Sunday, September 19, 2010

At the top of the Red Rocks (Day 5)

Today will be my last post about my trip to Arizona. I do wish I could post pictures and stories about this amazing landscape every day, but my trip was only 5 days long.

Before we left Sedona, I wanted to explore the rocks further on foot. At the ranger station, one of the park rangers pointed us to a short hike that would give us lots of panoramic views - the Airport Mesa trail loop. 

When we first got to the trail, we hiked up to the overlook and felt like we were on top of the world: 







Then we headed back to Phoenix for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Our hotel had a great pool with waterfalls, hot tub, and poolside service, so we were there until they had to almost drag us out at sunset. Later that evening, we went to old town Scottsdale.  When someone says "old town," I usually think of something colonial like old town Alexandria or downtown Charlottesville. Because we were out west however, this Old Town was in the "Wild West" style--with lots of silver jewelry shops, leather shops, and even a used bookshop dedicated to Wild West history books. We also walked down an artists' row, which is lined with nothing but art galleries. 

I had to say goodbye to Arizona early the next day, so I'll leave you all with a picture of this beautiful sunset: 


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