4-3-10

JEROME, AZ

SEDONA RED ROCKS

GRANDPA CACTUS

CACTUS DAISY

WHAT'S A PRETTY FLOWER LIKE YOU
DOING OUT IN THE DESERT?

WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE OVER A CACTUS?
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

THERE'S A RIVER IN THE DESERT!

ARTISTIC ROCK PILES

SEDONA'S RAW VEGAN RESTAURANT, CHOCOLA TREE

BAND OF LIGHT

CAVE SPRINGS CAMPSITE

Departure from Happy's was a bit later than originally planned but so it goes. We got on the road just before noon and headed north to Jerome. Happy described Jerome as a ghost town and we interpreted that to mean it used to be populated and now it's abandoned. What a shock when we arrived and the town was bumpin. Turns out, Jerome is quite populated and is a tourist attraction to boot. It used to house an insane asylum and local citizens believe that past asylum residents haunt the town and specifically the Grand Hotel. Stepping into the hotel was like stepping into a time machine and coming out 150 years ago. The thriving art scene was cool to check out too. Their location literally in the side of a mountain was pretty incredible.

After our brief stop at a cactus nursery, we arrived in Sedona. Sedona is situated right next to Red Rock mountain formations and provides stunning landscape views as you approach. It is a resort village but we spent most of the afternoon hiking on the outskirts of town. One thing in particular which has blown our minds about Arizona is the state is not all desert, but rather much of it is covered in forest. As you pass from the valley to the hilltops, the desert becomes forest and immediately morphs back into desert as you descend back into the low lands. Although we've had a great two weeks at Happy's, we are glad we got out of Prescott and are exploring more of Arizona's beauty.

Coconino National Forest played host to our evening accommodations. North of Sedona by a few miles, we pitched our tent before heading back to town to sample goods from Chocola Tree, Sedona's raw vegan restaurant. Dinner was tasty and we enjoyed live music provided by Band of Light. Originally we were supposed to have dinner with Happy, but the whole day changed when she brought a friend who we don't have much in common with, so we enjoyed dinner on our own. It was good to experience raw vegan food one more time. We had been making a lot of the same foods the past few weeks and it was good to go to a restaurant where they have an extensive menu selection. Just like with all diets, you get into a dinner-making rut and sometimes it takes going to a restaurant to inspire you. We don't intend to be raw vegans. However, occasionally preparing a raw vegan dish to accompany our meal is something we are not opposed to.