Sedona and Grand Canyon Trip Journal 2016

Day 1 - Thursday, May 5

My daughter, Catherine, picked me up at 6:30am.  She dropped me at Portland International Airport (PDX).  I saw the new airport carpeting for the first time.  PDX has been voted one of America's best airports.  I had checked in for my Alaska Airlines flight #644M using my IPhone so I was quickly through bag check-in and security.  My flight left at 9:25.  I saw the St. Johns Bridge and The Radiance of the Seas as we flew south over the Willamette River.  I had a Fruit and Cheese platter for brunch. 

I landed in Phoenix about 12:15pm just in time to miss the shuttle to Sedona.  I collected my suitcase from baggage pickup and purchased a bottle of water.  I rode "shotgun" on the 1:45 shuttle to Super 8 in Sedona.  I was told that I had a room on second floor when I checked in however I made it clear that I have a room on the third floor.  I was given Room #316 with a view of the hills - not the parking lot and businesses.  I went to the nearby Golden Goose for dinner where I had a glass of Riesling wine and five Tomato Bruschetta Appetizers for dinner.  Very high prices for dinners.  The cold is taking over my body! 

Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of Arizona.  As of the 2010 census, its population was about 10,000.   Sedona's main attraction is its array of red sandstone formations. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. 

Day 2 - Friday, May 6

Following breakfast at the motel, I rode the Verde Lynx into old town Sedona.  I purchased tickets for Tour A and Tour B on the Sedona Trolley.  Tour A visited the south side of town along Oak Creek, highlighted by a 20-minute stop at the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Back at Uptown Sedona I found a cache at "Home on the Porch".  I had crackers snack.  Tour B left town entirely and headed out west through West Sedona and into the Dry Creek Valley highlighted by the breathtaking scenery of Boynton Canyon.  Back at Uptown Sedona I found the "Missing Lynx" cache.  I caught the Verde Lynx back to Super 8.  I had the rest of the Appetizers for dinner. I looked for a cache near the Super 8 but did not find it. 

Day 3 - Saturday, May 7

After breakfast at Super 8 I was picked up by Enterprise Driver.  I rented a Dark Gray Jeep Renegade.  I should have plugged the coordinates into my Garmin nuvi GPS so I could find my way back easily Sunday morning.  I headed for Cottonwood.  I found a cache at a former jail - now a Tearoom.  I went to Clear Creek Cemetery where my father, aunt and sister are buried and the Clear Creek Church.  I found a Traditional cache near the church.  I stopped at Food Mart to buy water and Mothers Cookies.  I visited Montezuma Castle National Monument where I did a Virtual.  I tried to find the cache at Lake Montezuma but DNF.  I headed for Sedona and my Geocaching Event "Meet Rose Red" at Olde Sedona Bar and Grill.  I had a diet coke and a bowl of chili.  There was a good turnout.  I gave every Geocaching name a Goodie bag including one I sent to cachers in Flagstaff, and gave away three small prizes for three Geocaching Categories.  Back at Super 8 I watched "Amazing Race".

Day 4 - Sunday, May 8

Following breakfast at Super 8, I stopped at Walgreens for Halls Cough Drops and Sparkling Ice Lemonade Water.  I drove to several locations to find caches: Police Station, Sedona Overlook and below the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  I could not find a signboard at the Sedona Overlook so I asked a man the names of the rock formations. It was only as I was leaving that I looked at the back of the brochure board where all the sights were shown.  I saw Chimney Rock, Coffeepot Rock, and Steamboat Rock.  I drove back to West Sedona about 9:30am, bought gas and returned the Jeep to Enterprise Rent-a-Car.  I had a cup of cocoa in the Super 8 breakfast room.  

