Red and some White Rocks of Sedona

We had a few days of weather, rainy and chilly.  We woke up to some sun on Sunday and though some real warm yet, figured it would be a good day for a drive We decided to head up 89a, up towards Flagstaff.
It is an alternate route from 17 which we drove down from Flagstaff to Cottonwood on. When we were in Sedona before, we had our trailer and drove from Sedona up to Flagstaff on 89a and it was slow with lots of curves. In the Jeep we could enjoy the drive a little more. We first drove through Sedona. Sedona is famous for their stunning red sandstone formations. You are also right in town before you get the full effect of the beauty of the red rocks.

           
Sedona is a small town with a population of around 10,000 but is always busy as it is a tourist favorite.
We drove on through the town and uphill towards Flagstaff, with beautiful scenery around every turn

This drive through Oak Creek Canyon is spectacular. It was rated a Top 5 Scenic Drive in America by Rand McNally. It was specially breathtaking as we began to see snow as we headed uphill towards Flagstaff

                                                                   

We stopped in a spot with  the "winter like" view above and had some fruit, nuts and cheese we brought along. We were pretty close to Flagstaff and so turned around and headed back  As we started back, we saw a hugh rock right in the middle of the lane heading up hill. Luckily no one was there when it fell, including us as it wasn't there when we passed that way not long before.
We passed Slide Rock Park, which we had been to last time we were in Sedona a number of years ago.
Besides being a nice park to hike around in, it is very popular for the famous slide rock, a stretch of slippery creek bottom. You can slide down a slick natural water chute or just wade around in the water.
A very busy attraction during the summer.
Sedona is also known as a spiritual center with a large New Age community. There are several energy centers, or vortexes of subtle energy that saturates the whole area around Sedona. It has been state that if you visit one of the vortex areas it can give you an uplifting experience for days. Not sure if we felt that on our drive up near the Airport which is one of the vortex areas, but we did feel awestruck by the views and Savannah made a new friend.

Savannah and her new friend, Bear