Sedona Intro

After countless recommendations from friends, we have decided to swing by Sedona before we move to California for what has left from the winter and the beginning of spring. It turned out good since it stretched our 10th anniversary celebration over 3 days.

Fighting Lupus

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 – It is our 10th anniversary today. I know I have mentioned it before but this is a great deal for me. Not the day by itself as much as the great feeling I am with the right person for me. Knowing that I feel this way after ten years is a proof to myself more than anything else, that this is not a fake, and this is not going to fade. I am so happy I found Patti and we are a perfect match.
Our plans for the day were to go to Saguaro NP, hike during the day, and finish with a nice dinner in Tucson. Unfortunately, Patti is feeling very bad last couple of days. She started to feel bad at the day we took that hike in San Tan, remember? so it got worse. She has high fever, she is very noxious, and has a very bad headache for two days straight!
Hey – that is not going to break us! We will celebrate our anniversary over the W/E. One idea was to go to Sedona, AZ, 100 miles north of us, and enjoy the hikes with a dinner over there  – just as we planned. That actually sound like a better idea – We have seen Saguaro forest all around us, and we will get a chance to experience something we have not seen before.

Day of Gifts

Today, we received finally all the mail and boxes from our mail forwarder in SD. We haven’t receive mail for some time, so we got lots of goodies!
The highlights of this shipment were a new laptop for Patti and a new Camera for me. I am dreaming about this new camera for some time, and this is just what I wanted, I am so happy. Now I need to learn how to use it. Patti will take over my old camera and start getting a little more serious about photography. Seems like she likes it!
She also needs to move all her files, programs and setting from her old laptop. That is going to take some time, but it is always exciting to get a new shiny fast laptop!
I also got an extended battery for my android. From what I read, it supposed to hold for few days with moderate use, so that is going to make this little device more practical. I have no idea why they chose to call my GPS, Camera, Radio, MP3 player, PIM, Game Station, Phone – just a phone. It is not even the most usable function in it…
Just before I forget – I visited yesterday the company I consult for. They import and market Dead Sea products in the US. I think it is great to have a friendly relationship with the people you work with, right? Got to meet many more people from the company and see first hand how they work. That was a good visit.
Friday, March 4th, 2011 – Moving day today, We decided to go with the idea of Sedona, and we are on the way. Patti still doesn’t feel the best, but there are sign of improvement. The problem is not the Lupus itself, but the immune suppressants she takes. See, Lupus is an auto-immune disease, which mean the body attacks itself. To reduce the effect of this attack, the medications are causing the immune system to become somewhat dormant. So long there are no “enemies” – everything is fine,. but as soon as Patti is in touch with someone that has or had some illness recently , she catches it very easily and her body has hard time fighting it.
So where were we? Oh – moving day, right… Actually the ride was pretty smooth, and Patti, as I said, fought headache and stomach turmoil. When we got to our new campground, we hooked up and Patti went to rest. Later, in the evening Patti felt much better, so we decided to go out for dinner – starting celebrating our anniversary. Dinner before Hike, that works too!
Opened our devices (OK, ..Phones) and looked up a restaurant. Patti felt like Italian, and I felt like making Patti happy, so Italian it is. The most recommended Italian restaurant in town is called Nick Italian Steak and Crab House, right on Main street. The place had nice romantic setting and great service. Patti had fettuccini Alfredo (her favorite) with King Crab legs, and I had chicken breast in some kind of lemon sauce with bow tie pasta, with a bottle of zin to celebrate the event.
Food was great, service was wonderful, got 4 stars from me!
Got back home and went to bed – need energy for tomorrow. I think it is a beginning of a better time. Patti feels much better
The campground we chose is in Cottonwood, on 89A towards Sedona. It is called Rio Verde RV Park. We chose it because all the camps in Sedona were outrageously priced, I am talking like $60 bucks a night… So this one was not too far (15 miles from Red Rock SP) yet reasonable – We paid $160  week. The campground itself is OK. The internet is not so reliable, and although we have phone service here, we do not get 3G. Sites are close together, but the campground is not full. it’s ‘’OK’.

Saturday, March 5th, 2011 – Now today is the cherry in the cream day. Hiking in Sedona. Patti was a little skeptic about this area. When we drove up here, we climbed to 4,000 ft above sea level, and Patti saw nothing spectacular except from mountains all around. Today she was surprised. Very surprised.
Let’s start with the fact that she feels great! and that is great by itself!. After waking up and getting our coffee, we were ready to go to the Red Rock Park. According to my friends in Phoenix, this is the Jewel in the crown. so I thought – if I want to get Patti excited – this is a good place to start. We started with the Red Rock State Park. A short hike of about 2 miles took us to excellent view points over the Cathedral Rocks in the Red Rock country of this area. We took the Coyote trail that climbed up the mountain for better views, while I am playing with my new camera, and Patti is learning my old one.
Our next stop was the best part of the day. In the upper loop road there is a turn to the Crescent Moon Ranch – Red Rock Crossing. There we could walk along the river, step on red rocks and enjoy the spectacular views that you see throughout this post.
There are many more places to see around here, and we plan to go out at least once more, if not twice before we leave towards CA, but tomorrow – work day, Got to catch up!
See? Got lots to write about this time. Wow - did you read all of that? With all the happening and the move and Patti not feeling the best – I could not find time to write the last couple days, so all came out today
Anyways, thanks for reading and following us, and see you next time