I caught the Verde Lynx to The Jazz Bouquet located at Coffee Pot Drive in West Sedona.  I met Chef Cole Ray.  I had a lovely Mother's Day Afternoon Tea of Tea Sandwiches, Canape, Scone with Clotted Cream and Fruit Preserves, Pastries and Earl Grey Tea.  It was quite expensive but worth it.  I caught the Verde Lynx back to Super 8.  The Verde Lynx driver missed my stop so I had to ride all the way 20 miles or so to Cottonwood, wait 12 minutes while the driver took a stroll, and ride all the way back 20 miles or so to the Super 8 stop.  Argh.  I joined the Road Scholar group in the meeting room.  No cheese, crackers and fruit trays.  No sparkling drinks.  Not even water.  That should had been a foreshadowing of things to come.   We had dinner in the Golden Goose at 5:45pm.  There was Orientation by Michael Young, the Road Scholar Coordinator, and Introductions at 7:00 in the Super 8 Meeting Room.

Day 5 - Monday, May 9

Following 7:00am breakfast at Golden Goose, we met in the Conference Room at 8:15 for Program Introduction and a lecture by Stan Beus on "A Geologic Journey through Red Rock Country and The Grand Canyon".  I slept through most of the very boring lecture.  Lunch was at the Golden Goose at 12:00pm.  We took a "Welcome to Sedona" Tour on a bus in the afternoon from 1:30-3:30.  We only saw a fraction of what I saw on the two Trolley Tours.  We had dinner at the Golden Goose at 5:45.  While the group listened to Western Ballads & Tales I walked several blocks east to find a geocache.  I was disappointed.  I expected something more creative - a birdhouse perhaps. 

Day 6 - Tuesday, May 10

Following breakfast at the Golden Goose, we departed the Super 8 at 8:15am.  We went on a Field trip to Montezuma Castle National Monument.  If I had known that we were visiting Montezuma Castle I would have visited Tuzigoot instead of M.C on the previous Saturday.  I did have a good time even so.  Southern Sinagua farmers built this five-story, 20-room dwelling sometime between 1100 and 1300.  A short distance west is the larger Castle A.  It was once an imposing five-stories with about 45 rooms and 100 people.  The Sinagua found reliable water in the creek and fertile land on the nearby terrace.  They supplemented their staple crops by hunting and gathering.  I purchased a purple water bottle at the Gift shop.

 

We had a deeply disappointing lunch at RR BBQ (Rimrock).  People thought they were getting BBQ and didn't.  We rode the Verde Valley Railroad which whisked us 20 miles into wilderness country.  The four-hour, round-trip started in historic Clarkdale, traveled to the ghost town of Perkinsville and back.  We traveled though a 680-foot manmade tunnel carved through solid rock over a century ago.  We had a tasteless Chinese dinner at Ming House in Camp Verde.  Back at Super 8 we had an interesting talk by Garrett Roberts about movies filmed in Sedona and surrounding area: Angel and the Badman (1947), Broken Arrow (1950), Copper Canyon (1950), Flaming Feather (1952), Apache (1954), and many others.

Day 7 - Wednesday, May 11

We put our large luggage in the Meeting Room's storage room at Super 8 at 6:00am, and boarded the bus.  The breakfast at Cafe Jose was unacceptable so I went next door to McDonalds where I had bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and cup of orange juice at 6:30.  I got a sack lunch at Café Jose but it was so dreadful I should have left it there!  We left Sedona at 7:15.  When we arrived in Williams I walked down the tracks to the Wild West Gun Fight at 9:00.  I sat in the front row of the bleachers.  Afterwards I walked back to the train depot, got my ticket from group leader and walked down the tracks to Coach C.  The train departed at 9:30, arriving at the Grand Canyon about 11:45. 

We met at the flagpole at the El Tovar.  We had a couple hours to explore the Village.  I purchased a Grand Canyon bag to carry my water bottle and stuff.  I saw a book that I plan to get later at Powells Books in Portland, OR - "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon".  I got a raspberry sorbet.  I explored the El Tovar Hotel, Lookout Studio and Kolb Studio.  We met in front of Bright Angel Lodge to ride the bus to Yavapal Lodge.  We collected our hand luggage from the bus.  I settled into my room 7014 and then walked over to the Bar/Lounge.  I sat at a long table with other women from the group and had a Corona Beer.  I had Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of Baked Beans, diet Pepsi, and Brownie for dinner.  I was so ill with the cold that I did not eat the brownie.

