First time exploring Sedona

Driving two hours isn't bad at all when you get to be transported to a land of red rock and new experiences. One minute you are looking out over desert, then the next landscape you see is Red Rock State park. 

Getting into Sedona proved to be a bit more difficult with intense traffic, but it was great weather on a weekend so understandable. Traffic didn't impact the orange walls of rock nor the bustling square of shops in the center of Sedona. 

Brunch was delicious at a cute, small place called Pump House, and it gave us the fuel we needed for the two hikes and sight seeing we did during the day.

First up was the very popular Cathedral Rock hike which takes you up these majestic towers to overlook most of the surrounding area. The hike was vertical at some points, but all types of travelers made it to the top. At the top, you also got to view one of the four "vortexes" in Sedona.

As a whole, Sedona is considered a vortex of energy and many people have made their lives here for that reason. A majority of the shops in town are centered around the metaphysical world and healing energies. You can also find a plethora of churches, including one built by Frank Lloyd Wright. 

And even though the whole place is considered a vortex, there are four spots where people report a congregation of energy, including Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Airport Mesa and Boynton Canyon.

At the top of Cathedral Rock, a gorgeous landscape opens up between the two massive rock towers. We stayed up there for a good chunk of time just staring into the natural beauty.

Eventually, we had to hike down to make it to our other destinations. Finding our camping spot was next on the list because we try to pick one before the sun goes down, and we found a great one right outside Sedona on BLM land (free camping). Heads up, there is no camping allowed within the city limits.

Our last hike of the day was up Fey Canyon, which turned out to be one of our favorite hikes of all time, up there with Yosemite and Zion. 

The hike was basically a walk through trees to end at the base of scraggly rocks. If you climbed up the rocks, you got to see this view.

It felt like a movie set with the lush trees filling in the canyon between the contrasting orange rock. It was so beautiful. We sat on the rocks for awhile just soaking it all in. 

The sun started to set though and we wanted to have time to hike back and check our campsite before going to dinner. Another person had set up next to our spot and he was a lone traveler, roughly the same age as us. He promised to watch over our spot while we were at dinner which was super helpful!

Places close early in Sedona, so keep that in mind when you plan your trip. We were looking for places when we passed a sign that said Beer and Wine. Guess where we ended up?

The place was such an awesome hole in the wall spot where there was wine tasting, a bar and live music! The food was also delectable, and I got to try prickly pear and buffalo chili! After tons of songs, Elton John's "Your Song" dedicated to me, and laughs, we left the lively spot to enjoy our peaceful campsite.

It was windy that night, so our fire didn't last too long and we only shared a couple beers with our camping neighbor before taking shelter in my car for the night. It got quite chilly, so I recommend lots of blankets and warm pjs!

Our last stop before we left Sedona that morning was the church built by Frank Lloyd Wright. He is a famous architect and the church lived up to his name. It blended in beautifully with the environment, just like another rock sticking out from the masses.

 After that, we headed out with the red rock rolling out behind us as we returned to the sunny desert.