Stunning Sedona

Ready for our Pink Jeep tour, we got a phone call at 9:30 that the off roads were closed and the early tours had been cancelled; there was a chance they might open the roads by noon but there was no guarantee.  So... up, dressed and ready for the day, we headed to L'Auberge, THE restaurant in Sedona, for brunch and snowball fights on the gorgeous creekside grounds of the inn.  What a fun and beautiful couple of hours.

After brunch, we went to the local information center to pick up some maps and get advice on the best driving tours, which we proceeded to take throughout the day.  First up was the road to the Sedona airport, which affords spectacular views at any time of day,  but apparently is wall to wall people at sunset.  During our time there, we shared the rocks with a dozen or so others, including the tour guide for the Pink Jeep city tour, where we were able to listen in on some of the tour :)  (for instance, John Wayne apparently build a film studio at the foot of Coffee Pot Rock, but it was later torn down in order to build houses :(

After going on the gorgeous Upper Red Rock Scenic Loop drive, we decided to head to Jerome, to see in the daylight what we had driven through near midnight on New Year's Eve.  As we drove in we were amused/frightened by the sign boasting that this road is open 365 days of the year.  The few locals we have told about our alternative return route have gasped in disbelief.  "You drove through the mountain?!  In that snowstorm?!"  So... yeah... there was a degree of incredulity mixed with gratitude (and on Dana's behalf, a bit of pride) that we managed to make it through - at night in a snow storm - a rode that apparently warrants t-shirt bragging rights for mortal men on regular days.

 After returning to Sedona, we headed to the last of the recommended drives, this one to the bottom of Chapel Drive, where we would have a gorgeous view of Courthouse Butte bathed in the setting sun.  Truly stunning.

At 5:30, we went to Elote Cafe, the #1 restaurant in Sedona that people regularly wait up to two hours to enjoy.  We put our names in, grabbed some snacks and a couple of margaritas (with complimentary water for the kids), grabbed an outside table by the heat lamp, and settled in for several rounds of Botticelli while we waited.  90 minutes later we were seated.  It was worth every minute of the wait.  Our waiter told us that Jeff (El Jefe ;) ), the chef and owner, is very hands on, which, we all determined, must be the recipe for such a successful restaurant.  Regardless, it was the perfect way to end our perfectly lovely trip.

Tomorrow, we awake, pack up, check out and await to see if the roads have cleared for a final off road tour before hitting the road to Phoenix and home.  If so, we'll have one last adventure before closing the chapter on this wonderful Arizona vacation.

A Ride on the Polar Express

 The past 48 hours have been a snowy blur of gorgeous (but sometimes harrowing) drives back and forth to Prescott (pronounced the way you pronounce biscuit we discovered after having said it wrong the entire trip to that point) on New Year's Eve and then Williams, the launching point of the Grand Canyon railroad yesterday.  As I type this at 8:00 AM (Arizona time) with the kids just beginning to stir, I can say that we had a wonderful, but exhausting, start to the 2015.

When we awoke to the "2014 New Year's Eve Blizzard," we decided to just go with it.  We enjoyed breakfast at our hotel, admired the snowy vistas and figured we'd brave the conditions to drive to a local movie theater to see Into the Woods.  As we awaited our rental car (a very hardworking and loyal Nissan Altima that has forever earned my admiration!), a couple had just returned into the lobby, saying they were unable to make it up the steep hill out of our resort.  Needless to say, this was not the auspicious start for which we were hoping.  We all exchanged skeptical looks, but Dana wanted to give it a try anyway.  Ten tense minutes later we had made it to the top of a relatively short - but extremely steep - hill.  Now we were on our way.  We saw the movie, which we enjoyed and have been debating ever since (is it a morality tale condemning or celebrating feminism? Go!), stopped in to the drug store for some New Year's supplies (though they were out of sparkling cider!) and made our way back into Uptown Sedona and to a charming little plaza that offered a spot for a light late lunch and a few snowball fights.

Incoming!  Every shopping plaza offered the chance for a snowball fight.

The Christmas decorations all took on an even more festive feeling.

 While we had opted to stay in Sedona for New Year's Eve, a short drive around the nearby village in much clearer weather (the snow had stopped, momentarily, at that point). Dana and Maddie started talking Prescott again.  While I had more than a handful of reservations (not the least of which - I had just assured my mother we were staying in Sedona!!), and Daniel was ambivalent, we decided to slowly make our way and see how the road conditions were.  Long story short - we made it.  There was one particularly awful stretch of road right before arriving to Prescott that could provide the setting of many a tragic story, I'm sure, but... we made it!  We arrived at 7:00, enjoyed the town square, a leisurely dinner, and then the live music and fire barrels provided for the festivities, rang in the New Year (your time - at 10:00 here!), then got back in the car for the long drive home.  We were just outside Sedona when we wished each other a Happy New Year, Arizona time, and back in our hotel room just 20 minutes later.

Our alternative route back wound up being a lot prettier but even more treacherous, as it took us through the winding mountains around Jerome, twisting and turning with only the car's headlights to provide a glimpse of the snowy road ahead.

The town square in Prescott

Snowball fights were a regular threat :)

The crowd awaiting the 10:00 boot drop New Year celebration.

Selfies!

The boot drops and fireworks explode.  Happy New Year!

We couldn't relax for too long, however, as we had to be on the road at 7 AM New Year's Day to make our way to Williams for a 9:30 AM departure to the Grand Canyon.  That drive may have been even more stressful, as the sun and drivers had not yet taken care of the previous night's snowfall.  Here are a few photos from the drive :)

We were on a highway - yes, a highway! - when this little fox crossed the road.

That was about the clearest the road got on our way to Williams!  Beautiful but SCARY!!

Once we got to Williams, found a snow mound in which to park our car, and made our way to the train, it was smooth "sailing" from there

This was the best parking spot we could find for our intrepid little car!

The train ride itself, on a train made up of some original and restored cars and on a train track that has been running since 1903 or so, was lovely.  Singers and guitar players roamed the cars offering a few songs per car, the attendant offered tidbits of history throughout the ride, and, of course, the scenery outside the window was lovely - and we were able to let someone else do the driving!

Dana relaxes after being a champion driver through some very tough conditions!

The rest of the train through my window

We booked a 90 minute bus tour within the Canyon, so we would be able to access parts of the park we otherwise would not be able to.  While this would have been a less than satisfactory introduction to the park, it was a perfect way to spend our several hours exploring the South Rim on a snowy day.  Our tour guide was thrilled for the snow, though the previous day's storm had cancelled all the bus tours and made the Canyon impossible to view.  Apparently, they are suffering a drought here, and this was the first snowfall they had in over two years.  We figured we may as well just enjoy the very different view of the Canyon, which is exactly what we did.

We had elk everywhere! :)

Daniel reflects on the canyon below

Just making sure you're paying attention - North Rim - last August! :)

Dana tries to spy the North Rim lodge we visited just this past August.

Today is our last day of vacation.  The sun is shining on the snow, and our pink jeep tour on the red rocks (leaving in just over an hour, so I better wrap up!) promises an exhilarating and beautiful close-up view of the red rocks.  We toyed with going into Jerome today, but the kids and I have asked not to take any drive longer than 5 minutes!  So... we explore Sedona today, and tomorrow we head back to Phoenix, the airport and home!

I'll leave you with two parting photos taken by Dana's iPhone, when he and Daniel took the road less travelled at one of our stops :)  Pretty impressive camera work, Dana!

the epic panorama shot :)