Monday July 15

Helplessly Hoping

Although we awoke early today, we did not really get much accomplished; at least not from a tourist's point of view. The first thing I had to do was make calls to find a rental car. Of course, since I'd already planned on 2 nights in Flagstaff and our motel was quite centrally located, we might have managed without one. But, not wanting to be stranded in a motel room on a chilly rainy day with a teenager, I decided a rental car was just the ticket. Afterall, we finally had a motel with a pool, and it was too miserable for Corey to spend the day swimming and sunning.

By 7:30 AM, I had arranged for a car rental with Enterprise; they would meet me at U-Haul to deliver the car. This really saved me a lot of aggravation, since one of my concerns the night before had been how to coordinate the return of the truck with the rental of the car, all within "walking" distance of the motel. At U-Haul, I met a woman standing outside hoping to bum a ride with someone. She had spent the previous day moving (by herself) and just couldn't face the walk back to her house. When she approached me for a ride, I told her I'd have to see if Enterprise would allow it. While we waited for the rental car, she and I got to know each other. Her name is Tobie and she's a former Philadelphian! Her family's bakery made the cake for my wedding. We talked, comparing our childhood memories until Kelly from Enterprise showed up. We got all the paperwork in order and Tobie was allowed to get a ride home.

After dropping off Tobie and then Kelly to the Enterprise office, I called the Subaru delearship to figure out how to pay the towtruck driver. Planet Subaru is right on Historic Route 66 in Flagstaff and they were very willing to help me out. They offered to do a "purchase order" for the driver, whereby he would get paid by Planet after I pay them for the combination of towing and repair. But I still could not leave the area until the driver arrived at Planet and approved the plan. He was supposed to be there around 11 AM.

Finally back at the motel (Corey thought I "got lost" somewhere in Flagstaff), I realized that it was after 11 and no word from Planet yet. We sat around, played on AOL, called Staples to see if they had what I needed for the laptop/camera problem, drove to Staples, came back to the motel; still no word. Figuring I may as well dig-in for the day, I installed the hardware onto the laptop and was ready to spend the afternoon finally working on the last 5-days-worth of pictures. But the SmartMedia card wouldn't go into the reader, so it was back to Staples we went!

Rick and Jason at Staples were so wonderful in helping us. Rick browsed the memory card and then burned a backup CD for me. He unjammed the reader and, just as we were getting ready to leave, my cellphone rang. It was Planet, telling me that the driver approved the PO but needed to speak with me; the bill was a lot higher than expected. Now my towing bill went from an estimated $300-400, it was $485. And, now Planet tells me, they tack on a 10% surcharge for doing their customers these favors! I was just a bit miffed that no one had bothered to tell me this earlier, as Western Union would have charged less. I could have called my own bank and had them wire the money to a local Flagstaff bank.

Once my shock wore off, Corey and I drove down to Planet, having already had the camera problem solved. Corey was more anxious to see our little burgundy Subaru wagon than I was (if you can believe that!); all day she'd been looking for her cellphone and thought she might have left it at the Holiday Inn back at Canyon de Chelly. Housekeeping up there hadn't found it, and she was very upset. Now she pinned her hopes that she may have left it in the wagon when it broke down. The little Dodge Neon rental had barely come to a stop in the dealership's service bay before Corey was opening the wagon's passenger door, searching for her phone. There it was! What a relief. A short time later, while transferring everything I could from the wagon into the Neon, I saw a piece of scrap paper. Opening it, I saw her name typed near the top. She ran over and grabbed it excitedly from my hand. It was her 2nd copy of her Learner's Permit. No one could ever accuse my daughter of being organized. I didn't even know it was missing. Corey was one very happy teenager (is that a contradiction?) that afternoon.

Finally leaving Planet after Bob-the-mechanic gave us a major history lesson on the geology of Flagstaff (which was thoroughly enjoyable), we were on our way to Sedona. Bob told me to take Route 89-A if it was open. Once we got to that exit, tho, a sign proclaimed that the road was still closed due to the danger of fire. So, we stayed on Interstate 17 and followed it down as it bypassed Sedona. This meant that we had to go north on Route 179, which turned out to be a blessing, because all of the pictures below were taken from that road. It's absolutely gorgeous.

We got out of the car in Sedona past 7 PM and most of the shops (including Robert Shields'of Shields & Yarnell) were already closed. But we were not really there for shopping (ok, sure we were, but only for our standard magnets, postcards and T-shirts). We were there because EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE who knew about this trip said, "You HAVE TO go to Sedona!" So, here we were, having seen the most incredible scenery so far this trip, wondering if we could stand the excitement. I know I had a difficult time containing myself, not to mention my wallet. I wanted to buy everything, including some real estate. Corey held me in check, allowing just 1 T-shirt for each of us. She actually bought something!

On the way in to Sedona, we'd seen a sign for the Teal Arches of McDonalds. Having been given the directions, we tried to find the arches, but ended up on the wrong road. I think there's a 5-points in Sedona, or something similar, because coming in one way did not look the same on the way out. By the time we found the McDonalds, it was already dark and the arches were lit, which meant we couldn't see the color. So, instead, we searched for Tlaquapaque, a neat shopping courtyard I'd seen years ago showcased on the Lynnette Jennings show on Discovery. We finally found it, in the dark. Driving through in the dark was pretty cool because everything back there is lit up. Really gorgeous! Exiting the area, I trained my headlights on the Tlaquapaque sign and stood next to it while Corey took a picture from inside the car. It didn't turn out well at all, but it at least proves I did finally get there.



Leaving Sedona in the dark was another one of those unplanned adventures I seem so adept at having. Instead of going back the way we came, I thought it might be nice to take Route 89-A since I saw a sign that it was open. Had I known what I was in for before taking it, I would have gone back by the Interstate. Route 89-A is (at least it must be in daylight) a fabulous road for scenery and climbing and switchbacks. I've never climbed so many switchbacks, even counting Mount Penn in Reading, PA to the Pagoda. There were times on 89-A that I wanted to pull over and catch my breath, but with the high cliffs and tight turns, there was nowhere for me to stop. It really must be breathtakingly beautiful during daylight, it sure too my breath away that night.

Back in the now-familiar city of Flagstaff, I breathed a sigh of relief as we neared our motel room. I still had a lot of image-editing to do and was very hungry all of a sudden. When we'd first arrived in Flagstaff the night before, we had driven east on Route 66 to find any restaurant that would still be open. We found Village Inn on the eastern edge of town. Tonight, having already eaten there, we decided that it would be a great place to eat again. Terry, our waiter, had filled us in on the area's history (he should team up with Bob) and had gotten me excited about seeing the Grand Canyon. While eating last night, Corey wanted desert and saw pumpkin pie (in season) on the menu. She asked Terry if it was in season and, of course, he said no. We all laughed, because Corey was just playing anyway. Now, although we'd decided on take-out tonight so I could get back to work on my images, we asked Terry if it was in season yet. I guess you just had to be there, it was really funny. At least to the 3 of us, cos we all knew what a LONG day it had been.

Corey, at the car, finds her belongings	Route 179 North to Sedona	Route 179 North to Sedona
Route 179 North to Sedona	Route 179 North to Sedona	Corey at Bell Rock, Sedona
More scenery	Snoopy Rock	Sedona and Me

~*~ Recommended Reading ~*~

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Volcanoes of Northern Arizona: Sleeping Giants

Sedona Calling: Guide to RedRock Country

Sedona Hikes 135 Day Hikes/5 Vortex Sites

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