Day 14
States visited: still in Arizona
Sites seen: Montezuma’s Castle, Red Rock State Park, Sedona
So…I owe you all some photos. But I have zero cell phone service and the WiFi here won’t support uploading the photos (blargh!) so I will post a follow up to this with photos. Sorry! I guess the words are better than nothing?
There is shadow under this red rock // (Come in under the shadow of this red rock) // And I will show you something different from either // Your shadow at morning striding behind you // Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you // I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
(I realize this poem isn’t actually about the Red Rocks)
I am now the (hesitant) owner of a big floppy hat. With this hat and the sun shirt, I have successfully made it through a day without burning! 🙌
We decided to sleep in this morning and give ourselves a chance to actually enjoy a cup of coffee on the couch instead of rushing to start our day. It was glorious and I’m so happy to have had a chance to be with family as well as get some much needed rest. We have become masters at the camping thing but it definitely isn’t home!
Our original plan was to head straight to our campsite. Then someone suggested we should see Sedona since it was on the way to our campsite. And then, I started looking at the map (we have a giant road atlas in the car) and discovered a state park and a national park on the way to Sedona. So of course we had to stop.
Our first stop was Montezuma’s Castle. The name is misleading because this structure was actually built well before Montezuma was even born. It really is something to see. Sometime between 1200-1400 a.d., the people native to this area built and inhabited the structure you see above. And yes, it is built into the side of a mountain. This structure was really neat to see and totally worth the stop.
Next up was Red Rock State Park. The pictures and postcards I’ve seen of this place do not do it justice. The Red Rocks get their color from iron and other minerals in the ground that have rusted as the mountains eroded and it becomes exposed. These shapes were magnificent to behold and we needed to get closer so we decided to brave a 2 mile hike in the heat of the day.
Seriously, I wanted to take a million photos but they really cannot capture the beauty and the majesty of this place. The hike was absolutely worth it (at least Josh and I thought so) and I’m so glad we stopped to see these magnificent structures.
Some time ago, I don’t know how it came up, but my mom mentioned to Miss R that in Arizona the McDonald’s arches are teal. The architecture and landscape here is really something to see. They take pride in their surroundings and don’t want their buildings to interfere. So somehow, it was decided that the arches should be teal instead of yellow. I hadn’t given it any thought until R was screaming in the car “there they are, there they are!” So we had to stop and take a photo. Who knew?!
Now we are at our campsite, and y’all, it’s 80 degrees and dropping.
It. Is. Heavenly.
I may need sweatpants.
Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon and I’m so excited I can’t stand myself. We plan on getting up early and hitting it as everything opens. Everyone I talk to says to prepare myself for the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. Here’s hoping it doesn’t disappoint! 🤞🏻
Talk to you soon-
Deanna
America or Bust 