Bell Rock

The last day of our trip we visited Bell Rock to see if there was anything to these vortexes.



We tried to follow Andrea's trick elbow and looked to see if there were any telltale signs in the photos we took that revealed the location of the vortex.



















We should have hired Rahelio the spiritual vortex guide.

Chapel Vortex

We went out to see the Chapel on the hill. It overlooks what I was told was Nicolas Cage's house.

If religion and star power can't create a spiritual vortex, I don't know what would.

Bumps in the Road

The Pink Jeep Tour was challenged by a couple of incidents.

One of the Jeeps died and the battery was dead, so it was stuck in the road.

Then it started to rain. Maybe this is why they called it Broken Arrow trail.



This did not stop us from trying to go vertical.

On Tour

Here we are on the Pink Jeep Tour before the storm came in, while we were still in town.

Pink Jeep Tour

After the Wedding Reception, we went with the Bride and Groom on a Pink Jeep Tour through Red Rock Country.

They go out on Broken Arrow trail to the Submarine Rock and Chicken Rock area.

Joel & Molly got the "Just Married" sign & the royal treatment.

Javelina Snack

Besides being the name of the restaurant that Joel & Molly had their rehearsal dinner in, it is also a wild boar that was once a common food in the area.

There is a statue of a Javelina on Highway 89A near the Pink Jeep Tour office. Mike was not afraid of the spiky metal back of the fake Javelina.

Snoopy and Friends

As I mentioned in a previous post, there are many rock formations that people swear look just like something.

In this case, they say it looks like the cartoon character Snoopy, lying on his back on his doghouse. Some even say that it looks like Woodstock, Snoopy's bird companion, is perched on him. I'm with them up to that point.

Then they add Lucy, and I'm not so sure about that.

I do think the cloud over Snoopy looks like a Jayhawk, though.

Pardon the Mess

The whole entrance to the resort that Molly booked her wedding and reception at was under construction during the ceremony. We had to park at a resort down the road and get transported over on carts (seen just behind the truck here).

Not disturbing the wedding, but visible in the distance here are the dark clouds that later dumped a couple of inches of rain on us.

Baptismal

I'm not sure what the point of the river crossing was. It looked like a old time revival with pastor Mike ready to save some souls. It was almost Shane drenching Mike, or maybe Mike turning the tables on Shane and sending him for a swim.

Instead of any tragedies or antics, it was just a good photo op.

Princess Molly

It's tough being beautiful AND popular. Just ask Molly. The photographers wouldn't leave her alone.

Five Down, Two to Go

Of the group of 9, 6 are married and 3 are not. They're falling like flies.

Not including the Bride and myself, here's the remaining married couples.

I wonder if there's any reason the men are drinking (or eating)?

The Next To Fall

While sitting around the table at the reception, we were looking for the next victims in the Wedding Sweepstakes.

Amy's boyfriend did not respond positively to our suggestion that he was next.

Brad and Nikki were more than happy to step up to the plate.

Reception Antics

After the wedding ceremony, the merrymaking!

Mike had to explore the stream behind the altar, jumping out into the middle on a rock and striking a pose. You be the judge.




Kelly shows off the new moves she learned from her summer job as a top fashion model.




Brad figured out that the sand containers were backwards because they actually did mesh together.



And ducks were paddling around in the little irrigation channel right next to the altar.

Molly & Joel's Wedding

This was the reason we came to Sedona and the highlight of the trip.

The altar was a little patio like stage next to a stream nestled below a grove of trees. It was cool and shady, and a huge thunderstorm held off long enough to allow the ceremony to go off without a hitch.

The Reverend was a free spirit with the same name as the groom. They had an Indian Prayer that was very touching and a cool ceremony where they poured sand together into a crystal container - symbolizing joining their lives together.

The gang was all there, the bride was radiantly beautiful, and tears of joy were shed. What more could you ask?

Ursa Relaxia

Even the bears do Tai Chi in Sedona.

By the way, when I posted this, a pop up ad for Qi Gong came up, something that I've never noticed using Blogger before.

