Woke up this morning with the goal to explore some of Joshua Tree on the way to Sedona. Driving through Joshua Tree was beautiful and it was amazing how the scenery changes as you go through the park. We also stopped off to explore one of the oases that is in Joshua Tree.
The drive to Sedona was absolutely beautiful. We took the Scenic Highway (SR 179) into Sedona and stopped off to take in the beauty of the red rocks.
We checked into our hotel,the Sedona Rouge & Spa. Our room was in the corner and was very spacious. Really nice hotel. We decided to drive up to the Airport Lookout for sunset but unfortunately, so did everyone else. It was so crowded that trying to view the sunset was not enjoyable so we headed down the road. We had reservations for Sedona Stargazing at 8:00 so we arrived early (like 1.5 hours early) and fixed a sandwich and took in the scenery around us. When it was time to get started we were assigned an astronomer for a group of 10 people. They walked us out into the middle of a soccer field where they had chairs, blankets, and a telescope set up. It was partly cloudy with a 3/4 waning moon and perfect temperature. Our astronomer was extremely knowledgeable and set the telescope up for us to see Saturn, two views of the moon, a beautiful yellow and blue binary star, a nebula in the milky way galaxy and finally the Andromeda galaxy. She also confirmed that we did indeed spot both Cygnus and Cassiopeia in Joshua Tree. It was simply awesome.
Day 47
Woke up this morning with the goal to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross and to do some shopping. We figured since we will be hiking the Grand Canyon soon, we needed to save our legs and energy so we kept it low key. We stopped off at this eclectic store with a big statue of a chicken in front of it. This place had a little bit of everything but the best part is that most of the items were handmade from different artisans. We picked up a few souvenirs and then off to see the Chapel.
The chapel was truly a gorgeous place and very unique.
After the Chapel, we stopped off and had some amazing Tamales then back to the hotel for some pool time. We spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool/hot tub and then headed to bed.
Day 48
We are leaving Sedona today to head out to the Grand Canyon. It wasn't a long drive so we wanted to spend some time this morning exploring some more shops around Sedona. Brett had his eye on a Native American Flute of all things. He had heard a lady playing a hauntingly beautiful melody in the middle of the Redwoods and had been looking for one ever since. I wanted to find Rigby and Roady a dog collar but was unsuccessful. I looked all over and NO ONE carried dog collars. UGHHH...oh well...Brett ended up buying a flute and I get to listen to him playing it now!!!! :/
We arrived at the hotel in the Grand Canyon around 4:45, stopped by the visitor center and went to Mather's Point to get our first glimpse of the magnificent canyon.
We headed back to the room to start packing our backpacks for our 2 nights in the Grand Canyon. We went to bed early because we need to be up and on the shuttle no later than 6:00 a.m. In the Grand Canyon...you HAVE to start early to avoid being caught on the trail in the middle of the day.