Day 4 – Monday

Time to go Hiking

Mornings certainly do come quick in Arizona. It seemed like we had just turned off the lights when the sun was peeking through the shades. A hardy breakfast was needed today because we were going to head out to a trail. A hike was on today’s agenda and the Broken Arrow trail was chosen for our outing. Without a cloud in the sky the views were once again breathtaking as we made our way northeast of Sedona to the trail head.

Broken Arrow trail is a 2.8-mile hike ranging from easy to moderate for hikers. The trail offers some spectacular views, beautiful dessert flowers, and connects with multiple other trails if one desires a longer walk. What the trail does not offer is shade, and even though we got an early start, the morning was warming up quickly. Many mountain bikers and 4-wheel Jeep fans love this trail also and during our walk we saw both.  Loaded down with water bottles and cameras we began the ascend up the trail.

Tom stopped frequently to snap… just one more picture! The perfectly clear blue skies and the flowering cactus plants made it hard not to keep clicking.

There was just so much to see and the cactus flowers were beautiful, but truthfully, we were both watching for rattlesnakes. We never saw a live one, and were happy about that.

After walking a mile or so we found a little shade and took a water break. It was hard not to think about those who came before us hundreds of years ago and how hard this environment must have been on them.

Continuing to climb, we could see the plateau where we were headed, but a strange noise of laughter and hoots interrupted the silence. And what to our surprise, it was three pink jeeps that appeared before our eyes… such a strange sight to see in the middle of nowhere.

Reaching the plateau, the trail began to transition from “easy/moderate” to “no thank you” The heat was climbing and next portion of the trail would require some scrambling on all fours.

Believing in that man should walk upright, the decision was made to do an about face and head back down.

After reaching the car, it was just a short ride to the other side of Chapel Rock to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

This church is built into the side of the red rocks and overlooks the valley. The church was commissioned in 1956 by a local rancher, Marguerite Brunswig Staude. Not only was Marguerite an architect, but she studied under Frank Lloyd Wright. Her initial plan was to build her chapel in her native Hungry in the 1930s, but WWII and invading armies got in the way. She left and found her way to Arizona. The structure can be seen for miles and when sitting in the Chapel, the view gives one the perspective that they are in heaven looking out. The coolness and quiet of the chapel were quite a contrast from the jeeps and heat of the broken arrow trail. Lighting a candle for some special people in our lives, we departed the sanctuary and headed to Sedona for lunch… and maybe a wine tasting.

Having been warned by friends that parking in Sedona could be a nightmare, we began our search for the elusive parking spot. Tom, who drives a Fiat 500, was behind the wheel of the oversized 4 Runner and was concerned about a parallel parking spot. As fate would have it, we located a spot! Upon completing the parking job, which went very smoothly, we celebrated. The vehicle had less than a foot clearance front and back, but the deed was done.

We window shopped through the streets of Sedona until we located our ultimate goal, a wine tasting room named 1912. It was a little hard to locate but upon opening the door, we were rewarded immediately. The air conditioning, a dim room with a view, and a smiling young lady were all very welcoming – and chairs too! Immediately, Tom got excited when he saw bottles with labels that read: Tempranillo, Graciano, Granacha Blanca, and Albariño! All indigenous Spanish grapes! There were also a few Italian varieties listed to round out the tasting menu. With no place to go and enjoying the atmosphere and the view, we ordered some tapas and settled in to enjoy both the red and white flights offered. The wines were wonderful and 1912 was a great respite from our morning stroll. We bought a few of their wines to enjoy back at the timeshare, but none made the cut to carry back to Virginia.

Back into the sun and after a little more wandering the streets of Sedona, we decided to head back in the direction of Cornville. Sedona has been officially checked off our list. Beautiful, nice place, and lots of tourists.

Making a snap decision we decided to hit another winery that we had heard and read about, Page Springs. The vineyard was not far from our timeshare and being very late in the afternoon we thought it would not be crowded… Wrong! They told us it would be a forty-five-minute wait, but we could get a glass or a bottle and head down to the river and wait. Sounded like a plan, so that is what we did. After grabbing a glass of white wine, we headed down the trail to the river. The river was cool and beautiful and after finding a picnic table, all was copacetic in our world. We met some nice folks from Virginia who were visiting their parents and the time went by quickly. At the forty-minute point we headed back up for the tasting only to learn we still had an additional thirty to forty-minute wait for a tasting. The wine we enjoyed at the river was ok to good… but not worth donating anymore of our life waiting for a tasting.

We had learned from the locals we met riverside that Adriana's Mexican was the best in the area when it came to south of the border food. By now we felt dirty and tired and neither of us wanted to cook so we headed back to our place, cleaned up, and it was off to Cottonwood to enjoy a Mexican dinner. Adriana’s lived up the compliments she had received. She greeted us at the door, showed us to the table, brought us water to rehydrate, recommended a beer, and took our order.

We are still not sure if she also cooked the dinner. She was one serious working woman and the food that came out the kitchen was over the top. A couple of hospital workers with a baby sitting next to us helped us plan our next day’s adventures. With full stomachs and a plan for tomorrow, we waddled out to the car ready to crash for the night.

Tomorrow would be here soon and we will need to walk off this meal!