Sedona

Despite the clear blue skies, on the way to Sedona the temperature dropped to 27 degrees F at around 5pm as we passed through approx. 7,000 feet in Williams, Az. Snow was visible at the side of the road. Definitely inappropriate for the shorts I was wearing, so promptly changed into more suitable attire in a gas station restroom!

Sedona was also surprisingly cold when we arrived (around 7pm) - biting cold wind, but clear skies. Nothing a great dinner and a cold beer could not remedy!

This is Sedona the next day, a view of the town from a vista point near the local airport:

Sedona is extremely pretty, and there does not appear to be a single building that is 'out of place'. Even the local McDonalds conforms to the local color scheme of 'red rock' adobe ...

As you venture into the local neighborhoods, the houses also enjoy a pretty spectacular setting ...

The predominant style of housing, though - especially the newer, upscale houses - are in the adobe style. Here are a couple, nestled in the hillsides ...

Here is another typical view of the town, this one taken from our modest Best Western motel:

Driving out of town North towards Flagstaff takes you through Oak Creek Canyon - a surprisingly 'normal' environment compared to what I expected for Arizona - Oak trees, creeks, deciduous trees, and so on.

Perhaps the most noticeable thing about Sedona is it's shops ... there are lots of them, and they all seem to be selling expensive artworks, or alternative music, crystals, and so on - kind-of a cross between Carmel, Mendocino, and Berkeley!

As the sun sets, the lights of the shops take on a delightful air ...

Sedona to Tucson

Leaving Sedona, we took a slight detour through the hills, to a small town called Prescott. On the way there, we passed through some snow covered hills

For only the second time in her life, my mum was able to experience snow without wearing a scarf!

After a brief lunch stop in Prescott, it was on to Phoenix for an afternoon stroll in Scottsdate, a pleasant 'old town' ...

Tucson

After Phoenix / Scottsdale, it was on to Tucson ... arriving in the early evening, the beautiful desert sky was the most striking attribute. This is the view seen from the freeway ...

And this was the view due east, opposite the sunset (something about the desert, these colors are unbelievable!) ...

The following day, we made a brief side-trip to the Titan Missile Musuem. Since the pictures are not exactly scenic, I've put them on a separate page. After that, it was time to go see the famed 'Saguaro' cactus. Driving due east from Tucson, you start to see a few cactuses, but then they get more and more dense. Finally, when you arrive at the Saguaro National Park, there are more cactuses than you ever dreamed possible ... (cactuses and cactii are both acceptable plurals of cactus ... I looked it up!)

In addition to the Saguaro's, there are many other cacti to see. Here are a couple:

Tucson to San Diego

The road from Tucson to San Diego is pretty uneventful, just a long hard 400 mile slog through the desert on an easy, flat, straight freeway. At one point, you pass within a mile of the Mexican border, but you'd never know it, other than a freeway exit for 'Mexicali'. As you approach San Diego, the terrain suddenly becomes mountainous, and relatively 'green' (forrested).

With no particular place in mind, I headed for the ocean and as luck would have it, we arrived at a pretty beach right at the time the sun was setting:

And here's mum on the beach:

San Diego to Santa Barbara, and home

We spent a rather dull evening in a rather dull coastal town called Oceanside - chosen simply because it had available, cheap rooms (San Diego was expensive, and we weren't planning to spend time there anyway). You'd think, being on the coast and in Southern California, all these towns would be charming but Oceanside had the look of a military town, so I'm guessing there's a large base nearby.

The traffic leaving San Diego around 7pm was horrendous - I guess this is the famous Southern California traffic scene! Dinner for this evening was at a 'Dennys' or some similar generic spot ... and surprisingly good, I must confess!

The next day was the last of the trip. I decided on the fly that we should try to visit Santa Barbara, it being a drop-dead gorgeous town and not too far out of our way. The deciding factor was traffic - as we drove north on the freeway through LA, the traffic was fairly light, so we could get to Santa Barbara in time for lunch.

Santa Barbara was as I remembered it - beautiful Spanish architecture, laid-back atmosphere, delightful restaurants and shops all around, outdoor seating ....

We finally settled on a beautiful Italian restaurant, and got a seat at the back of the restaurant with a great view of the interior, which was decorated with a creative reproduction of the Sistine chapel! (this is a composite of 6 hand-held shots):

The Route

Just over 2000 miles ... Walnut Creek to Bakersfield - 270 miles (left at 6pm!). Bakersfield to Sedona - 511 miles. Sedona to Tucson (via Prescott) - 276 miles. Tucson to Oceanside (via San Diego) -445 miles. Oceanside to Walnut Creek (via Santa Barbara)- 505 miles.