But first, Bria and Cali got I-Pads yesterday as an early Christmas gift from Sue and Dan, their other grandparents, so they could take them to their Daddy's Ironman Competition in Tempe next weekend. Ken and I are so excited to have a way to communicate directly with them while we travel. Ken spent some time getting our I-Pad running properly so we could I-Message with them. So, this morning Ken was back and forth with them several times. It is going to be such a special way for us to keep in touch. We are thrilled.
At 9 we left in our CRV and drove to The Chapel of the Holy Cross which is built into a hill and almost camouflaged when driving by. It is a very special place. It was built to a twin pinnacled spur, about 250 feet high, jutting out a thousand foot rock wall. The Chapel was completed in April, 1956 and several million tourists visit every year.
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| The Chapel really fits in with the landscape! |
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| From a distant it can be hard to find! |
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| What a view from inside and when standing on the hill outside the Chapel! |
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| A view when standing outside the Chapel! |
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| This home (mansion) is seen when you are outside of the Chapel. It is huge!!!! |
From there we drove to the Broken Arrow Trailhead to begin today's hike. What a gorgeous trail. We hiked about 3 1/2 miles round trip ending at Chicken Point, which offers an amazing view of the area. We had gained about 400 feet of elevation, so you were able to see for miles. We did do a bit of the Twin Butte hike, but that was only because we made a wrong turn!!! Running near this trail is a dirt road for jeeps that takes them over large rocks, over small crevices, etc. It is crazy to watch them, for you are certain they will either tip or get "hung up" on the rocks. But, they all did well, bouncing and balancing over the wild terrain.
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| And thus the hike begins! |
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| What a view! |
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| A huge sinkhole! |
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| We had to walk across the large rocks! |
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| .....and up we go! |
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| That is submarine rock complete with 2 portholes! |
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| This trail was great for mountain bike riders, but it seems way too dangerous for me! |
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| To me, this looks like a person wearing a hat! |
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| What can I say????? |
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| We reached the end of the trail - Chicken Point! |
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| The Pink Jeep Tours brought people all the way to Chicken Point on a crazy, bouncy ride! One lady in the jeep commented "and we paid for this"! |
After the hike we went to another area to enjoy our picnic lunch, or lupper, since it was already 3:30. We stopped at the airport "vista" where lots of people gather to watch the sunset. It was very crowded there, but the sunset was special.
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| This was one of our lunch views - bell rock! |
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| This was another view! |
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| Sunset is approaching! |
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| Here it comes! |
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| Very crowded at the Airport viewing area! |
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| Amazing! |
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| Nearing the end of another great day with special friends! |
We were back to the CG by 6 and we got together at 7:30 to play a game of Racko which the men won again! We were in bed by 10 after another very busy day but it was so much fun! Looking forward to another hiking day in Sedona tomorrow, but we will probably leave around 10.
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