The cartoon caricature is so close to the real thing that I almost imagined it said Beep beep! He is quite speedy too. I couldn’t get the camera to shoot fast enough to get a picture. Best I could do was buy a post card. That’s one of my frustrations with the little point and shoots, too much shutter lag. It’s ok if you’re just taking pictures of landscapes or friends standing around, but when you need speed…it just doesn’t have it. But anyway, I was really thrilled to see the little bird as it raced along.
The tour was an “off-road” adventure called “Soldiers Pass” There were stops at the 7 Sacred Pools and the Devil’s Kitchen. I’ve never been much of an “off-road” enthusiast and I think Randy figured that out right away as he seemed to take a perverse pleasure in taking the scariest routes. He loved telling me to “breathe” as the right front tire hung out over nothing.
Anyway, we made it to the first stop which was the 7 Sacred Pools. Sure enough there were 7 pot holes with some nasty looking stagnate water. Randy explained that if you are in the desert with no water , this might look pretty good. The Indians of the region considered the pools sacred because they never go dry, not even in the worse drought.
It’s hard to get a handle on how vast the distances are. Like the Grand Canyon, it can be very deceiving. While we were at the 7 Sacred pools taking pictures, I happened to spot someone on the other side of the ravine taking pictures of our side. He was just a tiny toy sized figure. Yet just looking over there it didn’t seem that huge without him in the picture for perspective. I’ve posted the picture on my photo stream. Coffee Pot Rock is in the background.
There was another rock formation called the Sphinx that made a nice backdrop to the 7 Sacred Pools. Randy took my picture with it in the background. The setting sun was hitting the formation full on so the rocks look very light colored when they were actually the famous Sedona Red.
Randy also pointed out the Juniper Trees that were growing in the area. It’s berries are used to make alcohol for “medicinal purposes.” Seems Like all of the native plants are used to make alcohol!
The next stop was Devil’s Kitchen, a large sink hole formed by water eroding the limestone beneath it. Randy says that it got it’s name because of the way dust boils out of it when pieces of the rock collapse and fall into the hole. He said a big slab collapsed in 1989 during the San Francisco earthquake. That was the earthquake that caused a 10 day delay in the World Series. Your can find more information about this earthquake by searching World Series Earthquake or Loma Prieta earthquake. Of course that led to a discussion of the frequency of earthquakes in the region and I gather they have many tremors all the time. Most are so small that no one notices or pays any attention to them.
Leaving Devil’s Kitchen we picked up a paved road. As we came to an intersection a funny little pig raced across the road in front of us. Randy slowed down for us to watch it disappear into the scrub by the side of the road…Too fast for the camera again! He told us they were called Javelina, also called the peccary. It’s the only pig-like animal native to the Americas. As we sat stopped by the side of the road a woman coming the other way stopped her car to yell at us for “disturbing” the poor javalina. She said there were babies in the brush and told us to move on but to do it slowly. Then she drove off. We all got a good laugh out of that.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. It was almost dark and getting pretty cool. Randy told me I would need to change from my shorts into jeans and grab a jacket before going back out. Dinner was on the outdoor deck of the Olde Sedona Restaurant & Grille. Absolutely marvelous. There is no better atmosphere than sitting on a deck under the stars. The few other patrons seated on the deck with me and the waiter spent most of the evening telling me that I would be back. They bet that I’d return within 2 years. One couple even assured me I could move my cats across country as they brought theirs out. We will just have to see what the future has in store.
The evening caught up with me. It had been another full day with all the hiking and off-roading, it was time to head back to the condo and hit the hay. Did I say something about sitting by a pool? Not likely!
Tomorrow I was heading south to Camp Verde. I plan to start the day at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park, then head to Clarksdale to catch the Verde Canyon Railroad, and wrap up the night with dinner at the Blazin’ M Ranch. So with another full day on the books, it was time to say good night.J
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2 comments:
I think I would have had a heart attack if I saw the jeep wheel over nothing. I am beginning to rethink going to AZ. I mean rattle snakes, No thanks. :-)..
He was a very competent driver. I was keeping the option of a Jeep tour open. It's not at the top of my list of things to do again unless you wanted to go. It's the only way to see some of the things unless you want to hike...LOL and I told you I never actually saw a rattlesnake..we have them in your neckof the woods too but I never saw one there either.
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