Magical Sedona
Just as we had planned the night before, we were out of the house early in the morning and headed for the local Filipino restaurant for our breakfast before heading off to Sedona. My friend Lilet and her husband Glenn, their darling daughter Lauren and I packed the Nissan Xterra and were soon headed north for the mystical mountains of Arizona.
Lauren and I sat in the back of the vehicle and were, like how my mom would describe it: 'naghaharutan'. We were tickling and trying to outsmart each other (I lost). I love kids but Lauren is just too easy to adore that I just fell in love with her.
Lilet warned that Lauren has a tendency to get restless after about two hours of driving. I didn't realize that we were in sync. After a few miles she and I started asking "are we there yet?" to her parents' consternation.
After about two hours and a half, the red mountains came into view. We stopped at a viewpoint where the red landscape embraced us. But as we all got out of the Xterra, the blustery winds made me regret not having brought my coat with me. It was freezing!
We gamely posed for pictures however, souvinirs of my first visit to Arizona. And while trying to grasp sanity amidst $20 t-shirts, Glenn found a lonesome caterpillar crossing its way to the other side of the adobe gazebo. He gathered some twigs and picked it up while I cringe as he brought it back with him to the car. He then took an empty styrofoam cup and dropped the hairy crawling creature in it and presented it to Lauren as a present. In my head I had 'ew!', "EW!" and 'eeeeew!!!' screaming silently.
From the viewpoint, we drove further to the Chapel of the Holy Cross which sat at the top of the hills with a grand vista of the red mountains. The altar was beautifully design with glass that has an eagle's view of the valley below. The ambiance of the place was magical and sacred. Now I knew what Lilet meant when she told me that Sedona was mystical. As we stood outside the chapel, we tried to discern the shapes to which the mountains were named after. We were able to find the eagle's head. Others we totally missed included the teapot, snoopy and similar names.
On our way back to Phoenix, we stopped by Tlaquepaque where I was drawn to the many wind sculptures at the El Prado galleries. Like a child, I walked between what I called the wind scoops and got hypnotized by the sounds and the motion. I took pictures and videos of Lauren as she played with the magical contraptions that were like tiny windmills. Now I wished I had brought one back to New York, without really thinking about where I would install it (my fire escape???).
We gulped down our lunch and then took an off-road tour with the Xterra. It was an exciting ride in Glenn's All-Terrain-Vehicle that reminded me of rollercoaster rides at the peria in Cavite. Lauren and I screamed like girls at the back of the vehicle but I have never had so much fun in my life! I swear that ATV moved up and down the boulders of the Martian landscape without straining but still when you have a view of a descent where the truck is almost about to make a 180 degree drop the ground you'd have no other reaction but to scream and to scream loud!
We drove back to Phoenix in a hurry with hopes that we would make it in time for me to change to my gown and to Thereza's wedding at 5PM. We got caught in freeway traffic which had us home a little past 5PM so I had no time to get dolled up. I jumped into my gown and was retouching my make-up, brushing my hair and struggling with my strappy 3-inch heels in the car on the way to Mesa where the wedding was. Well, since they wanted to time the ceremony with the sunset, we made it just in time that we rushed to the platform area near the lake with the processional of the entourage.
It was a very very good day: magical and perfect.
Lauren and I sat in the back of the vehicle and were, like how my mom would describe it: 'naghaharutan'. We were tickling and trying to outsmart each other (I lost). I love kids but Lauren is just too easy to adore that I just fell in love with her.
Lilet warned that Lauren has a tendency to get restless after about two hours of driving. I didn't realize that we were in sync. After a few miles she and I started asking "are we there yet?" to her parents' consternation.
After about two hours and a half, the red mountains came into view. We stopped at a viewpoint where the red landscape embraced us. But as we all got out of the Xterra, the blustery winds made me regret not having brought my coat with me. It was freezing!
We gamely posed for pictures however, souvinirs of my first visit to Arizona. And while trying to grasp sanity amidst $20 t-shirts, Glenn found a lonesome caterpillar crossing its way to the other side of the adobe gazebo. He gathered some twigs and picked it up while I cringe as he brought it back with him to the car. He then took an empty styrofoam cup and dropped the hairy crawling creature in it and presented it to Lauren as a present. In my head I had 'ew!', "EW!" and 'eeeeew!!!' screaming silently.
From the viewpoint, we drove further to the Chapel of the Holy Cross which sat at the top of the hills with a grand vista of the red mountains. The altar was beautifully design with glass that has an eagle's view of the valley below. The ambiance of the place was magical and sacred. Now I knew what Lilet meant when she told me that Sedona was mystical. As we stood outside the chapel, we tried to discern the shapes to which the mountains were named after. We were able to find the eagle's head. Others we totally missed included the teapot, snoopy and similar names.
On our way back to Phoenix, we stopped by Tlaquepaque where I was drawn to the many wind sculptures at the El Prado galleries. Like a child, I walked between what I called the wind scoops and got hypnotized by the sounds and the motion. I took pictures and videos of Lauren as she played with the magical contraptions that were like tiny windmills. Now I wished I had brought one back to New York, without really thinking about where I would install it (my fire escape???).
We gulped down our lunch and then took an off-road tour with the Xterra. It was an exciting ride in Glenn's All-Terrain-Vehicle that reminded me of rollercoaster rides at the peria in Cavite. Lauren and I screamed like girls at the back of the vehicle but I have never had so much fun in my life! I swear that ATV moved up and down the boulders of the Martian landscape without straining but still when you have a view of a descent where the truck is almost about to make a 180 degree drop the ground you'd have no other reaction but to scream and to scream loud!
We drove back to Phoenix in a hurry with hopes that we would make it in time for me to change to my gown and to Thereza's wedding at 5PM. We got caught in freeway traffic which had us home a little past 5PM so I had no time to get dolled up. I jumped into my gown and was retouching my make-up, brushing my hair and struggling with my strappy 3-inch heels in the car on the way to Mesa where the wedding was. Well, since they wanted to time the ceremony with the sunset, we made it just in time that we rushed to the platform area near the lake with the processional of the entourage.
It was a very very good day: magical and perfect.