Sedona

Pink Jeep tour day! I got up early this morning and went into town to book a jeep tour of the canyon. I got the 11:00 tour so I relaxed, had some breakfast and read for a while before I set off. The Pink Jeep company was the first 4x4 touring company in the canyon and has exclusive access to the Broken Arrow trail, granted by the US Forestry Service. In return, they maintain the road and educate tourists about the ecology of the area.

I was joined on the jeep by my driver (whose name I forgot as soon as he told me, I'm really bad with those things), a couple from Utah and a family of 4 from Ohio. We climbed into the back of the modified Barbie-pink jeep and headed off. The tour included some scenic stops and photo opportunities, friendly banter, information on the history, geology and ecology of the canyon, and some crazy off-road driving. We were driving up and down over huge steep boulders and ridges. Very cool!

This place is very interesting. There is a lot of spirituality here, much of it commercialized, but I think a lot is very genuine. Whether you're spiritual or not, you can't help but sense some sort of energy here. Some people in the area recognize certain spots in the canyon as Vortexes, which I'm not sure I totally understand. I personally think there is just so much natural beauty in the area that you can't help but slow down and take it in. It seems to have a way of causing people to think about things a little differently.

It very much seems be having an effect on me. For one, I felt like I had to come here, even though it was out of my way and all I had heard was that it was nice. Secondly, I immediately felt like this would be the spot that I may stay for a few days, slow down for a little bit. Also, this morning I decided that I should have a "psychic reading," something I have never felt compelled to do before. I have always been very skeptical of these things but this seemed to be the right time and place. Finally, out of nowhere, I started crying as I was driving down the road this morning. I'm not really sure why or what it was about, but it seems that I am not quite as happy as I thought I was. There is still something missing.

I scheduled a reading for 4:45 and then had some time to kill. I went to the local bike shop to ask about some rides in the area. The guy working there turned out to be Canadian and we talked for quite a while. He even made a few calls to try to find me some girls to ride with. In the end I just got him to show me on my map where some good rides would be, and he gave my bike a little tune up. I'm going to go for a ride in the morning on the trail he recommended.

Then it was time for my reading. I had no idea what to expect. She didn't really do the whole "this will be your future" thing, we just talked a bit about what's going on in my life. She gave me some insight on what some of my spiritual priorities should be and some possibilities for my path to feeling better. It was actually pretty emotional and I'm really struggling with what to do with what I learned. She told me about this place called the Sedona Healing Center that I'm going to go check out. I made a reservation to stay there tomorrow night, and I'll see from there. I still have a couple of weeks left on my trip, and I think this might be a good place to slow things down a bit and figure out where things are going. My room will have a private balcony overlooking the canyon and I'll have access to a sauna and hot tub, and lots of other people who are also slowing down a bit. Don't worry, I'm not going flaky or crazy, just mellowing out.

My breakfast and venue, very nice

Javelinas on parade. Javelinas are wild boar-like animals that hang out here.

Going up a very steep hill

My steed

Me at Chicken Point