Day 32 -- May 2, 2003 -- Friday

We were out the door bright and early today -- 7:29 am to be precise. We were anxious to get to beautiful Sedona. We met the Ingrams from Canton, Georgia as we checked out; they were vacationing with a big group of Georgia folks.

I passed someone. That was pass #10. Route 66 out of Williams isn't a very good road.

We tred to pass through as many Route 66 towns as possible -- even if the Route was the Interstate at the time; we just exited and drove through the towns. Parks, Arizona was our first such pass through for the day. We saw only one business -- Maurice's.

Bellemont provided a peek at the Camp Navajo Army Depot and a nice view of the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks. We were in the Coconino National Forest during this part of the drive.

We reached Flagstaff at 8:17 am. 6,906 foot elevation. As I have noted, I never realized this part of the country was at such a high altitude. It makes for much cooler temperatures. The top hadn't been down on the car lately, and our tans were fading. Flagstaff probably has some good sights to see, but we didn't see much -- just a few nice old buildings. The folks in the Visitor's Center were not very helpful -- just didn't seem interested in us at all. The people working in Visitor's Centers have usually been very helpful and informative.

Highway 89 is a two-lane road from Flagstaff to Sedona. It is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable drives we have EVER taken. It is FAR superior to go to Sedona from Flagstaff than up from Phoenix -- much prettier and much better and varied scenery.

We stopped at an Oak Creek Canyon roadside park for a few photos. It was very green there -- much different from the terrain we had seen since the LA area. Highway 89 is a very windy road, but there were guardrails. Harry Turner told us where to turn off to get a good view of Oak Creek as it flowed along near the highway. As we got closer to Sedona, we began to see big red buttes; Sedona is known for its red rocks. The views at Slide Rock State Park and Midgeley Bridge were great.

The Sedona city limits sign appeared at 10:15. Sedona is exceptionally beautiful as everyone knows who has ever been there. Boz had visited previously on a trip with Miss Brittany, but this was my first visit, and it was a treat. The setting is amazing with red rock buttes all around, and it is a clean, modern town.

Because of the signs on the car, a lot of folks come up to us at gas stations, and we met Kevin and Walt in Sedona. We gassed up and headed south to Jerome since Jenny at the Route 66 gift shop in Williams recommended that we go there. We wanted top get a look at Jerome, grab some lunch, and then return to Sedona for sightseeing and a Jeep tour.

We drove through Harry's hometown, Cottonwood, and then Clarkdale before we saw Jerome perched on the side of a big mountain. Jerome is an old copper mining town. The old buildings have been maintained, and it has become an artist's community. We really enjoy seeing towns like Jerome as they are not overly commercialized as so many old places are.

After a very good lunch at the Jerome Grill (Micala was our server), we walked around town and enjoyed the old buildings. We met Leszek Szewjkowski on the street with his camera. Leszek is from Poland. It was interesting to talk with him. Poland had only been free for 14 years. He said the Polish people are really hard workers, and he believed Poland will continue to improve and develop as a stronger and stronger country. Leszek says Poland supports the USA, and he noted that Poland has had bad neighbors over the years -- France and Germany. Leszek was headed back to Poland the next day with an engagement ring that he bought in the US. The young lady did not know it was coming, but Leszek's confidence was high that it would be well received.

When we spotted some beautiful Sedona area photographs, we stopped in the American Landscape Gallery and met the photographer, Tom Norvid. We were really taken with his work -- amazing colors. Tom says he never uses filters and never adjusts the color on any of his work; he just takes advantage of days with great natural light. Tom's story is an inspiring one. He was a pharmaceutical executive in Massachusetts for many years. His was a very stressful job, and he gave it all up to move to the Jerome, Arizona area to pursue his love of photography. Quite a leap of faith, but he is happy and very successful as a landscape photographer. He left the stress back in Boston.

The sky was a bright blue when we entered Sedona at 10, but it was overcast as we drove back into town at 1:45. No rain, but the overcast sky really detracted from such a beautiful place.

