V-V Heritage Site

 V-V (pronounced "v bar v") Heritage Site was the winter headquarters of an old cattle ranch in the 1900's that had a secret! V-V was the brand used on this ranch that had numerous owners in the 1900's most notably James and Ida May Swift Minotto of the Chicago Swift Meat Packing Company fame. In 1994, it was sold/gifted to the Arizona College of Agriculture who in turn traded it to the U.S. Forest Service. Now why on earth would the Forest Service want a cattle ranch??? 

 Because way back on the property, was a secluded area that held THOUSANDS of petroglyphs drawn by the Sinaguan people! It's one of the best preserved sites anywhere around!

 Archaeologists estimate the rock art began somewhere around 900 A.D. and continued until the Sinaguans left the area somewhere around 1300 to 1400 A.D. Exciting stuff! Somewhere within  a mile or so there is a fairly large pueblo (didn't go on a trek through the brush to find it) and it was those folks who posted their artwork on these nice, flat, protected boulders.

Amazingly enough, I did not notice any graffiti from modern (or the last few hundred years) time. Most likely because this was private property held for over a century.

I was a bit disappointed though that the guide/guard was not to knowledgeable about the people, culture or drawings. Too bad Bob, from Palatki wasn't here! He's the one who insisted that we come to this site.

 If I remember correctly, the men with the long fingers and toes are not aliens, but rather shaman or medicine men.

 I was just amazed by the sheer volume of the rock art as was Ellie.

Finally, the sun had come out, the temperatures were in the low 70's, the birds were singing! And the scenery on the short 1/2 mile trail back to the car was just stunning!



Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona, Arizona

 An hour or so after sunrise, we finally made it to the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross. We had seen it at night from afar, all lit up, but, finally, we had actually made it!

Sculpturist Marguerite Brunswig Staude first envisioned this place of worship in 1932 when she was admiring the newly constructed Empire State Building. She shared her sketches and ideas with architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who proceeded to build the architectural model for her. Finally, after getting permission from Congress, it's built on government land, it was finally completed in April 1956.

 The parking area is behind and below the church as to not interfere with the natural beauty of the surroundings. An elevated curving walkway skirts the outside of the rock, occasionally giving views of chipmunks, birds and other critters who make there homes here.

The entrance of the church was very modern, all glass except for the floor to ceiling doors.

I wish I could have gotten better photos inside the church, but my flash was non-functional. It was simple but the walls and side tables all had beautiful sculptures, many I'm sure created by Marguerite. 'Twas a very quiet, serene place to have time with God.

Oak Creek Canyon

 Thursday evening we decided to take a short drive north to check out Oak Creek Canyon. In the summertime, it is a very popular place to hike and to go for a swim. With the recent cold temperatures and snowfall....not so much. But, it was a very quiet and peaceful place that I will put on my "revisit" list.

Nope, I wasn't about to dip my toe in here!

 Ellie up at the top reading an informational board about the area.

A view of the area with the recent snowfall (pardon the car antenna).

Hodgepodge of Sights in Sedona

 This post is  just a hodgepodge of various interesting and/or funny photos that didn't really fit with anything, yet, I couldn't leave them out!

Just a random view from the car window of pretty landscape!

 Courthouse Butte

 We kept seeing these "snakes" all over the place! I'm not sure if they control erosion or what their function is exactly....anyone out there know??

Bell Rock

 Just another lovely day on vacation, cruisin' down the road, lookin' for adventure...or a nice view!

 The 2 larger formations to the right are the Two Nuns I believe, the smaller one to their left looks like 2 people embracing....I've got a close up of that below...

All through Arizona, are "odd" named roads, especially on highway 17! But this is my favorite "odd" road  in Sedona! And the homes were QUITE exclusive!

This is perhaps the most "wow" house

 I may have ever seen in my life. Viewed from the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Their view is phenomenal, double click to enlarge to see better!

And they even have their own observatory! Wonder who lives here?

By a shop downtown that offered UFO tours.....no time for that one. We did go on an evening sky/astronomy outing with an outfit from Flagstaff. Even though we saw Jupiter & 3 moons, a double star, Orion nebula & many constellations, the guide was pretty dry and quite frankly it was 20 degrees and we were a bit chilled. I saw several shooting stars....but not one UFO. I bet these UFO folks are pretty funny though!

Tuzigoot National Monument

 The day got warmer and we decided to drive south, near Cottonwood, to Tuzigoot National Monument. It is another dwelling of the Sinagua, who are believed to have settled here in about 1000 A.D. until about 1425.

The pueblos were built using boulders  from the river, basalt, sandstone and  limestone to a thickness of  2 - 2&1/2 feet! Pretty sturdy! They  feel there were about 86 "rooms" on the main floor and 15 "rooms" on the second story.

Looking down from the highest point with the Verde Valley in the  background.

This Winter-Fat bush was used to provide food for sheep in the winter, and also had several medicinal purposes as well.

What a pleasant landscape its 200+ inhabitants woke up to every day!

Broken Arrow Tour with Pink Jeep!

 By Thursday, the weather looked a bit warmer so we booked a 2 hour tour with Pink Jeep called Broken Arrow. It took us up close and personal, offroading, to a bunch of the rock formations in Sedona. Obviously here, we are still "on the road" to our first destination. Ellie and I were Josh's only passengers for this trip.

A quick stop at Camel Rock...

I think Chimney Rock was my favorite

....I seemed to take a LOT of photos of it and I really just wanted Ellie to pull the car over every time we passed it so I could hike right up to the base! But no....either we were on a schedule, too cold, getting dark....and she was more than likely right when she said it was probably further and more difficult than I thought....next time I WILL though!

 Our first stop, was Submarine Rock, named by none other than...Walt Disney! And yes, it DID look like a submarine!

 Well don't you know I HAD to go up there!

 Looking out onto the other "knob" off into the city of Sedona.

And I even got Ellie to climb it too!!

I don't remember the name of this one...but it made for a striking photo! It was near Chicken Point.

 Submarine rock from a higher vista at Chicken Point.

 For some reason, I want to call this one mushroom, but I don't think that was its real name. He said a few car commercials were filmed there.This time Josh & the Jeep did the climbing for us!

 It doesn't look that bad, until you descend! Definitely somewhere I wouldn't take my rental car!

 Here's Ellie hanging on as Josh gets us back down to the bottom.

My vantage point! I quickly had to get back to hanging on!!!

Looking out onto more rock formations and Coconino National Forest.

 This descent was not as steep, but very bumpy! But Josh took it slow as to not launch us out of the Jeep!

 We passed a Vortex site, and a tree with odd bark. According to legend, the energy in the Vortex area causes the trees do be deformed.

Closeup of the unknown tree.

All too quickly our tour ended....we ate lunch and then were off again!