‘Most Beautiful Place on Earth’ (week 2)

In its travel marketing and promotional literature, Sedona has deemed itself “The Most Beautiful Place on Earth.” And every morning, when I wake up to towering red rock formations and impossibly blue skies, I have a hard time arguing with that title. Added to that are its amazing weather, quirky shops and galleries, fantastic restaurants and great wineries … why doesn’t everyone want to live here?

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Our days start earlier here than they did in other cities. Being in the Mountain time zone means the girls have to get up a full hour before the sunrise to log in to their online classrooms. This also means, however, that they are done earlier in the day, which leaves more time in the afternoon to explore the local hiking trails. We could probably hike a different trail every day for a year and still not see all there is to see in Sedona—including a networking of hiking/mountain biking trails that starts at the end of our street. Simply incredible. One of my favorite walks thus far, however, is going half a mile up the road behind our house to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. The views are simply like nothing I’ve ever seen, and the vortex energy combined with the presence of the Holy Spirit draws me back again and again. One morning, I even came across a coyote on my walk up the hill!

Besides our hiking expeditions, our exploration of the area has been somewhat limited thus far, though we have lots of grand plans in the works. Tony and I took a ride to nearby Cottonwood to do a little shopping (me) and ask about local fishing spots (him). We’ll definitely go back to try some of the Verde Valley’s famed wineries. In the meantime, we’ve instituted an evening happy hour tradition of sitting in our backyard near the fireplace and enjoying a glass of wine while admiring the view. Sometimes we see quail in the yard; Tony already has a regular customer at the new hummingbird feeder he picked up in Cottonwood.

Tony and the girls hiked Bells Rock yesterday without me; I stayed behind because my neck has been bothering me off and on since the day I attacked our master bathroom ceiling with a scrub brush. (Grrrr.) I’m keeping things in perspective, however, and continuing to count my blessings, as I know how lucky we all are to continue to be in good health. Sooooo many others have not been as fortunate. I noticed that other hikers on the trails are wearing their face masks, even outside. Not sure whether that is to keep out the COVID or to avoid breathing in the red dust that gets kicked up along the trail! Regardless, we feel very safe and super fortunate to be continuing our year of exploration.

Please say hello in the comments! We love hearing from you. Sending sunshine to all those back home!