After what felt like ages, we took a break from Bay area and made a trip to Arizona this past long weekend. The most attractive feature was the heat! The winter never seemed to end in North CA and it just kept raining even in the last week of May. So Arizona's hot and sunny days were just perfect.
My first thought of the highways in AZ was that it looked like Dubai (UAE) in the 1990s. The desert, how the buildings are spread out, the simple yet some decoration of the highways, quite a few roundabouts and the overall excellent roads/bridges. Most of the highways, you would find cacti, specially the giant seguaro.
This landscape changed as we headed to Sedona on day1. Sedona is this land of tri-colored rocky mountains with a cute uptown that offers the rich an exotic place to own a home and for tourists the delight of experiencing Mother Nature's wonders. The rocks here have layers of red, yellow and ash. the red is a result of iron oxide effect, the yellow is limestone which the geologists find fossils in and the ash color comes from volcanic effects of the past. it is believed that these rocks were once below sea level and over years with the movement of land and geological changes, now risen much above sea level. the rock formations have interesting shapes - the major ones resemble a big bell, a sphinx, a tea pot, an elephant and one even like Snoopy dog. while we were on our Sedona trolley ride, we received all such information and got to stop at major vista points. we walked around their cute uptown and tried the local ice cream, which was like a must for the weather. Sedona is also famous for attracting tourists for Vortex energy. I was unaware of the fact, until we got there. to experience vortex energy, one must spend time among the rocks. we watched the sunset from their airport stop before leaving Sedona, it was really pretty to watch the colors of orange and red playing around the mountains.
Our next day was the visit to Grand Canyon National Park, We entered Grand Canyon from the South Rim and visited their various vista points. Due to lack of time, we did not commit to biking or hiking in the area. Instead, we took a tour of their observatory point that had detailed geological facts explaining the formation of the canyon. The sight of the Canyon is simply amazing and intriguing at the same time. Besides the sights, we watched a tribal performance of their dance and song. In fact, both Sedona and Grand Canyon have major tribe groups that live in the area and perform their rituals from time to time. They have immense love for Mother Nature - the land, water and air. Their dances were about surviving wars and farming. I noticed that the basement rocks of the Canyon are named for Lords Rama, Vishnu and Brahma. To move around the South Rim area, they provide shuttles, which are simply great in saving time. Many of the stop points are named after the local Indian tribes.We enjoyed the Desert view the best, it was the more quieter point. We enjoyed a nice lunch and ice cream and picked up souvenirs right before our exit.
The next morning, we were packing up to return home with memories of beautiful sights and a well enjoyed break. To our pleasant surprise, we did manage to bring the heat here to Bay area and ever since its been nice and warm!!
My first thought of the highways in AZ was that it looked like Dubai (UAE) in the 1990s. The desert, how the buildings are spread out, the simple yet some decoration of the highways, quite a few roundabouts and the overall excellent roads/bridges. Most of the highways, you would find cacti, specially the giant seguaro.
This landscape changed as we headed to Sedona on day1. Sedona is this land of tri-colored rocky mountains with a cute uptown that offers the rich an exotic place to own a home and for tourists the delight of experiencing Mother Nature's wonders. The rocks here have layers of red, yellow and ash. the red is a result of iron oxide effect, the yellow is limestone which the geologists find fossils in and the ash color comes from volcanic effects of the past. it is believed that these rocks were once below sea level and over years with the movement of land and geological changes, now risen much above sea level. the rock formations have interesting shapes - the major ones resemble a big bell, a sphinx, a tea pot, an elephant and one even like Snoopy dog. while we were on our Sedona trolley ride, we received all such information and got to stop at major vista points. we walked around their cute uptown and tried the local ice cream, which was like a must for the weather. Sedona is also famous for attracting tourists for Vortex energy. I was unaware of the fact, until we got there. to experience vortex energy, one must spend time among the rocks. we watched the sunset from their airport stop before leaving Sedona, it was really pretty to watch the colors of orange and red playing around the mountains. 
Our next day was the visit to Grand Canyon National Park, We entered Grand Canyon from the South Rim and visited their various vista points. Due to lack of time, we did not commit to biking or hiking in the area. Instead, we took a tour of their observatory point that had detailed geological facts explaining the formation of the canyon. The sight of the Canyon is simply amazing and intriguing at the same time. Besides the sights, we watched a tribal performance of their dance and song. In fact, both Sedona and Grand Canyon have major tribe groups that live in the area and perform their rituals from time to time. They have immense love for Mother Nature - the land, water and air. Their dances were about surviving wars and farming. I noticed that the basement rocks of the Canyon are named for Lords Rama, Vishnu and Brahma. To move around the South Rim area, they provide shuttles, which are simply great in saving time. Many of the stop points are named after the local Indian tribes.We enjoyed the Desert view the best, it was the more quieter point. We enjoyed a nice lunch and ice cream and picked up souvenirs right before our exit.The next morning, we were packing up to return home with memories of beautiful sights and a well enjoyed break. To our pleasant surprise, we did manage to bring the heat here to Bay area and ever since its been nice and warm!!
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