JANET!!! SNAKE Warning Below!!!! Don’t Look. It is a Rattler!
Well. You don’t get rocks like these overnight, I’ll tell you. Ohio doesn’t have anything like this. Nope. At least, not any that I’ve stumbled across. And believe me, I stumble.
But here we are in Sedona. Arizona.
And they have these great big red rocks. I love them. We have not been out here for several years. I love driving through this area and seeing on the glorious red formations. But here, in Sedona, the history of those walls is pretty amazing. Sedona’s canyon walls show nine layers of stone from different geological periods. And those periods span hundreds of millions of years. I could go into the sandstone, limestone, and iron oxide of the whole deal. But it would be rock solid boring. Unless you are a geologist. And then you would know all of it anyway.
The people are a different story. There is evidence of a human presence in the Sedona region beginning around 4000 BC. Say it again. That is a long dang time ago. But that is when the hunter-gatherers roamed through the Verde Valley.
Since then, so long ago, there have been many other peoples here. Indians, and then White Europeans.
And now us.
The elevation here is 4,500 feet, on average. Back home in Camden, we come in at about 837 feet. Depending on where you stand. So I’m feeling a little lightheaded right now. Or it could be the fact that I’ve eaten too much airport food.
Speaking of food, this is the only place where the McDonald Arches are not gold. The McDonald’s here have turquoise arches, to fit in with the decor. By city ordinance. Yessirrreee. They have rules about blending in with their rocks.
Sort of like being at the Louvre. You can’t go putting up a bunch of “Hello Kitty” stickers on the wall next to the Mona Lisa. It would take away from her smile.
But we didn’t eat at the McDonald’s. We flew into Phoenix. And drove up 17N to Sedona. On our way, we happened into a little Cowboy Joint called Chilleans. Burgers, and BBQ, and a Rattlesnake named Shiner in the Lobby. A jukebox with all the country music you could hope for. And believe you me, I hope for very little country music.
So, that about wraps up the Tourism overview. Rocks. Check. People History. Check. Elevations. Check. Burgers and Rattlesnakes. Check.
We are a go.