Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...

Can you believe this blog will mark it's first anniversary in just over a week?! Wow! So much has happened in the past twelve months. It's been fun, for sure, and I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as we've enjoyed writing it.

This weekend is Christmas and we're expecting snow here in Sedona. My Mother-In-Law has joined us and we've been spending time with her (currently) Southwestern cousins. It's been such a treat to hear stories about past generations that we've never heard. Long forgotten memories sometimes bubble to the surface, resulting in peels of laughter. Just sitting and observing their connections and interactions is pure joy. It's a privilege to be able to share this adventure with family we rarely have the opportunity to see.

As for our explorations, last weekend our family drove to Page, AZ to visit Antelope Canyon. This is one of those destinations my daughter and I found on Pinterest that we HAD to visit. The pictures just looked too beautiful and other-worldly to be real! So on Sunday we all hopped in the car and drove to the spot where the Navajo tour guides were to meet us. You can hike there, but we decided this trip would be more enjoyable for everyone if we were able to get there in a reasonable amount of time and have someone who was familiar with the place tell us about it.

It was pretty cold, so the mittens I bought in Alaska were put to good use. Did you know the Navajo and Apache people here in the Southwest are related to the Athabascan people in Alaska? Yep! You can even find similarities in their languages!  

There are also similarities in their beautiful beadwork. This is a hair clip I purchased in Page. So many hours of work! I love the colors and design.

Leo, our guide, met us by the Jeeps and drove us out to the upper canyon. It was more of a very tall, narrow hallway through the sandstone mountain, which is technically a canyon, but it was different from what I had imagined from the pictures I'd seen. Sunlight pours in through the top and spotlights all the colorful layers in the walls. Photographers who know all about light and camera settings are able to capture magnificent pictures of this place. If you happen to be a photographer like me (not a professional), these are closer to the pictures you may find on your camera.

Leo, our guide.

See the fist punching through the wall?

How about the heart?

It's one of those places where you don't want to talk. You just want to take in everything around you. I highly recommend going! There's an upper canyon and a lower canyon and you can visit both. A word to the wise though, do your homework and don't try to go during monsoon season. Everything you see above is filled with strong flood currents during that time. No one is allowed near it.

National Geographic tried drilling holes into the sides of the canyon to set up very expensive camera equipment. They were supposed to capture what happens when the flash floods pour in... Let's just say all that's left of that project are the holes in the wall...Oops. So much for "leave no trace"!

Here are some shots from outside the canyon.

 The landscapes here in Arizona vary quite a bit. These are some shots we took from the car between Page and Flagstaff. Just thought you might like to see some of the variety. In Sedona, we mostly see the red rocks. I'll post about those next week after we take the Pink Jeep Tour.

No matter where you happen to be this weekend, and who you may be spending your time with, the Schmidt family wishes each of you a very merry Christmas!

- Jen

Close Encounters

When I was a child, my family drove through Flagstaff one summer on our way to see family in Kansas. I have vague memories of traveling through the blazing desert sun in our old brown Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon (complete with rear-facing back seat and paneling on the sides) listening to the songs of the 80's. I'm sure I complained then, as most kids do, but I look back on that road trip fondly now. I have vague memories of roadside shops selling turquoise, silver, and giant belt buckles.  I remember seeing cigarette machines in front lobbies of local diners and motels. The exact details are lost to time, but the impressions remain, and they make me smile.

Being back in this part of Arizona as an adult has been a different experience. I find myself excitedly looking out the window to see what we'll discover and what I might remember. We try to spot things we wouldn't ordinarily see at home in the Pacific Northwest. I love talking to people who live here to get some sort of insight on what their daily normal is that's different from mine. Then I try to point them out for my kids, so they'll notice too.

Being here has been a lesson in changing preconceptions. We came to the Southwest thinking we might have to tread lightly to avoid scorpions. We thought we'd have to be careful of marauding javelinas or striking rattlesnakes. We envisioned dry, toasty days, and wide-brimmed hats. Needless to say, those fears were greatly exaggerated and inaccurate. Instead, we learned that scorpions tend to like the lower part of the state where it's warmer. Sedona has a cooler climate and we've been living in sweatshirts and coats. There is nary a rattlesnake to be seen at this time of year, in this locale, and javelina's do live in our neighborhood but we haven't seen one yet! Maybe it's because of our dogs?

Instead of finding what we anticipated, we've been discovering things we didn't. Things like how startlingly beautiful the scenery is here in Sedona every time you drive down the road. It's like a painting! Like how cacti naturally grow so that they almost resemble a forest. Like how amazingly huge the saguaro cactus is and how astonishingly long its growth cycle and lifespan are! Like how much we've missed having access to "real" Mexican food. We're enjoying ourselves, to be sure, and we've found a new appreciation for this part of the country.

Last weekend we started to explore beyond our own backyard and visited one of the tourist hot-spots, Meteor Crater. It's located just outside Flagstaff, so it isn't far from us. We were surprised to see cattle roaming on the roadside around the site. No fences or anything! It turns out the land surrounding the crater and the crater, itself, is all privately owned! The same family who owned the land when it was "discovered" owns it now and they run a cattle ranch around it.

We visited on a sunny, but windy day, and braved the elements to take the tour around the crater. It's a massive sight to behold and we learned that the terrain is so much like the moon that astronauts trained there for several missions. Outside the visitor building you can see a wall dedicated to them and a boiler plate from an Apollo test capsule.

Inside the building is an impressive museum explaining the history of the crater. How it was formed, how it became a tourist attraction, and things that have taken place around the site. It's all very interactive. You can view the site from the comfort of the building, or you can go outside on one of the viewing decks or take the free tour.

I would recommend the tour because the guide will show you and tell you about things you wouldn't ordinarily get to see and hear. Things like the ruins of a building on the edge of the crater where someone brought tourists at one time. Things like the shiny wing of a plane that crashed into the crater. Things like the cave that was built for people to take refuge from lightening storms. You just have to experience it for yourself to get the full effect!

Another thing I've mentioned before is that Arizona is famous for their energy vortexes and alien encounters. You'll find all kinds of shops that sell things like crystals and aura photos. With all this, you'll also find UFO themed restaurants and souvenir shops. My youngest son and I visited one of these places this week. He loved checking out all the alien decorations at the Red Planet Diner (also known as the E.T. Encounter Diner). We enjoyed milkshakes and the vintage sci-fi atmosphere.

I'll let you know if we see anything out of the ordinary while we're here. Who knows? That could be a whole other adventure! ;-)

- Jen