L'auberge De Sedona

vacations

Through the ivy tunnel to our cottage.

Cottages by Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. 

A great getaway!

Just spent my 30th wedding anniversary there.

Our cottage, #16.

The view from our porch.

Another view from our porch.

Across Oak Creek from our cottage.

The outdoor shower was too cold to use.

Inside the cottage. Hubby getting a picture of me.

our fireplace

Sitting area near the creek below the cottages.

Cottages in the back are built right on the cliff.
It looks like a small wall is all that is holding them up, yikes.

One of the beautiful fountains on the grounds.

My Crazy Week

vacations

What started out as a fantastic week didn’t end as well.  On Monday my hubby and I celebrated our 30^th wedding anniversary in Sedona.  We stayed at Hotel L’auberge De Sedona which is located near Oak Creek.  We had a lovely cottage near the creek where we watched the ducks play.  The weather was in the 70’s, very clear and crisp.  The night before was to be our UFO tour but because of the high winds, that was cancelled.  The next day on our anniversary we decided to hit the many shops and take a ride up the narrow road through Oak Creek Canyon to the lookout above.  If you are ever in Sedona, you have to take that drive.  It is gorgeous up there and throughout the canyon.  We had a nice dinner later on and the rest I won’t mention, *wink*.

The next day we decided to take a trip to Jerome since it is only a few miles away from Sedona.  After driving the winding two lane narrow road to the top where the shops are located, we got out to check out the place.  The wind was blowing and it was chilly.  Jerome is like a throw-back to the 70’s.  Everyone is laid back and in a bit of a time warp.  I rather enjoyed that about the place.  There were many abandoned places and historical buildings but my hubs is not an adventurer and didn’t want to stop.  We did check out a couple of places but to get the full effect of what Jerome is all about, I will need to spend the night there with my road trip buddy (Sharon) and get into mischief getting our photos and video of the many cool places around town.

After Jerome, we went to the historic ruins of Tuzigoot.  It is amazing to see the partial construction of an ancient Indian ruins that were built thousands of years ago.  I took many pictures and will do a post on Tuzigoot and Jerome later.

Before arriving back at our cottage, we went back to the shops and grabbed a bite to eat.  We had to buy some delish chocolates on the way back to the car.  Back at the cottage, I took a bite of caramel and my damn temporary crown came off.  At dinner, I had to eat on the other side of my mouth where I have a broken tooth.  I have been putting off getting the permanent crown and a root canal on the broken tooth because of finances.  We simply don’t have the money for them right now.  The broken tooth has messed up my gums and now is infected.  It hurts like a mother f…er!

Today I was scheduled to finally get the basal cell cancer removed from my face.  But because my gums and tooth may be infected, the surgeon cancelled.  He wants me to see the dentist, get the tooth fixed and get my surgery rescheduled.  I have an appointment with the dentist later and hope he can fix the problem. 

What started out as a great week didn’t end on a high note.  I plan to take it easy this weekend, work on my book, and hopefully get more crafts done.  Next week promises to be better.  I will be busy getting ready for my granddaughter’s 2^nd birthday party and hopefully will be blessed with being a grandma again.  My son and his wife are expecting any day now and we are so excited.

The Random Mind: Winter Wonderland

vacations

The Random Mind: Winter Wonderland: "Crazy Mountain Ranch after it snowed."

Click the link and check out the pictures.

Pictures Around the Ranch

vacations

Where our room was located.

Name of room we stayed in.

The town kitty.

Above the Saloon door.

The lobby and sitting area in the Saloon.

The view of town from the lake.

Inside the general store.

Montana Wilderness and Ice Fishing

vacations

Our second full day was going to start with a snowmobile trainee class and then a two and a half hour trek through the woods.  After my hubs talk with another couple that did this and they were very sore from all the riding, we decided to back out and do the wilderness trek instead.

Montana in the winter is absolutely beautiful.  Snow is everywhere which looked like white frosting on the ground.  The wilderness trek consisted of a tour around the ranch in a van and then a half mile hike near the river.  We saw all the ranch's black Angus, long horns and horses.  In the summer, the cattle is moved from one place to another by guests like in the movie "City Slickers".  The place is huge (I forget exactly how many acres), and it consists of private living areas, barns for all the animals, the western village, housing for employees, lots of forest areas, and many other breathtaking views.

Look, a deer!

Ok, this is a real deer, Bambi.

I would hate to see the beaver that did this!

After lunch we had ice fishing scheduled.  This was something else we never did before and wanted to try.  The lake was very close to the town and took us just a couple of minutes to get there.  On the frozen lake was three fishing huts which had four holes drilled into the ice, a bucket for each to sit on, a fishing pole, heater and an employee there to help you along.  After an hour of seeing the fish breeze by and nudge our bait, we had no luck at all.  The fish must have been full from all the food they ate in the morning and were not interested in our bait.

Zip Lines and Dog Sleds

vacations

The ranch had plans for us to spend the two whole days there enjoying some of their activities.  We had a list of things to chose from, and then they picked from our list.  If you didn't like what they picked for you, they were happy to make the change.  Our first day consist of an Adventure Trek in the morning and dog sledding in the afternoon.

After breakfast, we went to the Livery to get our ski bibs and to be driven to the building where the adventure trek would begin.  This trek consists of hiking and riding down 9 zip lines with the longest one over 2,000 feet.  After being fitted with the zip gear, our guides took us to a small line to give us a quick lesson on how to ride the lines.  He had to adjust my ropes because my arms are a bit short and I couldn't keep it straight.  After the 8 of us did a practice run, it was time to fly, and fly we did.  It was amazing, the ride and the scenery.  After doing 6 zip lines we took a break.  I have come to the conclusion that trying to undress in a port-a-potty while it was moving was a much tougher task than the zip lines themselves.  We had three more lines left with the longest one second.  Unfortunately, I stopped short on the next line and the guide had to rescue me.  The poor dear was out of breath, but he managed to get me in.  And then it was time for the big zip line.  I was so nervous to ride it but this was my favorite.  I gave out a big "yahoo" while enjoying the scenery, which was beautiful.  The zip line was a frickin' blast and I am glad that we decided to do it.

After lunch, we went back to the Livery to get ski bibs again to go dog sledding.  We took a ride to the area where the dogs were kept and met up with our guide.  After a quick lesson on what to do, I decided being the rider and taking pictures was best for me.  Gary, along with our guide, drove the sled.  We had so much fun.  My only worry was tipping over and a dog's piss hitting me in the face.  Yep, those dogs can pee on the run.  At one point my hubby flew off the sled before it almost tipped and landed in a snow bank.  He was fine, hopped back on and away we went.  The guide made sure the dogs were rested several times along the route.  At one point we had to stop because there was a porcupine crossing the road ahead of us.  It was a huge beast that moved so slowly.  We didn't want our dogs to get a whiff of him because they would run off the road after it with us following behind.  That wouldn't have been very pretty.  After the porcupine got far enough away from us, we were able to resume.  Most of our dogs turned to check out the fat critter.  We knew they wanted to chase it down but thankfully then didn't.  We got back to the beginning and got to pet the dogs before heading back to the ranch.

Caution: porcupine crossing!