Day 4: Sedona
Image by Timmy2wheels
We awoke early to the sound of the ancient air-con unit wheezing a chilly gust into our room. Drawing the curtains revealed the gorgeous view from our balcony, and also the full extent of the chintz of our room at the Cedar Resort. The rock formation directly in front of our room, the night porter had told us, is called Snoopy, resembling the cartoon character of the same name asleep atop his kennel. We got ourselves together and, tummies rumbling, went in search of sustenance.
Uptown Sedona is a new town, even by American standards. Once the homeland of Yavapai and Apache tribes, the town is loaded with faux-spiritualism, many believing there are "spiritual vortices" (local vernacular is "vortexes") concentrated in the Sedona area at Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, and Boynton Canyon. With the sun pushing the thermometer past 90º at barely 9:30am, we bought some Sedona-branded tourist caps to prevent Lou's parting getting any more burnt.
A friendly janitor suggested we should hit 101 Omelettes for breakfast, so that's where we headed. We were escorted to a table and poured our first cup of never-ending weak coffee from the stainless cylinder which adorned every table. We unfolded the menu, then unfolded it again, and again. Yes, there were 101 omelettes, but seemingly also 101 pancakes, and 101 other breakfast options on this vast, broadsheet-sized paper menu. As we agonised over what to have, something caught our eye: biscuits and gravy. Biscuits and gravy! And grits! I had to know what these were, and whether I should order them. I walked over to the closest table where a kindly-looking couple were also struggling to choose. Grits, I discovered, are a food of Native American origin common in the Southern United States and mainly eaten at breakfast. They consist of coarsely ground corn, or sometimes hominy, in which case they are referred to as hominy grits. They are also sometimes called sofkee or sofkey from the Muskogee (Creek) language word. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta, or the thinner farina. Biscuits and gravy consists of soft dough biscuits covered in thick "country" or "white" gravy, made from the drippings of cooked pork sausage, white flour, milk, and often (but not always) bits of sausage, bacon, ground beef, or other meat. The gravy is often flavored with black pepper. We settled on a massive omelette and a massive breakfast burrito to share, with hash browns and a side of biscuits and gravy, setting the tone for the rest of the trip: massive, massive meals.
Tired and bloated, we flopped into the car, put the roof down, and headed south towards Oak Creek to get a better view of the valley. We ascended via yet more narrow roads and sharp switchbacks until we popped out onto a pine-forested plateau. We paid our National Parks fee and wandered about, drawing deep the pine-fresh air and surveying the endless sea of green and red. We spoke to a ranger who helped us pick a trail, and set off to find the trail head. We parked up at Banjo Bills and set about looking for the start of Purdyman's Trail (chosen by Lou based solely on the name, completely ignoring the designation of 'strenuous' on the map key). It turned out that Purdyman's, though a public trail, was accessed through private property which we had to seek permission to enter. Having struggled to find the entrance or anyone to ask permission, we were approached by a man on a golf buggy who led us to the start. It was a steep climb, and the barely-visible trail was slippery with pine needles and leaves; Lou was starting to think her white, flat-soled fashion pumps might not be up to the demands of desert walks. We were less than five minutes into our walk when we decided it was all too much. We descended gingerly and went to paddle in the nearby creek where I met some friendly Americans called Tony and Shannon, up from Phoenix for the weekend.
After a much-needed beer, burger and salad at the Juniper Ranch, we went home for a well-deserved nap, followed by a refreshing swim in the motel pool surrounded by red rock mountains. Then we drove up to Sedona Airport, situated on a high mesa to the north of the city, for a look southwards. The views were just stunning, and the low sun cast some amazing hard shadows across the rocks. As sunset neared, we climbed a large rock with dozens of others. A guy called Federico, a photographer travelling alone, saw us kiss, told us we were lovely and insisted on taking our photo. He took our email address but we never heard from him.
Tired and emotional we headed back into town for a slightly odd Korean meal, and yet more refreshing beers, before falling fast asleep on top of the bed covers.
Hollywood Birds - The Extras
Image by DonnaGrayson
Second in my series that I took of some birds on Hollywood Blvd.
Somehow I associated them with Actors in Hollywood.
These are Extras - and I have been a extra many times, so I can relate.
Juillard is the school for the arts that many famous actors have attended.
The Taft-Hartley Act allows you to get into the union.
And the "One Line" - well everyone wants a speaking role.
Many people work as extras hoping they will be Taft-Hartley'd. That means they will pull you out of all the Extras, give you a larger role - and you will get to join Screen Actors Guild . It does happen.
What happens more often is the case of my friend. She kept working as an Extra for 3 years. She kept getting "vouchers", which meant she was a non-union extra on the set, when what they really needed were union extras. After getting 3 vouchers from this, she was then able to join SAG.
First pic in the set Is here
Just Play.
Image by andrew k
Unfortunately, my beloved strat is dead. Worn out by a decade of abuse and destined to become a wall-mounted reminder of the many wonderful years of musical collaboration it afforded me. However, I've recently come into possession of a basic nylon string acoustic, something I've never had before and due to not having a TV and coming home to an empty house with no 'net access, I've had no excuse not to put in a couple of hours practice every night. Not the regimented scale/mode/chord/standards practice I used to do, just playing for the hell of it. It feels good.
Brain Freeze
Image by Visit Anchorage PR
This snow sculpture is called Brain Freeze and is based off a cartoon by Alaska artist Chad Carpenter. Snow is compressed into blocks eight feet high by eight feet wide before the artists begin their masterpieces. Division 1 winners go to the US Nationals to represent Alaska. Photo Credit: Roy Neese/Visit Anchorage
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