Sedona: A place deserving of it’s own solo update post. We spent five nights just outside of Sedona at the charming Cave Springs Campground<\/a> in the Oak Creek Canyon. It served as the perfect base of operations for exploring the area, whilst providing an excellent setting for just chilling out. Little known fact: the ancient Roman’s so loved the color of the Sedona cliffs, they created the first transatlantic trade route all of the way back to Rome just for decorating their palaces with the gorgeous stone.<\/p>\n Ignoring the one night in the parking lot of the gift shop at the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Monument, the Sedona area was our first real Arizona destination. (We did not actually go into the Petrified Forest, as we were in a hurry to get a first-come-first-served spot in the campground near Sedona. We were told by several fine people that we err’ed here, and should have spent some time in there, as it is supposedly super sweet.)<\/p>\n The drive into Sedona from Flagstaff down the Oak Creek Canyon is windy and gorgeous. By the time you hit Uptown Sedona, you are starting to get the picture that yes, yes this is a special place. The iconic red cliffs start to spring up around you the closer you get, and once you crest over the hill on the road through Uptown Sedona the scene unfolds like some metaphor that I can’t think of right now. No matter though, no metaphor would do the scene justice, just as none of the photos taken by me, or anyone else for that matter, can do this place justice. If you never see it with your own eyes, you will die with an incomplete life.<\/p>\n The Cave Springs Campground is located pretty much at the halfway point Flagstaff and Sedona. (There are no caves, springs, or cave springs.) Before the red cliffs jumped out as us, the first thing that caught our attention once we hit the area was the return of trees. We heard there was a tree somewhere in New Mexico, but we never saw it. This campground was full of trees, just as the rest of the Oak Creek Canyon was. Can you guess what type of trees they were? Yup, you guessed it, pines. We showed up here on a Tuesday around noon and had no trouble getting a spot, but by the time we left on Sunday, it was full up. There were no hookups there, so we ran out of water in our water tank, but there were plenty of drinking water faucets scattered around. The creek that is the namesake of the canyon, as well as the creator of it, runs through the camp. Its waters are crystal clear, cold and now contain one less trout because of the cunning fishermanship of your’s truly. We met some nice people here, but we did not meet the people who stole our firewood the first day, nor the people who stole our long dog leash attached to the picnic table the last day.<\/p>\n Click here for all of the Cave Springs Campground photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first night after getting settled into the campground we headed down into Sedona to get the lay of the land.<\/p>\n Allow me to quickly introduce a new feature from the creators of Vicaribus: Quick Runs. These will be short time lapse views of parts of the drive we find interesting. Our first Quick Run<\/a> takes us from Cave Springs Campground down to, and around, Sedona.<\/p>\n<\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/vicarib.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/vicaribus-06281.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1\")
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