Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Wed 30 Jan - Oak Creek / Sedona, AZ

We think Hunter (and perhaps even Vineet... ;-) were not happy seeing us pack up to leave. We had a great time together and promised to return for a few more days later in February. Well, we have to return our car at Scottsdale's airport on the 28th of Feb which coincidentally is Di's birthday.
Hunter's sad face...
The drive on I17 was pretty uneventful although you climb, climb, climb. Scottsdale elevation is 380 meters and Sedona is 1319 meters (well, at least if you believe in Wikipedia)
We stopped in Camp Verde for a coffee and although a bit of a boring town, it has some historical features - including this very small jail. 2 cells and a front room for "hearings".
Any comment about whether this is the correct place for Di? Hmmm...
We arrive in Sedona about 2 hours ahead of hotel check-in time so we explore a little in the Main Street and find the cheapest option for lunch. This is definitely a tourist town and reminds us of Thredbo. We prefer the Village of Oak Creek (VOC) where we are staying, which is more like Jindabyne. A small community that feels a bit more "real".

Mind you, the backdrops are fantastic in both Sedona and Oak Creek whichever way you look. Stunning mesas and buttes.

Here is Di at our lunch location in Sedona.

Main Street of Sedona...

After lunch we headed to the national park ranger station for walking information and were soon overwhelmed by the number of hikes available here. To give the hikes justice, we would need a month, not 4 days! The hiking trail information and rangers are really helpful.

A little grocery shopping and then back for check-in and an hour or so of rest before mandatory "sunset viewing".

What can we say - from 5 to 5.45pm, Oak Creek Valley was fantastic with the colours of Cathedral Rock and the surrounding valley features changing every few minutes. Then at 5.45pm or so someone turned out the lights. It got dark and cold quickly. Here are just a few of the photos we took.

Cathedral Rock.

We are sure this feature also has a name but we don't know what... Doesn't matter, still beautiful.
And then the sun goes behind the mountains and lights off.
Doesn't this look a bit like a car commercial...?
We proceeded to have an early dinner at a recommended Italian restaurant, Cucina Rustica, proved to be more fine dining than we expected - but delicious. Lovely decor too. Pasta, red wine and good company finished off the day nicely.

 

Back to the motel and some warmth as the temperature drops very quickly after sunset.
 
We did give Wells Fargo a call to check why our fantastic plastic had not arrived at Vineet's place despite 10 days since they were shipped. Reason, they were shipped to... Australia!!?? Despite we stressing umpteen number of times at the Wells Fargo branch in downtown Los Angeles that we wanted them shipped to Scottsdale, and that we would not be back in Oz for the rest of 2013, they still stuffed it up.
 
Furthermore, it could not be fixed over the phone as we do not have social security numbers that can be verified (of course not, we are not US citizens), but that we have to go to a Wells Fargo branch to,have the cards reissued. Not happy, Wells Fargo. It started so well, but...
 
A glass of BD wine followed (BD being barely drinkable, some low end Shiraz we picked up at Wal Mart in Scottsdale).
 
Lazy night, big hiking day to follow tomorrow (of course, that's what you need to do here)

 

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