We knocked the dirt off the car at the Arizona Car Wash where we met Sharon as we waited for our cars. We drove straight to the touristy area of Sedona, and we met Melissa at the office of the Pink Jeep Tours. She recommended that we take the "Broken Arrow" tour. We scheduled it at 5 pm, as Melissa advised us that the tours are better early in the morning or late in the afternoon due to the impact of the light on the terrain.

Scott, Amy, Beverly, and Clarence told us to be sure to drive up the Airport Road in Sedona, so we took their advice. There was an overlook area there with a great view. We took a few photos, and a group from Columbus, Ohio asked Barbara to take a photo of their group with their cameras. There were nine of them, so it took a little while. I came over and took a shot with my camera and told them we would put it on our web site. That led to an explanation of what we were doing on our trip, and they asked a lot of questions. They then asked to take OUR picture, and they did. I was able to get a shot of them photographing us.

Back to the touristy area we went. We did a little shopping and grabbed what turned out to be dinner (ice cream) at the Black Cow Cafe -- known for its homemade ice cream. We bought an Arizona Christmas ornament, as our goal is to pick up an ornament in each of the 50 states. We limited ourselves to this one souvenir purchase in each state; our photographs will be our souvenirs.

We arrived at the Pink Jeep Tours office early, and we had a very enjoyable conversation with Leetha. We also met Denise and one of the guides, Mike. Leetha informed us that we would have their absolute best guide, Mike Peach. She described him as a "cowboy poet." Leetha also told us the story of how the Pink Jeep Tours were started. In 1958, Don Pratt was selling real estate in the area, and he took prospective clients out to see property in a Jeep. One day he realized he was doing more and more touring and less and less selling, so he decided to start Pink Jeep Tours to make money from the demand for tours of the areas where cars could not go. The rest is history. Several people across multiple states recommended The Pink Jeep Tour when they learned we were going to Sedona. (More information is available at www.pinkjeep.com.)

Mike Peach called our names at 5, and we buckled ourselves into our Jeep. There were five of us -- Deborah, Marion, Don, Boz, and me -- and Mike Peach, driver, guide, humorist, and more. It was an extremely informative two-hour tour, and Mike was very entertaining. The scenery was great, though it would have been much, much better in bright sunlight. The real highlight, however, was the four-wheeling. Mike drove us up and down cliffs that I didn't realize a Jeep could climb. I still don't believe we made it down one without tipping over. Bozzie Jane and I had never done anything like this, so it was a special treat for me. Barbara told me later that she was really scared, and it wasn't something that she would want to do again.

Earlier in the tour, I had asked Mike if he had one story about something special or unique that had happened during his 18 years as a Pink Jeep Tour guide, but he didn't answer the question until the tour ended. He then delivered one of the great poems that he has written, and he told us two wonderful stories of special experiences. It turns out Mike moonlights as an entertainer for various groups. The day before, a group had the Governor speak to them in the morning, and Mike was the evening entertainment with his "Cowboy Poetry."

Everyone with whom we came in contact at Pink Jeep Tours was as nice and helpful as could be. When you go to Sedona, we encourage you to take a Pink Jeep Tour. Drop in and see Melissa and Leetha, and be sure and ask for Mike Peach as your guide. And, take the drive on 89 between Flagstaff and Sedona!

There are a lot of really nice, expensive resorts in Sedona. We didn't stay at one of them. We stayed at the Sedona Real Inn -- very nice, but not a big fancy resort.

We don't all see things the same way. Many of the rock formations in the Sedona area have names; quite a few have more than one name, because one person sees one thing while another sees something different. It really is amazing how different we all are. What one person sees as beautiful, someone else sees as ugly. What one person sees as serious, another sees as funny. We've observed the differences in the way different people see things throughout the trip in a variety of ways. Perhaps it's because we have more time to focus on such things, but we've been more aware of different viewpoints on this trip. It would be mighty dull if we all saw everything the same way.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we've been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we've seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of "vital statistics" on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you'd like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.