Jerome and Sedona

Last Thursday, April 27th, I took Cathy and Mike on an out of town excursion to Jerome and Sedona.  They are both about 2.5 hours north of the Phoenix area. 

I took this picturesque picture from the rest area where we stopped to use the bathroom.  Ha!  

Jerome is an old mining town build into the mountains.  It is the most vertical "city" in the United States.  I found that out when I used Google images to find some pictures of the city.  These are obviously from winter time. 

Jerome is very hilly and difficult to walk around. 

We parked, got out and literally fell into a Christmas shop. Cathy and I always have to visit a Christmas shop together.  It was just funny that it happened in the first 30 seconds.  I asked a guy in the store to take our picture (Mike did not shop with us) and he took a blurry one.  Dang you random guy. 

After some browsing and shopping we headed up the hill to a restaurant called The Asylum.  It's in the old hospital that is now a hotel. 

The view was lovely.

Our view from inside the restaurant. 

After we left lunch. 

After a lovely morning and lunch in Jerome we headed to Sedona.  Stop number one was the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a Catholic church built into the red rocks of Sedona. 

I did not take this one.  Or the one above.  Google!

Inside the church. 

Cathy and Mike Christmas picture #2.

Madonna used to own a home in Sedona.  Maybe she still does.  Maybe this is her house. Or maybe it belongs to Johnny Depp or Nicholas Cage who have been rumored to own homes there too. 

After we took 7.1 million pictures of the red rock mountains we headed into town for browsing, shopping and a snack.  I had an iced coffee and Cathy had a $9 red velvet cupcake.  She got a picture of it.  I did not. 

Christmas picture #3

I actually found something that said "Spencer" in one of the gift shops.  I almost bought it, but it was a pretty cheap and poorly made pocket knife.  No "Elliott" was found anywhere. 

Once we had our fill of Sedona we headed up to Oak Creek Canyon to check out slide rock.  I haven't been here in years.  Slide Rock State Park is a state park taking its name from a natural water slide formed by the slippery bed of Oak Creek. The park is located in Oak Creek Canyon 7 miles north of Sedona.  Thanks once again, Google.  For the description.  The picture is mine. 

Christmas picture #4

Mike collecting red rocks.  Hopefully not illegal. 

When the water gets high enough you can ride the rocks like a water slide.  Hence the name, Slide Rock. 

The walk back out was lovely as well. 

Finally, after a very busy and full day we drove back to Phoenix, ate dinner at a random sports bar in Anthem and then collapsed in bed.