Scenic Sedona
This is the third in a series of posts about my visit through parts of Arizona and Utah.
Two hours north of Phoenix is the beautiful city of Sedona. With its striking red rock formations, evergreen pine forests, and mild climate, Sedona is the perfect place to stop and stay for awhile. We only had a day there this time, but it was our second visit to Sedona, and most likely it won't be our last! We spent several hours in a charming arts and crafts village called Tlaquepaque. It's pronounced Teh-lackuh-packuh, and comes from a word in the language of the ancient Aztecs which means the "best of everything."
Two hours north of Phoenix is the beautiful city of Sedona. With its striking red rock formations, evergreen pine forests, and mild climate, Sedona is the perfect place to stop and stay for awhile. We only had a day there this time, but it was our second visit to Sedona, and most likely it won't be our last! We spent several hours in a charming arts and crafts village called Tlaquepaque. It's pronounced Teh-lackuh-packuh, and comes from a word in the language of the ancient Aztecs which means the "best of everything."
Built in the 1970s, it is patterned after the villages of Old Mexico, and is filled with gardens, fountains, red tiled roofs, delicate ironwork, colorful tiles, and other architectural details. But what is especially unique about this beautiful place is that the stucco structures were built around giant sycamore trees native to the property. Huge sycamore limbs twist along walls and roof lines, even growing up through one of the art galleries in the complex.
One of several fountains in a courtyard at Tlaquepaque
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Scattered throughout Tlaquepaque are sculptures in various styles. I was drawn to this bronze image of a Native America woman. Later in the day, I saw a similar statue amongst the tourist shops in downtown Sedona.
 In Tlaquepaque |  In downtown Sedona |
There is a quiet little chapel on the Tlaquepaque grounds. The blue mosaic dome of the bell tower is topped with a cross. Another cross graced the courtyard outside the chapel. I paused a moment to thank the One who carried a cross on my behalf. He is the One Who sculpted the red rocks that surround Sedona and the One Who called a man down from a sycamore tree in another village so many years ago.
Downtown Sedona has the usual tourist shops which line several blocks, but the real attraction is the striking scenery. Dozens of hiking trails crisscross the Sedona area and range in difficulty from easy to strenuous. Since we were part of a tour group, there was no hiking for us this visit, but there are scenic views everywhere you look, trail or no trail.
Scenic Sedona
The elevation of Sedona is about 4500 feet above sea level. For comparison, the elevation of Phoenix is 1086 feet. Sedona sits on what geologists call the Mogollon Rim, which is at the base of the Colorado plateau, an area of 240,000 square miles that encompasses the corners of four states - Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Dozens of National Parks and Monuments are located within this area of colorful plateaus, rocky buttes, deep canyons, and ancient volcanic mountains. We would be visiting several of them in the days ahead.
Bell Rock
The rust colored rocks of Sedona were formed from an iron oxide layer of red to orange colored sandstone unique to the area. These red rocks are the towering backdrop for the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is built into a rock that rises 200 feet. The 90 foot high cross that adorns the outside of the chapel looks like it is wedged in the rock. The chapel was completed in 1956. To the east of the chapel is a rock formation known as the Three Wisemen. Others see a Madonna and child in the center formation with two praying nuns on either side.
Chapel of the Holy Cross bottom left
Many of the rock formations have fanciful names. Use your imagination and you may see the images portrayed in the colorful rocks, which glow in the rising and setting sun.
Wilson Mountain on left, Steamboat in middle, Submarine on right
Coffee Pot on the far right
Little Lucy on the left and Snoopy on the right
Do you see the Peanut's character Lucy sitting high atop the mountain with giant Snoopy lying on his doghouse with his nose and feet in the air?
As dramatic clouds move across the sky, their shadows create new patterns on the landscape, highlighting different aspects of the rocky color palate. The view is always captivating.
At the end of the day, in the last glow of the the setting sun, little bats came out to play and darkness descended over the red rocks of Sedona like a cozy blanket. In the morning we would leave this lovely area and travel north through Oak Creek Canyon towards Flagstaff, continuing across the Colorado Plateau to the Grand Canyon.
A Sedona sunset
