Red Rocks of Sedona

Driving north to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon was the start of what would be about 5 days of the most glorious car rides one can imagine. Rock formations began to pop up in the desert, all of them different shades of orange and red. Every five minutes Ch'nel or I would yell "Hey! Look at that!" or "Over there! Over there!" (not actual quotes, but you get the idea). We were making great time so we decided to pull off at Sedona and see the famous red rocks.

Excellent decision. Excellent, excellent decision. Mark it down on your "must see" list. We pulled into the park and began the always exciting task of snapping pictures while driving. There wasn't anywhere to pull off at this point but yet with every new turn a new view revealed itself, each more glorious than the last one. After about a mile the road disappeared and we were on dirt. I began to worry about the car, Rigby is not made for off roading by any means. As we bumped along we also took note of the giant houses that had been built along the rocks. Stunning enormous houses lined the road, each set at awkward angles so as to give them the best views. The land that there were on alone must have cost an outrageous amount of money, couple that with the size of the houses and I could only imagine who lived in them. I don't think even the queen of England could afford one of these houses.

Eventually we picked the right path and made our way to the official park where we could get out and walk. We pulled up to the ticket booth and prepared to pay our three dollars or whatever parking fee there was. As it was a state park we assumed our national park pass didn't work there. After I paid the fee I noticed a small sign in the window with a picture of the park pass on it. I inquired as to whether they do actually accept the pass. The woman angrily tapped the sign that said "We accept the following passes" only the national park pass had a giant X through it. Hey! Don't get huffy with me, I already paid my three dollars, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be missing out on a ice cream cone or something later because I wasn't smart. Rare instance of a bad attitude in the West.

The park was a lot of fun with lots of rocks to climb on, streams to jump over and otherwise gorgeous scenery.

We took a spin through the town of Sedona after we were through exploring the park. Very nice town, although creepily I would later discover that we were there on the same day as the sweat lodge deaths at one of the town's spas that later became national news.

We continued north to Flagstaff where we pulled up to my cousin Paul's house, our base for the next few days. We were met at the door by Paul's son Alex who showed us where to get settled before running off to join his friends. We assumed he was going to go do those things that teenage boys do, you know get drunk and high. Nope, he was going ice skating. Well then. He stopped right before he left to say "Oh....and don't let the dogs out of their crate". We looked down at the crate to see two tiny dogs, one peacefully sleeping in the back and the other starring us down with a look that would strike fear in even the toughest marine all while letting out a low constant growl. While the dog could fit in my hand....we decided that yes, it would be best to leave her in her crate.

Not very long after he left Alex came flying back in, apparently free skate at the local rink had been cancelled. Ch'nel and I were impressed that he hadn't used that free time to go get drunk and high. Neither Ch'nel nor I were hell raisers during high school, but we can only assume that's because we're lame. Clearly, every other high schooler out there is constantly drunk and or high in our minds. Alex ran out the door to go down the street for a "couple of minutes" and true to form returned literally a few minutes later. We were very amused by Alex and his honesty. It gave us back hope in those younger than us, hope we were beginning to lose after seeing the newbies at work in the summer.

Eventually the rest of the family, Paul, his wife Theresa and their daughter Maisie, returned home and we set about making ourselves at home. The dogs were let out and after barking at me for an hour straight Kina finally decided she was ok with me in the house. After a delicious dinner it was announced that it was almost time for the office. This got me super excited as it was the Jim and Pam wedding episode and I didn't think I was going to be able to see it. Ch'nel and I laughed a little too loudly at this scene

And would continue to quote it for the rest of the trip whenever there was a long boring stretch.

After The Office we stretched out on what just might be the most comfortable sofa bed ever and passed out. I was going to talk about the Grand Canyon in this post as well, but that really deserves it's own post. It's just that awesome. We'll do that tomorrow.