The day began with an extravagant continental breakfast at our hotel - we needed the energy to hike Sedona's famed red rocks in the morning. Using the recommendation given to us by the west coast bro from Flagstaff, we set off for Schnebly Hill - a less touristy spot for hiking.
For the first time on our trip, the Honda Fit let us down. Alas, it is not an all-terrain vehicle capable of scaling small boulders. Hence, we were unable to drive to the trailhead, and forced to walk in an additional 3 miles - no sweat for a troika of former NCAA distance athletes.
We had a difficult time finding the trailhead after walking in, but nonetheless, made it to one of the most scenic vistas we could imagine.
Look for Doobin at the top of the rock formation above.
Tourists from Jeep tours literally stopped to gawk at us standing on top of giant red rock formations.
From the formations, we spotted the trail – Mund’s Wagon – and followed it back to the Honda. The trail was much more pleasant than the road on which we ascended. It offered more interaction with the natural environment and was significantly faster to traverse. Here's Doobs pointing to the red rocks we climbed off in the distance.
Mago’s Korean Restaurant hit the spot after our hike. It offered an aray of delicious Korean foods while emphasizing the importance of mankind’s spiritual connection with Mother Earth (aka “Ewa”). While Mother Earth may not have intended for Davis and chopsticks to get along, she did, however, mean for us (and especially Davis) to dine at this fine establishment. We would recommend it – and especially the House Ice Tea and green tea ice cream with honey topping – to any environmentally minded traveler who finds himself in Sedona. They also had a great array of placards on the table - see below:
Afterwards, we purchased postcards and iced caffeinated beverages in the quaint downtown. We met Zin, the stewardess of the shop who was very intrigued by our roadtrip. She spent a while speaking with Doobin, and taught him valuable advice. She warned against using the brain too much and told us we should sequester our thoughts to our heart, and we will be guided correctly. Zin hailed from Trinidad and Tobago, told Doobin the story of how she arrived in Sedona, and then gave him a hug and blessing for our trip. We hope it will protect us well.
We left Sedona for our penultimate destination: California. This 500 mile trek after a large hike and an even larger meal might have been too much to handle save Gameboy Advanced (Davis had the foresight to acquire said Gameboy back in Richmond. It has been a godsend throughout the trip.). On the drive, Davis put a beat down on Rob in skins play in Tiger Woods Golf, and later, Doobin went to town on Zelda: Link to the Past.
We grabbed a quick dinner in Needles, CA. Burger Hut’s signage boasting the fact that it did – indeed – serve food lured us in. The highlights of the stop included the homemade watermelon juice and a man smoking a cigarette from his stoma.
We piled back in the car and headed west through the Mojave Desert. Somewhere along the way, we hit the 4,000 mile mark for the trip (an oil change lies in the not too distant future).
Excitedly, we made it to California in time to see the sunset, but not before the hotel gave away our room. (no worries, they comped us a room at the Holiday Inn next door).
Next up, the largest tree in the world…
Peace and Love from the road,
The Three Dudes
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