Sedona, AZ 2013

Rick and I took a trip out west for our vacation this year from July 13th to July 23rd.  We flew into Phoenix on the 13th and spent the night at a local flea bag motel but got up early the next morning and drove to Sedona.  Beautiful drive!  Here's the scene that greeted us as we came into town.

Coffeepot Rock

Not sure but these might be called The Sisters

From our hotel.

Our hotel - Sky Ranch Lodge in Sedona, AZ - best rooms in Sedona!

Taken during our Pink Jeep tour on Broken Arrow Trail.

From Broken Arrow Trail.

More from Broken Arrow Trail.

The jeeps go around this.  A little hairy.

Yes, we drove down this.

Taken at Taos Restaurant - our first stop in Sedona on July 14th.  Temps at about 100 degrees. They had the misters going.  See the thunder storm in the distance.

View from Room #235 - Sky Ranch Lodge - Sedona

Nice hike down the West Fork of Oak Creek.

More from the West Fork hike.

Love the way the stream gurgles gently during most of the West Fork hike.  Nice rock overhangs.  

What a ride that was through the red rocks!  Even after braiding my hair it was pretty wild at the end of the ride.

Sunrise at Airport Mesa

More sunrise at Airport Mesa

Sunset from Sky Ranch Lodge

Grand Canyon

Us at the Grand Canyon

Rick at Grand Canyon.

Kate, Rick, and me at Mother Road Brewery in Flagstaff.

During our time in Sedona the temps were mostly in the high 70s to low 90s. Apparently July is their monsoon season - daily thunderstorms and reasonable cloud cover kept temps at reasonable levels allowing us to hike, shop, etc. without oppressive heat.

We spent 5 days in Sedona and left on Friday to drive to Los Angeles to visit with Rick's son Jason and his fiance, Adri.We went to visit the Son's of Anarchy Teller Morrow site and then Venice Beach.

SOA Set in LA

Jason, Adri, and Rick at Venice Beach

Rick giving Jason a banjo lesson.

Jason playing the banjo his dad gave him last fall - one that Jason's mom bought him 30+ years ago.

It was a great trip. We paid the extra $ to get the extra leg room on Jet Blue and it was definitely worth it.  Flights were smooth if not always on time.  Driving was fine - even in LA - though we were glad to let Jason take over the driving around LA once we got to his house.  He's amazing in terms of being able to get anywhere with the least amount of traffic; always knows where he is; can jump from one highway to another  or just avoid highways and take side streets everywhere.  He took us to Rodeo Drive where we saw a commercial being filmed with Malin Ackerman (I had no idea who she was but Jason and Adri knew of her) and The Grove where we saw them filming an episode of Extra with Mario Lopez.