Sedona

National Park Roadtrip – Days 17-19

Sedona – Jerome – Montezuma Castle National Monument – Tuzigoot National Monument

Right away when we pulled into Rancho Sedona RV Park in Sedona, we loved it.  It was dark outside, but you could hear Oak Creek bubbling behind our site, though upon inspection in the daytime was more like a river.  If pressed, the only issue with this park was the distance to the restroom.  We have a bathroom in our trailer, but it’s not fully enclosed.  In my humble opinion, even the closest of couples, should leave some things to the imagination! 

My parents had been through Sedona on their honeymoon in 1970 and took a beautiful picture right outside the iconic Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Having never been to Sedona before, that was the first place I wanted to go to in the morning.  It is, quite possibly, the most beautiful church I’ve ever been in.  Built into the red rock buttes of Sedona, it’s huge glass windows provide a view across the entire Sedona valley.  The inside is just as beautiful as the outside and the landscape is unsurpassed.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

We proceeded south to Montezuma Castle National Monument.  As you approach the office there is a nondescript black and white sign that says, “Dogs are allowed on the trail.”  There is no better gift on the road than to be able to take your dogs where you would have thought they weren’t allowed.  The trail is flat and short, and they take you by the Puebloan cliff dwellings built high above the path.  You can only view from the path, but these are still amazing to see in person. 

Montezuma Castle National Monument

After Montezuma we drove to Jerome, an old copper mining town nestled into some pretty steep hills overlooking the Verde Valley.  Jerome is a little funky, a little artsy, a little ‘wine’y, a little haunted, and an all around fun stop for a day trip out of Sedona, Flagstaff, or even Phoenix.  There are a few winery tasting rooms in the Verde Valley and in Jerome.  We stopped in at Caduceus, owned by Maynard Keenan of Tool, to grab a few bottles for my former Tool loving brother and cousin in Texas to be delivered as gifts for housing us on the road.  We ate at the Haunted Hamburger and had a fantastic meal!  It was Valentine’s Day so we toasted our love over margaritas.  Yadda yadda yadda…

We walked off our lunch and headed back down the hill to Tuzigoot National Monument.  There is a short trail that goes around and inside the monument.  After seeing Wupatki and Montezuma, this one was markedly different.  Namely because you could walk through it on a paved path and OSHA approved stairwells!  We were skeptical that it was original, but still very much enjoyed ourselves.  A quick second trip to the visitor center confirmed our suspicions.  A lot of the structure was built and/or reinforced by the park service on and amongst the ruins.  It is hard to imagine what it may have looked like without an artist’s rendering or full scale model, so it was nice to have a rough idea of what it was like for the Sinaguan people who lived there.

The lizard's eye view at Tuzigoot National Monument

Since it was Valentine’s Day, and the dogs are our Valentines too, we stopped at the amazing Sedona Dog Park.  This is up there amongst awesome dog parks with two distinct areas; one for open play and one that is a “wilderness” area.  It’s got this super ugly view too, which sucks, obviously.

Super ugly view from the dog park in Sedona.  Blah.

We also stopped at the only brewery in Sedona, Oak Creek Brewing, for a tasting then headed back to the RV Park.  Early that morning while leaving the park I saw an RPod from Colorado that looked very much like the folks we had parked next to in San Elijo State Park, but I thought, nah they were going up the coast, not through Arizona.  But as we were getting out of the car at our site, those same neighbors - @sanjuansports - pulled right up to our site to say hi.  We caught up on the last week or so, traded recommendations for dinner, and said our goodbyes. 

G and I don’t usually go out to eat on Valentine’s Day, but there is a restaurant that was right behind the RV park that looked good and it was early so we thought we wouldn’t have a problem getting a table.  We ended up walking the ¾ mile over to the Hideaway House, got a seat right away on the near empty lower patio, and watched the sun go down and light up the red rocks in front of us.  This restaurant is dog friendly, and our waitress was spectacular.  I was surprised at how empty it was, and I really hope they stand the test of time.  Our view was amazing, service was amazing, and the food was amazing.  So amazing that we ended up eating the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.  

Dinner with a sunset view.  And the large house in the foreground is owned by one of the Doublemint Twins, just in case you were wondering.

Highlights:

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Montezuma National Monument (for those looking for a dog friendly monument in the area)

Haunted Hamburger

Sedona Dog Park

Hideaway House