GRT2014 Day 11 - Sedona, AZ to Scottsdale, AZ

I bid farewell to Sedona today and headed back down the state to Scottsdale for Quilting in the Desert. I took a different route out of Sedona (179) than I took in (89), and the views were even more spectacular! I stopped at one of the scenic overlooks on the way out of down to grab this shot. All the peaks have names, but I'm not familiar enough with them (yet) to recall what these are. They are all spectacular, though!

Heading down the mountains is always interesting. You can see so much!!  There are a couple of scary parts, but no one else was falling off the road, so I figured I wouldn't either. As sad as I was to leave Sedona, once I reached 3000 ft (Sedona is 4500 ft), I was happy to see these again:

Hello, cuties!

Once I got into Scottsdale, I could have been in Anytown, USA. Driving along the road to get to the hotel, I passed the usuals - Maggianos, Pottery Barn, and any other chain you see in any other city. It makes me realize just how different places like Sedona are: not a lot of national chains. That was refreshing.  Of course the houses are different here, and the hotel is definitely different.

Lots of little casitas, rather than floors and floors of "anywhere, USA" hotel rooms.

Remember when Phoenix used to be where people went if they had bad allergies? It was desert: no pollen, no grass, no trees.  Look at it now! The climate of Phoenix has been completely altered by humans and is now one of the most allergy-prone places in the states. Oh, we humans like our "comfort-y" things, don't we? So much that we plant grass in a desert.

And how surprised was I surprised to see this on the walk back from dinner?

Citrus! In the middle of a parking lot in what used to be desert. Ah well. Progress refuses to be stopped.

My friend Dolores has joined me here in Scottsdale for the week. We had a terrific dinner at an Asian Fusion restaurant. The food was outstanding, but OMG did they ever have enormous servings! One bowl of Pho would have fed 4 people with no problem. Same with the Panang. So we brought it back to the casita (which includes a full kitchen), and now we have lunch for the next couple of days.

Tomorrow is a free day, so we will just goof off for the day, then classes start Monday. I wonder where we'll end up tomorrow? Check in and see!

Thanks for stopping by.