Monday, March 24, 2014

Camping in Sedona

After work on Tuesday evening, I drove up to Sedona to go camping with my friend Kelsey, and another new friend, Sarah, who is also a travel nurse. Night one: we froze. We were on the north side of Sedona, in Pine Flat Campground, in Coconino State Park. It dropped to 30 degrees. I had on two pairs of Smart Wool socks & in the morning my feet were still cold. I decided below 40 is a little too cold for tent camping. After making a delicious breakfast of foiled-campfire-cooked bananas with almond butter & a few chocolate chips, we packed up our tent & drove off to find a trail to hike. We randomly chose Wilson Mountain, because it wasn't that far away and we wanted something off the traditional path of Bell Rock, Cathedral Trail, etc. We were not at all disappointed!! On the way up my blood sugar went really low... like 40. For a while I was just hovering around 50, and even though I kept taking stuff it was hard to get it up. That definitely slowed us down in getting to the top. We only saw a couple of other people on the trail. Two of the guys we passed were trying to encourage us not to give up, and telling us it was worth it, if we would just stick it out. We were slightly offended, because we weren't stopping because we thought about turning back. We had to stop because I was low. Why would you assume that we need a pep talk because we are three girls, standing on the trail, eating a snack? Annoying. 

"too cold to test"














Destroyed by a forest fire, two years ago.















Great views of Flagstaff

We made our own trail down the mountain... I don't think my legs will ever be the same! So many thorns!!







Oh, look! Thats where we just climbed!

After our hike, we wanted to find some campgrounds south of Sedona, where it would be a little warmer. We found a place called Lo Lo Mai Springs Campground, in Cornville. They had vacancy, and then we found out they had a hot tub. Luxury camping. We were sold. When we arrived at the campgrounds, we found out it was only a little bit more expensive for a cabin. Best choice ever. We were in love with the little adorable cabin, and it made me want to live in a tiny cabin in a woods for awhile. As soon as we got to our cabin, it was starting to get dark, so we put on our swim suits & ran to the hot tub. It was so clean & the facilities were so nice!! We were joined by a couple of other people in the hot tub... One of the guys was a former pastor, who had spent a lot of time on the indian reservations. He told us a lot about the different cultures, and of course that lead to a conversation about the Perspectives course! He was very interesting to talk to! That night we made delicious tin foil dinners in the campfire, followed with a s'more! mmmmm. In the morning we slept in, and then did a walk around the campsite with our coffee. Both of the girls had to work that night, so we drove back to Phoenix & decided to get pedicures! I am so thankful that I got to spend a couple of days with these two! I loved getting to know both of them during our mini vacation! I can't wait for some more fun times to come with these two!!





So rare to see these types of trees in this part of Arizona!



 Our little cabin, with a stream in the back.

Best nights' sleep ever. All bundled up & cuddly in the loft.






Visit from Jonathan & Natalie

I came back from camping in Roosevelt Lake Thursday evening, just in time to go to Bible study with Ana, and then pick up Jonathan & Natalie from the airport!! It was so fun to be able to hangout with Jonathan & Natalie, while they were on their vacation! I was thinking about how nice it was to not have to take any vacation days, yet I still was able to "vacation" with them! On Friday we went to Phoenix & climbed Camelback, from the Echo Canyon side. There are some places that are pretty steep, so it is fun to be able to do some rock-climbing, and not just trail-walking.

















Friday night we met up with Natalie's aunt & cousin in Phoenix, in the Arcadia neighborhood & had some delicious dinner! The place we went was adorable, and small, and reminded me of Chicago. I worked on Saturday, but Sunday we woke up and drove to Sedona & had a full day of hiking, and then met Natalie's friends who happened to be in sedona on spring break, for dinner! 



Jonathan loved it.






funny :)





Devil's Bridge









I'm obsessed with the plants here.

 Merrell makes great hiking shoes. We have the same shoes and didn't even realize it!
Hedgehog Cactus



creepy?




gotta love a selfie once in awhile




Walked around beautiful Tlaquepaque in Sedona.