Today was a moving day. We disconnected our umbilical cords from Meteor Crater RV’s utilities and headed west on I-40 toward Flagstaff, AZ. It is about 35 miles over and 2,000 feet up to the I-17 junction in Flagstaff where we turned south towards Sedona and Cottonwood, AZ. The section of I-17 just south of I-40 passes through some vibrant conifer forests before dropping about 3,700 feet in about 18 miles of highway. Numerous signs adjacent to the road warn motorists to save their brakes on the way down because if you don’t, you plunge over the side to certain death. We chose the chicken option and kept Charlotte’s and the attached Barbarian Invader’s speed down so we didn’t come out at the bottom going 200 miles per hour.
Once we got to the bottom of the hill, we turned west on CO-280 toward Cottonwood. After a few miles we pulled into Verde Valley RV Resort, a TT campground. They call all TT parks “resorts” although they really aren’t. This park has three or four main RV areas but the really nice spots are pre-filled by folks who either own seasonally or permanently here. The main areas have irrigated grass, power, water and sewer hookups, tables for each spot, a hot tub for the thermally defective, a pool and terrible wi-fi. Our dreadful phone has very sketchy service on phone calls and the data transmission rates are negligible. The good part is that we are TT members and all this is free. We were not blessed with getting a terrific spot near the river gully but we did get one that is private and all the utilities work. We have good shrub cover on 3 sides and Charlotte blocks the road so we have a nice, quiet outside porch although it is hotter than hell. There is no 50 amp electrical service for some reason but we are okay with 30 amps.
We set up and since today’s drive from Meteor Crater was short, we had plenty of time left in the day for some exploration. As soon as we looked north, we could see the absolutely stunning red, orange, yellow, white and gray cliffs in Sedona, about 20 miles distant. We chose to do some snooping around that way and soon were driving among the same gorgeous cliffs. They are truly awe-inspiring but some types have elected to give mystical powers to the surroundings with claims about spiritual vortex thingies, wellness nodes, self improvement imaginary mechanisms and unfettered capitalism.
Driving in Sedona is a nightmare for two reasons. The first is that spiritual gurus and proponents of mystical health strategies seem to be very poor drivers. The second reason is that the terrain on both sides of the main street is magnificent and only the most jaded can resist slowing to just look around. To give the motorized traveler more difficulties, the main drag has numerous businesses with funny names touting all sorts of mystical shit to make you more whole, healthy, honest, dishonest, sensitive, in touch with something, human or allegedly better. We saw possibilities for pink Jeep rides, personal enrichment, gluten-free Mexican food, the purchase of chia seeds and goji berries (whatever they are), spiritual healing (in case your spirit consumed too much peyote or broke it’s leg), workshops for those bozos convinced that chatting about something will change it, guides for those seeking wisdom and the annual Sedona Yoga festival. According to those selling these services in Sedona, this is the spot for holistic healing, psychic readings, dream analysis, past life regression and massage, vortex hikes, yoga at alleged vortex sites and general personal bad juju reduction.
Those touting Sedona allege that Sedona itself is something they refer to as a vortex, a perceived point at which earth is believed to emit swirling waves of energy. They have no proof. The types of energy allegedly emitted is of an unspecified, unmeasurable nature that can only be properly identified by those with vortex identifying superpowers. There seems to be no local acknowledgement that tornadoes, dust devils, whirlpools and the stuff spinning down the john are vortexes and have scant use in personal enrichment but may contribute to personal impoverishment, property destruction and environmental messiness.
Regardless of the hooey abundantly offered by charlatans, con men and quacks, the scenery in and around Sedona is spectacularly beautiful. Leading from downtown is the Red Rock Scenic Highway which takes you back to reality and I-17. This road passes through some terrific scenery before joining the freeway that took us back to Cottonwood. There are a few pull-outs along the road but anyplace you want to park costs $5 and each place levies the fee so it would be easy to spend $25 just stopping to take a few pictures and read some interpretive signs. We will return here before leaving the area but only after we research the route to see what we want and not a business route through strange businesses staffed entirely be wierd0s and crystal salespeople.