A Simple Plan

Sedona, Arizona

After considering and rejecting a number of foreign vacations for 2011, Mrs. Phred and I have finally agreed on a simple plan.

We will catch a flight to Rome in the Fall and then take the train to a port that has a ferry to the isle of Sardinia. Once we arrive on Sardinia we will pick up our red rental Ducati motorcycle and proceed to explore the island from our base camp.

Today we hiked up into a red rock canyon near Sedona, Arizona.

Some of the desert flowers were beginning to bloom.

It was a tough hike. About two miles to a box canyon end point. The trail was uphill in both directions. We didn't take enough water for the arid climate.

Sedona has some lovely red rocks. Some of the 80 or so available hikes go to places called "vortexes" which are hubs of spiritual energy that occur only in a few special places on Earth. Vortexes are created, not by wind or water, but from spiraling spiritual energy. The vortexes of Sedona are named because they are spiritual locations where the energy is right to facilitate prayer, mediation and healing. Vortex sites are locations having energy flow that exists on multiple dimensions. The energy of the vortexes interacts with a person’s inner self. It is not easily explained. We plan to visit several vortex locations.

The vortexes prevent the Earth from spiralling into an evil timeline.  Tomorrow we move from Cottonwood up to Sedona. That will put us closer to the hikes and public tennis courts. We do want to go back to Jerome on Friday night to have dinner and catch some live music.

The Verde County fair starts today. Friday and Saturday they have a rodeo scheduled. Maybe Saturday we can catch the fair and rodeo?

Just Another Pretty Place

Cottonwood, Arizona

We drove up from Benson today and settled in a RV Park on the river in Cottonwood.

Cottonwood is just south of Sedona. There are three National monuments we want to see nearby. Tennis courts are to the north and there are hiking trails all over the place.

I took Mrs. Phred on a balloon ride here for her birthday a few years back.

The second time we came it was snowing and some black hairy pigs called Javelinas we running though our campground.

We'll probably spend a week our so here and then head due north to hike the Grand Canton again.

Mrs. Phred has misplaced her keys so we might need to hit the Toyota dealer south of here in Prescott.

These pictures are all from previous visits.

 
I always wondered why we called GMT "Zulu" time. I had just assumed that Zulu time was an American military snide slap at the English and that African Zulu territory was, like England, also on the prime meridian.

Turns out that my old 1938 edition of Bowditch's "American Practical Navigator" was first written in the late 1700s. It was acknowledged at the time to be the finest book on navigation ever written. Bowditch wrote it because British sea captains were getting all the credit for navigational advances and he felt that some American Captains were producing truly amazing breakthroughs.

Bowditch wanted a shorthand letter designator to refer to each local time zone. There are 25 zones since each half zone on the sides of the International Dateline became separate zones. Since there are 26 letters, Bowditch left out the letter "J" or, phonetically, jig. GMT time got the letter "Z" or Zulu. So GMT time is time zone Z.

Now you know.

Greggery Peccary Invented the Calendar

Sedona, Arizona – January 21, 2007

This morning before dawn there was a heavy snowfall accompanied by loud thunder.



The herd of wild javelinas left tracks behind our RV again. Javelinas travel in social groups of 6 to 12. They forage just after dark and before dawn for roots, berries, birds, rodents and snakes. The javelina, also known as a peccary, is a small hairy pig which burst upon the evolutionary scene about 32 million years ago and is thought to have migrated to South America about 9 million years ago after the Isthmus of Panama formed. They have strong musk glands above their eyes and on their backs. They rub together to establish a herd scent, allowing them to identify each other despite poor eyesight.


Frank Zappa wrote a 20 minute song titled “Greggery Peccary” about a clever young javelina that drives a red Volkswagen and invents the calendar. The calendar, upon release, immediately causes confusion and chaos, as people suddenly can keep track of time, figure out how old they are and plan ahead, making life aggravatingly mechanical.

The sun cooperated today, allowing us to take a long hike in the virgin snow of the nearby Red Rock National Forest and get the Sedona photos I had been hoping for.

