Jerome & Sedona

Our first teacher is our own heart - Cheyenne Proverb

Listen to the voice of your heart.

Had a lovely 2 days away to Jerome and Sedona. It is amazing the variety of landscape you can see in a day even just because of the changes in altitude and because there are rivers. Did a 4 hour train trip near Jerome, it was fantastic!

The train goes very slowly, probably only about 10 miles an hour and there is commentary about the landscape and the local history eg there are some caves along the way that have ruins of wall from the Indians that lived there from about 200 AD to 1300AD and are thought to be the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. They also gave geological information. On some of the photos you can see the red sandstone contrasting with the white limestone. We followed the Verde River through a canyon. There are some bald eagles that nest there but we didn't see any, we did see a nest. There are also golden eagles nesting in the area. The train was an old train made up of various historical sections including from the old east to west trains that had the 'Harvey Girls' working on them. There is a movie made about them - a very bad movie. The diesel engines were from Alaska. They served snacks and free water and you could by other refreshments. There were some carriages that were outdoor ones with just some wooden seats and covers for shade. The indoor carriages had very comfy lounge chairs and coffee tables. We were lucky in our carriage in that there were not that many people so we could move from one side of the carriage to the other.

The train trip finished at 5 pm and we went to the Mile High Hotel which is a little old hotel in the centre of Jerome with a café restaurant downstairs. They had the rainbow flag outside and were gay friendly which we weren't expecting in a town like Jerome which is more known for it's hippies.

We had dinner at the Asylum Restaurant (a restaurant on the edge). We dined el fresco and had a magnificent view of the valley below and more mountains in the distance towards Sedona. The food was great as well.

Next morning we had a lovely breakfast downstairs in the café and then headed towards Sedona. The area at Sedona is supposed to be good for healing and has several vortexes which are areas of energy that some people believe helps overcome disease. Certainly our walk at red rock along the river to a magnificent view of Cathedral Rock felt very soothing. Could hear the laughter of children playing in the river, dogs barking, people generally enjoying a day out by the cool river and the shade of the trees. We walked a little further and all was quiet except for the running water and the sound of the birds. Someone was kind enough to take a photo of the three of us with cathedral rock in the background.

The red rock formations all around Sedona are gorgeous and in places contrast beautifully with the white limestone hills. Even the view from the car park near the café where we had lunch had a stunning view. We drove up through the hills to the beginning of Flagstaff and we were suddnely surrounded by tall pine trees.

During the drive back we first descended into a valley again with low desert flora and then up some more mountains with tall trees (The Rim) where we had camped on a previous trip. Then down again to the desert. Once the altitude really dropped we got back to the tall Saguaros (cacti) which are so dramatic in the area where my sister lives.

All in all a fantastic couple of days, exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable. Yesterday we spent packing and washing clothes ready for out trip to Germany. We leave today. Next post will be in Germany.

Thriving and surviving.

Linda