Category Archives: 2010 arizona & las vegas

Tuesday morning I woke up again in Sedona. I had previously decided to stay another day in Sedona in hopes of getting the best weather for a 4×4 Jeep tour that I booked. I really lucked out – the sky was a much brighter blue, and there were some really wonderful cloud formations on display.

One of my friends in Charlotte suggested that I go for a Pink Jeep Tour. There are several outfits in town, each with their own schtick. I settled on Pink Jeep because, well, what is there not to like about a hot pink jeep? I signed up for the “three hour tour, three hour tour” which was a combo of Broken Arrow and Scenic Rim. It was fabulous, and I understand now how they came to be so highly recommended. Pink Jeep picked me up at my B&B, and we were off to enjoy the scenery.

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Sunday night, my dad (who was driving from Denver to Las Vegas via Sante Fe) joined me in Sedona for dinner at Oak Creek Brewery. Monday morning I got up and went exploring around Sedona, then took a quick road trip up to Flagstaff and the surrounding area.

A little bit about Sedona and how the rock formations were created:

Geologically, the area we now call Sedona, Arizona, began about 500 million years ago. For about 300 million years, the land alternated between coastal plains and ocean bottom. Layers of sediments and sand built up over that time forming the banding in the rock. About 65 million years ago, the land was uplifted and volcanic activity caused the formation of the Verde Valley, creating the Mogollon Rim. About 3 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau uplifted. Since then, wind, rain and snowmelt have created Oak Creek Canyon and exposed the layers of sediment (like the Schnebly Hill Formation sandstone) to shape the spectacular red rock formations like Coffepot, Cathedral, Bell Rock and Thunder Mountain, that make Sedona unique and absolutely breathtaking!

Driving around Sedona, I happened upon this tiny cathedral (Chapel of the Holy Cross) built into the red rock. The cathedral was commissioned and inspired by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and was finished in 1957. The views from the sanctuary were breathtaking!

Panorama view of the red rocks from the cathedral.

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Sunday morning, I got up pretty early (as I was still on Eastern time!!) and set off towards Sedona. Instead of taking the boring Interstate route, I decided to take a ride through the Tonto National Forest. It was just amazing how quick the landscape and temperature changed once you got out of the “Valley of the Sun”. I drove through parts of TNF that still had SNOW ON THE GROUND (it was 90+ in Phoenix the day before).

Wisconsin-born Frank Lloyd Wright has always been one of my favorite American architects. Since I’ve visited some of his works in the Oak Park area of Chicago, I just had to visit Taliesin West.

TW was built in 1937 as his retreat from the bitter cold of the Wisconsin winters. Mr & Mrs FLW lived in tents on the property along with the apprentices that worked on the construction. I found it really interesting to learn that, to this day, the students (apprentices) that are enrolled in the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (which splits sessions between Taliesin in Wisconsin and TW in Arizona) design, construct, and live in their own desert shelters on the TW property. Some students have gone so far as to install solar panels to enable a few creature comforts they would otherwise not have.

All of the stone used in construction was gathered from the hills on the property and hand laid into the walls.

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