Friday

Before I tell you about our day, I'll show you a few more pictures of the glass house across the way.

the glass house, complete with curtains, solar panel and propane tank!

back view, with a dutch door no less!

The folks packed up and left in their car early this morning, so we didn't get a chance to chat with them about their unique little cabin.   We can try again tomorrow if they are still here.




I'm feeling back to normal today and we drove over to Sedona for lunch at the airport restaurant and yet another stroll down memory lane.    We used to enjoy having breakfast or lunch there whenever we visited the area.  Dave is a private pilot, no longer active, but he still feels the "itch" whenever we get near a local airport.   The food used to be great, the views unbelievable and the air traffic control chatter piped into the dining room made him really happy.  The place was a bit run down, but it had atmosphere and was always a local favorite.

When we pulled in today, we were shocked to see that the old place had been leveled and a new restaurant, the Mesa Grill, has taken its place.   Its still open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and still has fabulous views of the runway and the red rocks beyond.   The menu is "upscale" and so is the decor.  And....no more conversations between the incoming pilots and the tower, too bad.   Once again, we realize that you can't go back.

the new Sedona airport restaurant

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line up view from our table

red Stearman biplane on the left and a Piper 421 twin on the right

"Please sir, can I have a ride?"

Coffee Pot

view of Sedona from airport mesa

Snoopy rock
(JoAnn - he's laying on his back, nose to the sky, on top of his doghouse....)

its been a whole year since he's sniffed his favorite - a lilac

After lunch we drove through the busy, touristy "uptown" area of Sedona and on up into Oak Creek Canyon towards Flagstaff.   We passed Slide Rock State Park, which wasn't a state park when we used to pull off on the side of the mountain road and climb down to the creek below.   The creek is choked down there and it races through narrow channels of slippery red rock.  Its such fun to wade in and just ride the flow down to a wider pool.   We used to buy Jesse some cheap heavy duty jeans to wear when he rode the creek down through the shoot because by the time he was done, the seat of his pants were worn completely away!

The State has taken over now, made everything safer, charges $10 to enter and park and has added a small concession trailer for cold drinks and the like.  Not as much fun without the ever so slight element of danger, ya know?

We didn't drive all the way up to Flagstaff today.   I was itching to get down to the water so we stopped at one of the lovely picnic areas and scrambled down the steep bank to the creek below.  Ahhhhhh, thats more like it.

Dave at the bottom, checking out a good way down for me

not a graceful descent, but I got the job done!

sitting on a huge boulder in the creek, just what I wanted to do...

Dave says....ccccccold!

We sat awhile and just absorbed the beauty and the power of the creek.  I took lots of pictures, but wasn't satisfied with the color quality of them, so I'm sure you won't mind not seeing them.    We clambered over the rocks stream side for awhile, then found our way back up to the car.

After doing a few errands on our way home, we grilled a couple burgers and settled down for a quiet night.
Quiet for us, however, not quiet for the rest of the campground.  It IS Friday night, and that has brought out all the pink "hello kitty" bikes and rc control cars in the Cottonwood area.   Tonight we'll use our "poof" curtains.

the lights of Jerome in the background and the little glass trailer, lights on, in the middle.  

Nightie night friends.