Well, the big day has finally arrived and we started the day at the un-godly hour of 3:45. Yes, that is AM!!! We arrived at the airport for a 6am flight and had no major problems with check in, screening or the first flight to Atlanta.
We arrived at Atlanta on time and had about an hour to wait for our flight to Phoenix. Again that flight was uneventful (thank you travel Gods!) although we were in a three seat row and the woman on the end threatened to talk our ears off. Thankfully we had books AND headphones to listen to the plane's XM satellite radio. She still tried to start conversations but with one word answers and just a few grunts, she stopped trying. Take a hint, lady!
We arrived in Phoenix way ahead of schedule. We were supposed to land at 11:40 but got there at 10:20. There is a 3 hour difference from NY to AZ.
The Phoenix airport seemed to be an endless taxi from landing to getting off the plane. I thought we would never get there. It was a loooooooong taxi. So after we got off our bags just happened to literally be the first two on the carousel and we booked across the street to catch the shuttle to the car rental place. That was a 10-minute drive.
When we arrived at the car rental place, Jim had his Emerald Club card and we were told by one of the employees to take our pick from 3 different cars. No check in or anything. Nothing to sign, no forms of ID to show. We could have chosen a Pontiac V6, Toyota Camry, or a Toyota Corolla. We chose the Corolla. It's exactly like mine except the color is black. We were in a parking garage and drove to the exit where they finally asked for our id's and gave us the paperwork.
We drove through mostly hilly and barren landscape with lots of cacti, palm trees, and shrubs and lots of red dirt. When we got into Sedona there were plenty of red rock formations. Simply amazing!!!! The hotel room wasn't quite ready so we asked where there was a restaurant. There was one right next door to the Best Western Sedona and it was called Judi's.
The food and atmosphere was inviting, cozy and lovely. I had grilled cheese with 3 cheeses and lace fries. Jim had potato tacos (no meat) and salad. When Jim was done the waitress actually asked Jim if he wanted another one, much like a mother would ask a son if he wanted more to eat. Both of us were shocked because we've never had that happen. For dessert Jim had bread pudding and I had carrot cake. Jim said it was one of the top two best bread pudding and my carrot cake was absolutely the best. I also tried a hot butter rum. I wasn't sure I'd like it and Jim was sure I wasn't but it was terrific.
So now we are at the hotel and ready to crash for a while. We'll nap and then mosey on around Sedona, take some pics, and enjoy ourselves. By the way, the heat is oppressive but I'm actually not sweating. It's so dry and not humid at all. It's very bizarre. Jim says it's exactly the same in Baghdad where he lived for 2 years.
More later my friends,
paul
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