June Getaway - Part 2 - Sedona, Arizona

During our Arizona Anniversary Getaway, we stayed in a Wyndham Condo in Flagstaff but we went to Sedona two days to hike and do other fun stuff.  Sedona is only about 21 miles from Flagstaff, but because getting there requires traveling winding mountain roads through beautiful Oak Creek Canyon, the drive is about an hour. Here are some scenes from this drive through Oak Creek Canyon. 

I took these pictures from some pull-out view areas along the side of the Oak Creek Canyon. 

The first place we went in Sedona was Crescent Moon Ranch where we hiked along Oak Creek.  Here's a picture of us there.  

The red rock formations near Sedona make this a truly beautiful area. 

This is Oak Creek.

Here is Charly taking a little break from the hike along the banks of Oak Creek. 

There are lots of trees and shrubs along the banks of Oak Creek. 

This is the trail we hiked. It was a very warm day, but the trail was shady and it was much cooler than being out in the full sun. 

We really enjoy hiking along Oak Creek. 

There are wild raspberries growing along the trail.  The raspberries were out in bloom last week when we were there, but last time we hiked this trail, it was later in the summer and we ate some of the ripe wild raspberries growing there.  

Another place we visited in Sedona was The Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a beautiful Catholic Church built right into a red rock cliff.  

We hiked this trail to get up to the chapel.

This is the interior of the chapel. 

This is a close up view of the large crucifix at the front of the chapel. There are pews where visitors to the chapel can sit and quietly pray and contemplate, and light a candle if they are so inclined.  

Now here are some pictures of the beautiful red rock formation surrounding the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  

I liked this lovely yellow cactus blossom that we passed on the trail to the chapel. 

After several days in Flagstaff and Sedona, we drove to St. George and spend a couple of days there, before returning home.  It was a nice little anniversary trip and we are grateful that we could spend some time in such beautiful and interesting places. 

That's all for now.  Thanks for visiting to share our June Getaway. 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

“Arizona evokes a sense of timelessness, 

its landscapes whispering tales of centuries past.” 

~Barbara Kingsolver

June Getaway - Part I - Flagstaff, Arizona

 

We like to have a little getaway vacation to celebrate our anniversary each year.  This year, we decided to go to Flagstaff, a place we have enjoyed getting away to many time over the past 20+ years.  This is the Wyndham timeshare condo where we stayed.  There is a lot of negativity out there about timeshares, but we boughts ours from an estate sale in 2003, and we have used and enjoyed it a lot since them. 

Our condo was huge with three bedrooms and all the amenities including a complete kitchen, washer and dryer, deck and hot tub.  It is located a a beautiful wooded area of Flagstaff and we have loved going there, with our family and by ourselves over the years. 

We have some favorite places we like to go to in Flagstaff - one of which is this iconic Flagstaff restaurant, The Dog Haus.  We enjoyed lunch there twice when we were in Flagstaff.  

Charly likes the patty-melts at the Dog Haus, but I think their chilli-cheese fries are the best I've ever had.  

We also visited one of our favorite used bookstores in Flagstaff - a place called Bookmans.  We each got a few books to bring home. 

I was excited to find three Nancy Drew books that I need for my collection. 

While we were in Flagstaff, we enjoyed walking around a nearby lake that is about a mile around.  It is a lovely and peaceful place and there were lots of geese, ducks, fish and other animals to watch while we walked. 

There were some families of ducks that we saw.  Here are five baby dicks. Mama duck was on the nearby shore watching them. 

Here is another little duck family we saw. This one was daddy duck and mama duck and seven or eight little ducklings. The baby ducklings were packed together so tightly,  it was hard to count them, but it was so sweet to see this little family.

There were a lot of Geese hanging out around the lake. 

We also met this groundhog coming out of his hole. He did not seem to be at all shy. 

We really enjoyed our nightly walks at the lake. 

It was a beautiful place to end our days in Flagstaff. 

We enjoyed all the beauty and interesting places and things that Flagstaff has to offer.  I'll be back again soon with some pictures from Sedona, where we also spent some time during our anniversary trip. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Arizona is a state of

extraordinary contrasts, 

where every turn in the road

brings into view something grand,

mysterious or lovely. "

~Zane Grey

 

California Vacation Getaway

Our first vacation getaway of the summer was a trip to Northern and Central California. 

Our trip was partially a fun getaway and partially a research trip to check out a couple of California cities that was are looking at as retirement spots.  We looked at homes in both areas, and decided that both cities are affordable retirement possibilities for us in the future when I retire from teaching.  One of the cities is near a place we used to live, and our oldest son was born there. The other city is near Sacramento and the city where our son lives.  We not only looked at houses, we also met up with friends in the area for dinner and had a great visit.   We don't know for sure that we will move anywhere when I retire, but it always fun to imagine possibilities.  

For the fun part of our trip, we stayed at the Worldmark resort in the California mountain town of Angel's Camp. 

We always enjoy staying in these timeshare condos. 

We prefer to have a place to prepare our own food instead of eating out every meal. 

The condo was very roomy and comfortable. 

We even had some visitors come by the patio of the condo. 

One of the places we visited while we were staying at Angels Camp was Calaveras Big Trees State Park.  This is a California State Park where there are lots of Giant Sequoia Trees. 

We hiked the North Grove Trail.  

We hiked almost three miles through these amazing giant trees.  Here are some pictures from our hike. 

The day we spent at Calaveras Big Trees State among the Giant Sequoias was our 43rd wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary. We had a great time. 

Thanks for stopping by. Come back and visit next time for more about our California getaway.  See you again soon. 

🙏💙Deb💛🙏

"Let me stop and say a blessing for these woods. "

~ Michael S. Glaser