It’s hard to be Ansel Adams when you are traveling with a group of car-bound photo jockeys.  That is to say, one does not really get the feel for a community, nor very many good photographs, when blowing through a town at 50 mph barely taking the time to roll down a window at the stop sign.  And that is just how we experienced Sedona.

From what we saw, the town appeared quaint and touristy, not unlike any other American tourist destination – replete with resorts, T-shirt shops and cafes.    But the real draw of Sedona is obviously the natural beauty.   Driving in from the south, passing through Oak Creek, one enjoys a perfect view of the dramatic red-rock countryside, including Bell Rock (shown) and several big red plateaus.   Unfortunately, during our 15 minutes in Sedona, the weather was cool and overcast so I can’t say that this page does the area justice.

After passing quite a few "blending-in-with-the-desert" resorts we stopped on a touristy main street for a brief lunch, which included prickly-pear cactus fries.  They had a very strange salty and tart taste – not worth more than a few just to say that you ate cactus in Arizona!   The Cowboy Club also offered rattlesnake skewers, but we lacked the spirit of adventure to try them.

Bottom line is that the landscape was as interesting as it gets, and I would like to return to hike about photographing the scenic beauty.