The Road to Sedona

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Ding! My cell phone indicates there is a text. My brother-in-law wants to know if we are stopping in Sedona before we arrive at his home in Phoenix. Hmmm, we muse. That could be interesting, we hadn’t considered that previously, but it is an option.

I reach to the back seat to pull out the map to see how we get to Sedona from our current location. We had just gone through Flagstaff and were barreling down the highway with Phoenix as our intended destination.

“Looks like there is a little road we can take off the highway to get there,” I tell my husband. He quickly pulls off to the side of the road (which happens to be the end of an on ramp) to peer at the map. He looks back to see what the exit number is and we discover we are five miles past the exit we need.

Since there are no other cars around, he backs up the on ramp and we head back towards Flagstaff. (After all, it’s only five miles.) As we approach the exit, I think it is very odd there are no signs saying Sedona this way.

We decide to stop for gas before searching for the road. Inside the convenience store I inquire, “If we go down this road, will we get to Sedona?” The girl working at the cash register looks startled at my question.

“Well, yes it does,” she begins, “but it’s a dirt road and it’s closed. You need a four wheel drive to go down it.” She looks out the window at our sedan and laughs. The moment I heard “dirt road” I knew we weren’t traveling that road.

She explained how we needed to go back to Flagstaff (15 miles) to get the road to take us through Oak Creek Canyon which leads into Sedona.

The slight detour was well worth our time. The photos don’t do it justice.

As I gazed in awe at the rocks I wondered what the pioneers thought when they entered this land. I was thankful I had a paved road to travel. I can’t imagine being on horseback or in a covered wagon.

I know I will be returning to view these red rocks again.