Beauty Beyond Compare....

I've been pleased with the photographic capacities of my cell phone up until now... The pictures here are of Sedona and if the camera had been able to capture the true color of these mountains, I would have had little to say. The pictures would have done all the talking. These mountains are brick red. Deep, bright, brick red. Not the faded browish red you see above. I've let you down... Guess I'll just have to go back... Maybe stay a few days and get the next pix developed there to make sure the color's right? Yes? You betcha! I spent time walking around and talking to the residents. Everything has a view you won't forget whether it's one of the many bed and breakfast's, gift shops or gas stations. Much has been said about the spiritual side of Sedona. I myself was curious about that side of it as well. Truthfully, the southwest from Western Texas through New Mexico and Arizona is a spiritual journey like none other... all of it...it silences you...you feel it, physically, psychologically, emotionally...it's even a bit overwhelming, but in the course of absorbing the jolting of your senses, you begin to feel at peace with this life and attached to all who saw this before you and all who will see it after you. I didn't feel any more spiritual in Sedona than I did in the middle of the desert. That's not intended to dismiss Sedona's impact.. just to say it isn't confined to Sedona. The colors of Red Rock Country leave you breathless. That said, I apologize again for the lack of same in my photos and I wanted to add an internet shot that more clearly reflects the impact. I went to the Sedona Chamber of Commerce site. I'm pretty sure the Chamber used a better camera than I'm using and guess what? Same red brown, not-the-same-as-what-you-see photographs!! You need to understand one thing... no camera, no video, no painting will ever capture the reality. Get your passport out... make of note of when you need to renew it and then put it away. The Southwest needs to be on your bucket list. (How do you take two superior actors and a universally acknowledged concept and make a movie that bombs at the box office? Oh, and full disclosure, the above cactuses were photographed on San Xavier Reservation, not here in the high country) . Rather than endure going through or around Phoenix again, I turned north to Flagstaff, never considering that it is winter and Flagstaff has a 7,000 foot elevation. Flagstaff is a short drive from Sedona. Nice looking town... snow piled about 7 inches around town... clear roads...sunny day. I decided to stay the night and drive to the Pacific coast Sunday. Trying to think ahead, I wanted to get around Los Angeles when I'd have the least traffic to cope with.