Caere, Jerome, and Sedona

The next day, with Caere as our guide, we visited Jerome and Sedona. Jerome is a small ex-copper-mining town turned arty. It clings to the side of a mountain, now mining the pockets of tourists, with gift-shops, galleries, and rumors of ghosts.

Every direction provides breath-taking views of the valley and opposing mountains. After buying a new hat and having refreshing lemonades on the porch of the reputedly haunted Grand hotel, we pressed on to Sedona.

Sedona lies in a wide valley surrounded by its famous red-rock buttes and mesas. The center of Sedona is quite upscale, and heavily-touristed and zoned. (They even made McDonald’s have teal arches rather than yellow). The traffic was interspersed with the famous pink jeeps giving tours through the famous vortexes and mystical places found in the natural rock formations that encircle this town.

We went up the airport road atop one of the red-rock mesas, said to be the location of a vortex, where we could see the brilliant terra cotta formations that rise from the valley to catch the sun. On the way down we stopped at hiking spot and climbed up, into the wind, to a saddle of red rock between two other red formations. Ancient juniper clutched and probed deep into the layers of rock, stubbornly clinging to life for centuries of atmospheric abuse. Trying to climb the boulder hill, we had to cling to these junipers, as a raging gale seemed bent on blowing us off our feet,. Just at the brow of the hill, I shot a photo of the tree whose top had lured me up farther than good sense would have advised. Shaking, I came back down and sat on the warm stone, soaking up the sun, glad to be grounded, vortex or not.

Continuing east toward Flagstaff, exploring Oak Creek, we came to a National Park turnout which was a real find. Off the road, down a steep drive to a parking area where we heard the unmistakable sound of swiftly flowing water. At the end of a short hike across a stoney dry wash, we came upon a pool formed at a bend in the river. What a beautiful spot!

Back at camp that evening, we had a pleasant visit with Rich, an Airstream full-timer, a contributor to Airstream Life magazine, author of The Digital RV, and blogger (http://www.hikenbike.net/wordpress/). The advice his books provided and the personal experiences recorded in his blogs, have provided inspiration, warnings, and how-tos in the preparation for our own grand adventure. In fact, the system we use for internet access to keep blogging, is based on his advice. Rich was also trapped by Prescott’s magic, has been a resident of Point of Rocks Campground for over a year, and seems very content to stay for a bit longer.

In the end, we loved ‘Presskit’ and the surrounding area too. The light and the landscape are incredible, but the pollen/dust season is hard to take.

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