‘Bent and I wondered if this trip might have to be cancelled but we’ve made it to Sedona, Arizona.
‘Bent brought his big recumbent mountain bike. I can rent a Pivot in Sedona - a little beefier than mine but it should be good for the rocky trails.
We drove through saguaro country north of Phoenix, which made me think of Cristina.
Then we arrived at our cute rental house, Stardust Oasis. The neighbourhood streets include Stardust, Moonglow, Harmony, Rainbow, Windsong and Friendship.
After settling in (i.e. after ‘Bent had most of his bike assembled), we went for a short hike to stretch our legs after a long day of travel. We’re very close to Thunder Mountain trailhead but someone has built A Wall to keep foreigners from walking across the small piece of empty land between here and there. But walls don’t stop people from getting where they want to go. We walked the long way around. :)
It was great to be on desert trails with their bright colours, weird rock shapes and different vegetation.
We hiked up to a small summit with a great view of Sedona. It was actually a little sketchy coming down with loose sand on sloped rock. Then we went for margaritas and enchiladas.
So far every single person in Arizona has been extremely nice - from the airport car rental to the nearby bike shop. I’m sure we shouldn’t talk politics though. We drove past a “Pray to End Abortion” sit-in and got passed by a high speed pickup truck on stilts with a Trump 2020 sticker. But we can all still laugh together.