Sedona, Arizona {part one}

I was just back in Arizona with my husband as he finished up his training, which reminded me that I never shared pictures from our adventure in Sedona, Arizona, last month. Gah. I’m a terrible blogger sometimes!

One of the things I mindlessly wrote on my 101 List was to go on a trip without using any technology to help us along the way. So keeping that in mind, we left our GPS and Google maps back at the hotel, bought an Arizona map, and set off for an old-school road trip.  

Before we took off for the great unknown, we had to make one very important stop: coffee! We armed ourselves with our favorites: an iced skinny vanilla coffee for me and a scolding hot black coffee without a hint of sweetness for him.

Our first stop was Prescott, Arizona—my husband’s stomping grounds during his college years. It was fun driving around and seeing different landmarks he’s talked about over the years. 

While we drove around we stumbled on a random Chalk Art Festival! This was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and since we were flying by the seat of our pants anyway, we decided to hop out and take a look. 

Check out the pink chalk on the dogs butt. Too cute!

After Prescott we continued the trek to Sedona, which meant traveling through Jerome, Arizona. If you’ve ever been on the road to Jerome then you know it’s a twisty, turny, ridiculously steep and windey road, and if you know anything about me then you know that’s enough to scare the heck out of me! I would have taken some pictures of the sharp corners, but I was too busy holding my breath and squeezing the blood out of my hands while hanging on to the “oh shit” handle. Ask my husband if you think I’m exaggerating. I prayed for my life. 

We ended up stopping at one point and I felt safe enough to take some more pictures. 

We made a pit-stop at the “Ghost Town” of Jerome, Arizona, and I wished we planned on eating lunch there—every place we walked by smelled amazing. We moseyed around there for a bit (forgot to take pictures) and then continued our drive. 

Various shades of red welcomed us to Sedona. Burnt sierras, rusts, muaves, orange-reds, sangrias, and every hue in between graced every single thing around us: from homes and buildings to the dirt and the rocks towering above us. It was simply gorgeous.

We checked into our hotel, the King’s Ransom Inn (review), and  then went exploring around town. April in Arizona is the perfect time of year to be outside. It wasn’t too hot yet and just cool enough at night to want to be outside. 

We dined at Javalina Cantina (review), and even though food was delicious, the service was Horrible (totally deserving of a capital “h”). Although, after three margaritas, anything will taste great! Again, I wish I took pictures (this was before the BlogHer Food conference!), but had I taken pictures I would have showed off my husbands meal. He got their Catfish Relleno. Holy wow, was it amazing.

My husband and I—natives of the southwest—couldn’t get enough of the gorgeous weather and amazing views. After a day of driving we were anxious to get out there and see Sedona’s Red Rocks up close and personal. 

Couldn’t resist sharing a picture of my handsome husband! Come back tomorrow for the rest of our Sedona adventure!