Day 8 - Thursday, May 12

I thought about getting up for the sunrise over the Grand Canyon but I was much too exhausted from coughing and not enough sleep.  We loaded our hand luggage at 8:00am.  After breakfast at the Yavapai Cafe of pancake, crisp bacon and orange juice I caught the Blue bus to the junction with the Red Bus.  I met a Geocacher at Powell Point (a Virtual) - Kit Lane (yogacrone).  I took her photo with her camera.  Two young girls had gone beyond the large rock barrier to the ledge over the canyon where one of the girls did a cartwheel just missing the edge. I yelled at them to get back behind the rock barrier. They did but as soon as I left the girls went over the large rock barrier back to the ledge to play.  Definitely up for the Darwin Award.  Kit continued up the trail.  I walked back to the bus stop and caught the Red bus to the next stop, Hopi Point (a Virtual).  I did not look at the hint but should have done so.  I would have saved me some time.  We had a bit of trouble deciphering the name.  The two young girls once again flirted with death at Hopi Point by sitting on the outside of the metal railing, along the edge of the canyon, singing songs.  I think one of the songs was "Nearer My God to thee".  How appropriate.  I had planned to do two more Virtuals but simply ran out of time.  

I took the Red bus and Blue Bus back to Grand Canyon Village.  I had BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, Potato Chips, Diet Pepsi and Blueberry Pie for lunch.  We departed at 1:15pm to return to Sedona via San Francisco Peaks and Flagstaff.   We stopped at Cameron Trading Post Gift Shop where I got an ice cream bar.  We had a disappointing dinner at Golden Goose.  The speaker for the evening was ill.  There was no effort to put anything in its place.  A rumor was going around that all of the TSA Agents at Phoenix Airport had quit and chaos reigned.  I checked the Internet.  The story was not true but chaos did reign.  Thousands of bags were stranded at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport due to TSA computer issue.  I called the Shuttle Service and changed my pickup to an earlier time.  I missed the first ten minutes of "Amazing Race" trying to figure out the channels. 

Day 9 - Friday, May 13

I took my luggage down to the Super 8 Lobby where I had muffins, yogurt and orange juice for breakfast.  I caught the 7:10am shuttle to Phoenix Skyharbor Airport.  I rode Shotgun once again.  I arrived about 9:30 or so.  I got a bacon, egg and cheese grilled sandwich and a carton of orange juice at Paradise Bakery.  I sat at the end of the Alaska Airlines Terminal watching the planes landing or taking off.  I caught the Alaska flight at 1:00pm, arriving Portland about 3:45.  Catherine picked me up.  It was good to be home!

 

Altogether I found four Virtuals, one EarthCache and seven Traditional Caches.  There were many things that I regret not doing: finding more caches, visiting Tuzigoot, exploring more of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, driving by my parents former house in Lake Montezuma, visiting Jerome and the mansion, having lunch at Haunted Hamburger in Jerome, buying a huge cinnamon roll at Crickets Restaurant in Lake Montezuma, and riding the Steam Train to Grand Canyon (not the Diesel!). 

When I was waiting in the Super 8 lobby for the Airport Shuttle to Phoenix, a woman from the Road Scholar group came into the lobby.  I mentioned that it was a great trip and she reacted negatively.  I thought about it later.  I realized it was a great trip for me as I came in three days early to explore the area by walking, Sedona Trolleys, Valley Lynx and Jeep.  I had really good accommodations at the Super 8 with a great view.  And good food most of the time especially the Mothers Day Afternoon Tea.  She was right.  It was probably not a great trip for others.  I would give the Scenic Railroads of Arizona: Sedona and Grand Canyon Program #1083 May 8 - 13, 2016 overall a three out of ten.