I followed the link to Lee Holden's Qi Gong site www.exercisetoheal.com. I found out that Qi Gong is like Tai Chi, only slower. It is possible that the magic of the Googlenet knew that the bear, being frozen, is much slower than Tai Chi and corrected me. So now, I will judge that the bear is in fact doing Qi Gong.

I like to think of two masters, one of Tai Chi and one of Qi Gong, being in a battle. It would take days to complete.

It's not flashy and impressive like that Bunny Kitty that Shane does.

Coffee, Tea, or You & Me on a morning hike

We hiked the Teacup Trail to the top of a small peak. There was a beautiful view of the Coffee Pot Rock.

The people in Sedona see all kinds of shapes in the rocks. There's a Snoopy and Woodstock over on the east side of town, and I could see that, but then they felt like they had to throw in Lucy, which was a real stretch. It makes you wonder when you have people telling you that a rock formation looks like Joe Camel. Maybe they've been smoking something other than what Joe is pushing. Actually, that explains a lot about Sedona. It's the Southwest variant of Rocky Mountain High.

The hike was awesome, featuring a lot of beautiful plants, like pristine and huge fields of prickly pear cactus which were just coming into bloom.



There was also a yucca like plant that was flowering, with big red and yellow tipped tubular petals.



The view from the top was great. Teacup juts out of the ridgeline into the city and affords a great view of downtown Sedona and the housing districts to the north, as well as the airport hill to the south.

Cashing in on ET

Here's a fun little place in downtown Sedona.

We did not get to meet any actual aliens at the shop, but we did get to see some blurry photos and read about how the vortexes were not for spiritual energy, but for attracting UFOs.

The UFO Store was across the street from Tlaquepaque, an upscale market featuring many art stores. The Tlaquepaque district is named after a neighborhood of Guadalajara. It was formerly its own city, but got absorbed into Guadalajara. That's sort of like the way this art market was absorbed by Sedona, only in this case, it's more like eating a tasty cookie than finding a still edible burrito in the trash. Tlaquepaque is a Nahuatl Indian word that means "place above clay land". Sounds like a loft over a Playdoh factory. I think it's supposed to mean "place where little green men land".

The Palace

Most of the crew stayed at a rental house with expensive pictures and sculptures in it. It also had a gravel yard and an awesome patio with a big party table. We immediately set out to clean up the material we got from the Beer Cave.

Thinks got blurry after that.



We also learned from Brad that the little mountain just to the north was exactly 750 feet tall and that stars do twinkle up in the clear mountain air.

In the Cooler

After the Rehearsal Dinner, the gang decided to go back to the palace and tip back a few cold ones.

After a day in the heat, lingering in the Beer Cave to make a beverage choice is not an accident.

Rehearsal Dinner

Before going to Joel & Molly's wedding, we met with the family and friends for a post rehearsal dinner at Javelina's restaurant. Here Molly is pointing out that one of her friends was drinking way too much.

Bell Rock

Sedona is a pricey little artists' colony. It's a beautiful place, but the people are not practical. Besides the people creating various kinds of art, there are two sub-subcultures that are interested in spiritual energy vortexes (not vortices, as you have learned in science class - forget what you learned in science class for this one) and UFOs.

We actually stayed in the Village of Oak Creek, just south of Sedona, where the hotel prices drop considerably. The road between Sedona and Oak Creek has this rock formation, called Bell Rock.

One of the mysterious vortexes is on or around Bell Rock. It's funny how no one could show you exactly where these vortexes were, but for a large fee a spiritual energy guide could take you out to see one.

I just noticed that some sculptures were erected up on Bell Rock. If you blow up the picture and look along the notch on the right side, you'll see a couple of figures. Whether they are supposed to look like traditional indian figures or space aliens, I'm not sure.

Baby Symbol

When we got to the hotel, I did not notice that it was not actually The Rear View Inn. I got to find that out later, after telling all our friends that this is what it was called.

The room we had, 203, had this Indian art symbol like a little dancing man. It looked just the way Zach looks when he sleeps, with his arms over his head.

Red Rock Country

Here's the view driving into Sedona. The area is known as Red Rock Country, which is clear to see when you get there.