Road Trip in Sedona

Last weekend we enjoyed a long weekend in Sedona, Arizona.  We chose Arizona because it was warmer than Reno and Sedona because it is surrounded by red rocks.  Beyond that we didn't have any real plans, so we drove north from Phoenix and stopped at a rest stop half way to Sedona, checked out the visitor information and planned our weekend from there.  

The key to a good road trip is taking lots of pictures so you can remember where you've been.  We started out having lunch in the old mining town of Jerome at the Haunted Burger.  Calvin stopped here on a big bike ride a few years ago and loved the view from the deck.  Lunch wasn't bad either.

We arrived to a room with a view in Sedona. 

The area around Sedona is dotted with ruins left by the Sinagua people who inhabited the area roughly between 1100 and 1300 AD, so I dragged Calvin through a lot of ruins.  If you look closely  you can see some about in the middle of the photo.

These home sites in Walnut Canyon were not large, but it is supposed that the Sinagua were not very tall.

Walnut Canyon is near Flagstaff.  On our way back we came to a stretch of historic Route 66.  I've been trying to talk Calvin into a road trip on Route 66 for years, and here we are headed west.  We even had lunch at a Route 66 diner.

After lunch we took a hike in the West fork of Oak Creek Canyon which was absolutely spectacular.

Saturday we visited the Palatki and Honanki ruins which also had rock art, although was not as impressive as some we've seen, but I liked the "pigtail girl."

This interesting panel is possibly a sun calendar.  The wavy line might represent the mountain range opposite. There are little black triangles under certain peaks which correspond with where the sun rises on the Soltice and Equinox.  Kind of like the blue triangles on our bedroom wall marking the location of sunrise throughout the year.

This is the range across the way.  The volunteer said that the dots match up with observed sunrise here.

I liked these ruins because they are in the red rock, and they are two story town homes.

The Sedona International film festival started Saturday evening, so we took in a showing of Redwood Highway, which I enjoyed, but Calvin thought the best part of the evening was the cookies and cupcakes they gave out for opening night after the show.