Day 82 - Sedona, AZ

The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona is stunning. Flagstaff is at 7,000ft whereas Sedona is at 4,500ft and the highway linking the two cities, Highway 89, wiggles down the Oak Creek Canyon providing panoramic views at almost every turn.

As a result of the height difference, Sedona is about 10C warmer than Flagstaff so the landscape changes from lush green rolling hills to bright red rock and desert during the drive. We've always said that this is a great part of the World to live with skiing, hiking and the cooler weather of Flagstaff but only an hour away from a desert for year round sun.

During the drive to Sedona, we stopped off at Oak Creek Viewpoint to take in the views before heading to our first destination for the day, Slide Rock State Park.

We've visited Sedona on a previous trip where we did the usual tourist thing of going on a jeep tour of the red rocks. We used Pink Jeep Tours then which we would highly recommend although Lee would suggest not having a hangover on the day of the tour: it isn't a smooth ride. This time we wanted to do something different.

The main attraction at Slide Rock State Park is the rocks in Oak Creek which create a 80 foot-long slippery, natural chute to slide down. The water was really cold, colder than anything we have swum in so far but one we'd finally got our shoulders under (it took a long time), the temperature didn't seem so bad.

We had a huge amount of fun sliding down the creek and although it was busy, everyone was really polite at letting you have a turn, maybe they just wanted to see how safe it was or laugh as you splashed into the water at the bottom.

After a couple of hours at the park, we dried off and headed to our campsite. Hotels are really expensive in Sedona and we couldn't find any campsites within walking distance of downtown. Lee managed to find somewhere a short drive away called Camp Avalon. This place isn't just a campsite, it is a spiritual nature retreat.

Sedona is known for its 4 spiritual vortexes which are a huge tourist attraction with a lot of people coming here to feel them. As a result, the whole town is very arty and spiritually focused, with lots of crystals, tarot card readers and art sellers. I'm afraid the only vortex we experienced whilst in Sedona was a large fart Lee did in the tent although it did seem to suck all the fresh air away and just leave a smelly steak like smell. Not nice!

Whilst we were exploring the shops in downtown, a huge thunderstorm came over. The thunder was so loud, it actually made us both jump so we decided it was time to find somewhere for food. A quick Trip Adviser search came up with The Cowboy Club Grille. We both had a nice meal here whilst it poured down outside. By the time we had finished, the storm had passed.

Sedona is not an evening place, there isn't a huge amount to do once the shops close as it is mainly aimed at tourists during the day so we headed back to our tent for some star gazing and Netflix's.

Interesting fact:
Sedona is the only place in the World where you will find a blue McDonalds sign. Sedona has building restrictions to protect its landscape and the yellow M sign was seen as too contrasting against the red rocks so instead, blue was chosen. We did go inside and sadly, it is just the same as any other McDonald's.