. I get a text a short while later. "Be safe! Try again tomorrow??". Yes, maybe my phone will be more cooperative then. Araghh!!

I hear an advertisement for Taco Bell on the radio. Hmmm, tacos sound good. I text Hanna. "Like Tacos?". I briefly think that maybe I should clarify that I mean the food and not the trucks. However, a minute later I get a response. "Yes!" Ok, good enough for me. I am making tacos for dinner!

I get back to Mesa and decide to stop at Lowes so I don't have to leave tomorrow to get stuff. At this point, it is about 8. I at breakfast latish but didn't have lunch. I like wandering around in Lowes but I am not into it at all. I am looking for screws to mount my front license plate (No front plates in AZ and no holes to mount it in. I think I am going to put my T Rex plate on the front until I get home and get my truck registered....) and some Velcro to mount my Scanguage (did you know that the engine in my new truck runs, on average, 20 degrees cooler than my old truck?). I find the license plate mounts with no problem. I spend the next 20 minutes looking for Velcro. I finally ask someone where it is.

After Lowes, I stop at the grocery store. There is still chicken from the last time I made dinner so I just need to grab a few things for tacos. This trip goes much smoother than the Lowes trip. I am starting to figure my way around this store. I go here way too much. I don't plan ahead with food at all. Sometimes I end up having to go twice in a day. Luckily, it is less than half a mile from the house and I have nothing better to do. In 10 minutes I am out the door.

I make it back and Hanna is diligently studying. She asks what I did today. Ok, she must not be that into studying. She knows that I don't usually give short answers. I explain in detail everything I did today as I make tacos! Eventually, I tell her I am going to shut up so she can study. I finish making my tacos and they are awesome!!!

I spend some time on my computer learning about my new truck and trying to find a frikin cover for it so I can secure my stuff when I leave this Friday. I did not expect finding a used cover to be so difficult! I thought finding the truck would be the hard part...... I really want to find a secure cover since I feel like the new truck screams "Look at me, I am new and flashy and have expensive stuff in me" a little more than T Rex did... I don't really have much stuff of value that is easily stolen but I feel that the new truck draws a lot more attention. While I like good attention, I don't like attention with bad intentions..... I am mildly concerned about my truck getting broken into...