We plan to drive to the Grand Canyon again tomorrow, hoping for sunshine, snow and photo ops…and maybe a hike on the rim.

Winter Wonderland

Sedona, Arizona – January 19, 2007

It’s lovely outside. Heavy snowflakes are coming down. The road into Sedona from Flagstaff is 30 miles of switchbacks as the elevation drops from 7500 feet to only 5000.


This is one of the most scenic areas in America. The people here seem to be all thin, fit, well-heeled, attractively dressed and intelligent looking. I feel out of place. They are definitely not typical American Wal-Mart people. The houses here are striking.

The local grocery store has a Starbucks section and four isles of fine wine. I feel smug that I don’t buy bottled water or $5 coffee, but in an amazing coincidence my old business partner sends me a Starbucks gift card today for sending him a new client.

Denny Doherty died today. Only one of the four members of “Mammas and Pappas” group is now still alive. I listened to “California Dreamin’” in early 1966 on a radio in Air Force Officer Training School while making up my bunk at 0430. I always liked that song.

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day

Princess Firecloud and I went on a lovely hike today. We started near an imposing chapel built into the mountains. When it rains here the hiking trails turn into very difficult red mud.

The local businesses include many fine restaurants, psychics, vortex advisors, purveyors of magic crystals, Hyatt time shares, and art gallerys.

Here are a bunch of Sedona Pictures..way too many...when the sun is out the red rock spires are magnificent...it was cloudy today so I punched up the pictures with Google's Picassa....

Sedona

Slide Rock State Park, Arizona-

Sedona is picturesque. The town is surrounded by towering spires of red rock. It's full of artists, shops and galleries where photographs, paintings, pottery and silver and turquoise jewelry are sold.

We ride the motorbike up to Slide Rock State Park in the morning. The park used to be an apple orchard. The original barns, houses and equipment are on display, including an old waterwheel electricity generator. Mr Pendley's 1912 apple orchard has now been turned into a state park. We self-register and explore the park.

Pendley dug a two-mile system of flumes and tunnels up the mountain to deliver water to the orchard, which is about 100 feet above the adjacent river. This effort took him two years and appeared to be back-breaking work. Red Delicious apples seem to grow best here.

 

Tennis scores on the municipal court for today are 6-1, 6-2. I lose both sets. I'm obviously distracted by the surrounding scenery.

Later, a five-mile evening trip for groceries on the motorbike in the dark, rain and cold in heavy four-lane traffic adds some spice to the day. I fill my backpack with wine, whole-grain bread, eggs and sliced turkey.

The weather has been near or below freezing in the evenings for the last week. I have a dawn balloon trip over the red rock spires of Sedona booked in the morning to surprise Mrs Phred for her birthday present.

Sedona: Birthday Ballooning

Sedona, Arizona

222 years ago, in 1783, a chicken, a sheep and a rooster made the first ascent in a hot air balloon. King Louis XVI thought it would be a good idea to use condemned criminals as the first human pilots, but Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois d'Arlandes got him to change his mind and let them try it out. They lit up the disgusting mix of burning straw and stinking manure in an attached burning pot and off they went.

They landed in a French vineyard, and while the farmers were debating whether to immediately surrender or first make a half-hearted pitchfork charge, the two pilots had the wit and foresight to produce bottles of champagne, a tradition which continues unabated to the present day.

Nothing much happened of note for the next 222 years. Then, on 30 October, 2005, a chicken named Phred and his courageous Faithful Companion made a dawn ascent for a 90-minute uncontrolled flight over the cold Sedona, Arizona desert and flew a distance of 8.5 miles.

 I was petrified in terror for the entire flight, but I tried not to show and outward signs of panic for the benefit of the women passengers, who chattered happily during the entire ordeal. The flight was followed with a champagne and strawberry breakfast and an Irish ballooning toast.

The hiking here is good. We're heading on an easy hike six miles up a canyon later this morning and then hitting the Municipal tennis courts in the afternoon before continuing our Halloween journey.

Here are a few Sedona snapshots.