Sedona, AZ

....get there as quick as you can....

Jordan, Will and I drove to Sedona for the day last Saturday...the last full day of our trip. But only after we promised to be nice to each other.

Sedona is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Jordan's apartment if you do not drive 15 miles out of the way to look for a Chick-Fil-A for breakfast....the one the Garmin sends you to that is in the food court of a mall and is no longer in existence. So then you go to plan B and just pick up McDonalds for breakfast. McDonalds......the 5th one you've passed since you left the apartment 45 minutes ago. But you were being led by the Garmin to a Chick-Fil-A and just drove past all those McDonalds.

The people in my family love their Garmins.....and I think there is a need for them sometimes. But really, looking out the window works, too. Just like in the old days. Anyway...back to the trip to a Slice of Heaven.

As you're driving from Phoenix north to Sedona, the terrain is pretty much the same as in Phoenix....but greener. The view begins to change as you near Sedona. You will see your first red dirt and mountains/rock formations/buttes/mesas? Ask your nearest geologist or a 4th grade teacher for the actual name of these.....

A butte...a mesa....a mutte....a besa....a mountain....a buttountain...a mesatain... ?

Will and Jordan took a Pink Jeep Tour that takes you up about 1600 feet in elevation. It's a 2 hour tour that allows moms some alone time in the stores full of silver and turquoise.

Pink Jeeps

Drinking Arizona tea in Arizona....get it?

I'm not saying this "carving" was there before Will got there....I'm not saying it wasn't.

After the tour and a quick lunch, we drove north of Sedona

just a few miles to Slide Rock State Park.

First you walk up this trail.....

Then you go down a long flight of stairs...

Next, you climb down the rocks....

Finally, you're on the creek bed.

Oak Creek....which runs from the mountains down through Sedona.

Jordan's braving the ice cold water.

A MUST.....if you're ever in the area.

Just look at this rolling creek....see through, ice cold water.

This is my second visit to Sedona.... and I hope I get to go back several more times. I'm not sure why I love this place so much. I think it's because I feel so sure of God when I'm there. I mean, I certainly have had my doubts of his existence....times when I beg him to make his presence known to me. And then I see this.....

and I know that noone, no thing could have created this......but God. A mighty God.

Stripes....God created stripes.

Majestic formations made of hard rock....God created this.

Beautiful blooms that arrive every spring.....God's timing.

Clouds formed in our image.....God?

All the colors in a sunset.....who else could it be?




AMEN.

I will end this on a silly note. I actually took this picture before I left for Phoenix, but it was with the trip pictures I've been looking through. I suspect this is what went on while I was gone. Maggie and Chuck watching tv. Not talking. Waiting for me to get back.