Sedona sites

November 29 (Wednesday)

As this was our next to last day in the Sedona area we took the time to visit the sights of this touristy town. We wanted to wait until mid-week after Thanksgiving to give the crowds a chance to disperse. As well, today was cool and overcast and we thought most folks would stay home. For the most part we were right.

These little guys greeted us at our campground this morning:

Pretty sure this is a black-chinned hummingbird

Might be a warbler of some sort. He was too fast to get another picture.

We started out heading north on Route 179 toward Sedona. We stopped at the Cathedral Rock Viewpoint. There is a short trail up to Bell Rock. The views are outstanding......of course.

Bell Rock

Cathedral Rock

View from Bell Rock (part way up)

Bell Rock trail

This is one determined tree!

Next stop was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This Catholic church was built in 1952.

Bell rock from the Chapel

Cathedral Rock from the Chapel

Inside the chapel. What a view!

No comfy seating here.

Behind the Chapel

Perhaps some divine intervention is required to grow here.

We took the Airport Road to the mesa. The views are ....of course.....spectacular.

Road to the Airport Mesa

The airport is built on a natural mesa which is very flat. The 4832' runway needed no leveling to build. There are no commercial flights out of here, only charters and of course the private planes and jets of the well to do. We wanted to get a view from the lookout. A parking lot was across from the lookout. They needed $3 to park and we took the bait. The view was great but the guy at the ticket booth was the main attraction. He was obviously used to tourists and was a wealth of knowledge about where to go and what to see. He also knew the story behind the mansion on the hill below the Chapel.

The 'Mansion' that gets in the way of  the view.

Apparently is over 8000 square feet and took over three years to build.

The person that owns the house is a medical engineer from Romania, Ioan Cosmescu. He immigrated to the US over 30 years ago and lives in Phoenix. You can read the background story here: http://icmedical.com/about-ic-medical/

There are mixed reviews on the house. Some see it as an eyesore that ruins pictures taken from the Church. Others see it as an interesting architectural piece that adds to the scenery. To each his own. I just think…….who the hell is going to clean all those windows!

Next we drove out of town a bit on Soldier Pass Road to see Coffee Pot Rock.

That point that looks like a birds beak is the pour spout on the coffee pot.

Then on to Dry Creek Road to see Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock

We drove the Red Rock Park loop. There just aren't any 'bad' views in Sedona. This was a very nice drive.

That was Our View From Here........