Sedona was our first extended stay since returning from six months in Europe.  Driving across the country from the ship’s port in Fort Lauderdale to Northern California can wear a person down.  Clearly it is better than sitting in a cubical struggling with a company budget on a cold, windy Chicago day, but the travel can get a bit old.  We do our best to find fun places to visit along the way such as Graceland, but three weeks in Sedona, not having to move suitcases or learn new appliances and shower workings, was a welcome relief.

USA Today described Sedona as America’s most beautiful town.  Not only is Sedona visited for the natural beauty of the many sandstone buttes, but the area is also thought by many to have unique ‘vortex’ sites which apparently cluster around the beautiful red rock formations.  One can have their ‘aura colors’ read for only $50, buy healing stones, soothing rock crystals and jeep tours to the ‘vortex’ sites. The existence of a ‘vortex’ is not something that can be scientifically measured or photographed, but of course the believers and those I saw talking to the trees and streams, firmly believe these exist. There are extensive trails around Sedona, many of which will lead to the places where the ‘vortex’ is perceived to be strongest.

The Crescent Moon Trail is easily accessible and very popular in Sedona.

I generally try to simplify my photos by zooming in and getting closer to the subject. Here is a reflection closer up from the above photo.

or those with a jeep or other high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle, check out Schnebly Hill. This was one of the very roughest roads I have ever been on.  Not so much for the steepness, but for the jagged rocks that can wreak havoc on tires.  I found the views here so enticing I visited twice.

Another view walking around the area off of Schnebly Hill.

You can see raindrops in this pool along Schnebly Hill road.

A disadvantage to trying to capture a pretty sunrise is you have no control over how pretty it may or may not be. A cloudless sky is the worst, but here it is. I was waiting for a pretty sunrise but it never happened.

I was laying on the ground trying to get the distant mountain centered in the reflection. Totally oblivious to me, the lady steps in and sets her tripod up directly in front of me. Yet another problem with landscape photography. So instead of a sunrise, I got a moon over Sedona.

I was fortunate to be in this Southwest desert town when it received a couple of inches of rain, providing my photographs with interesting reflection pools.  I would highly recommend to visitors and photographers the small mesa above the well-known Crescent Moon picnic area at sunrise and sunset.  It can be accessed from both the parking lot of the picnic area and the road behind the mesa. This area offers a different vantage point to the buttes at Red Rock Crossing.