Sedona, Arizona, USA.

The short:

Ok, so Sedona is still pretty damn awesome compared to the Grand Canyon, just in a different way. Renowned for its red rock it really does have a lot of natural beauty on offer. The rock formations are just as spectacular and intriguing as those at the Grand Canyon and, again, I really do need to find out what caused their appearance. Aside from the rock, Sedona itself is not so much a place to write home about. It is starkly obvious that it is an incredibly religious area, with Thomas commenting that there are more churches than houses, and questionable crosses with "Jesus saves" popping up here, there and everywhere. Without being rude, I would say that the people and shops fit the "hill billy" stereotype very well, and the town really lacks character, with all of the buildings the same colour and height. We both agree that 1 day was the perfect amount of time to see the infamous red rock and be on our way!

The long:

Saturday:

We arrived in Sedona early afternoon and immediately set out to check out the sprawling red rock that surrounded us. We made sure to get close up and personal with the named rocks. This is Bell rock (my favourite);

Thunder Mountain;

Cathedral rock (Thomas' favourite); 

Courthouse rock;

and Snoopy rock:

It is possible to hike around a number of the rocks but both of us were knackered having walked 6.5 miles earlier that morning so, true to American form, drove to each of the rocks, which I think is only fair that we are excused for on this one occasion!

We also drove to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is actually a rather attractive church that gives excellent views over Sedona,

including a rather intrusive view of someone's extremely extravagant house. I could appreciate the house for what it was and the views that it must have, but would definitely not like to live there!

One thing that you cannot miss in Sedona is the number of cacti around; it's actually pretty nuts how many we saw, but I do find them to be incredibly attractive.

Just before sunset we made our way to the Airport Overlook. Unfortunately, we got a little lost so only caught the last glimpses of light falling on the rocks, but it was nice to see nonetheless. 

Afterwards, we drove to Sedona Uptown and wandered up and down the streets checking out the various shops and restaurants. There was a huge amount of cowboy-esque clothing and shoes stores, and some true American grub on offer, so no surprises there! Thomas and I did however indulge and bought ourselves some fudge that smelt mouth wateringly good and was sold in thick slabs that looked more like fat cake slices than fudge; bigger is better let's not forget. After sampling many a fudge, I went for dark salted caramel and Thomas for triple chocolate - mmmm mm mmmm.

With growling tummies we chose a pizza restaurant and, after a slightly regrettable wait, were served some very, very good pizzas.

So I ate mine, finished Thomas's, went home and ate 2/3 of my fudge; I went to bed a satisfied and happy girl. We watched an episode of Orange is the New Black before nodding off; it had been a very long day after all.