Sedona, Arizona

We  left the motorhome bright and early today since we decided to have it washed and waxed by a mobile service that comes right to the RV park.  Today's destination was Sedona.  This is another place where my little camera simply could not take pictures that show the extent of the awesome scenery. 

My favorite sight today was the well-known Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was completed in 1956.  The chapel is 250 feet high and emerges from a 1,000-foot wall. It seems to be suspended into the blue sky and clouds. The red rock cross can be seen from miles around Sedona.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

The peaceful interior of the Chapel

A mansion that's being built near the Chapel of the Rocks, reportedly costing $45 million.  Who has that kind of money?

One of the first places we visited was the visitor center for the Coconino National Forest.  In order to do any hiking, everyone needs to get a Red Rock pass.  We already had the national park pass which could be used for this. 

There were scenic turnouts every mile or so just before we entered Sedona.  This was one of our first views.

One of the scenic viewpoints was from the Sedona airport.  The helpful volunteer guide at the National Forest visitor center gave us a map with a bunch of places to visit where we could get good views.  They were all spectacular and we would't have known about these places otherwise.

We didn't even have to get out of the car to see this part of the magnificent landscape.

One of the views from Red Rock State Park, where we ate our picnic lunch, visited the visitor's center, and watched a DVD about Sedona.  We wanted to take a walk around the park, but by then it was too hot for us sea level folks.  Sedona is at an elevation at 4500 feet.

A closer view of the red rocks.   Far different than anything we see in the Pacific Northwest!