Road Trip, Day 3

Ah, Sedona. Just gorgeous!

Paige and I had gotten-in extremely late from the day of traveling across Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico (wait, wait... there's a NEW Mexico?!?) and half of Arizona. So, we slept-in, then enjoyed some complimentary waffles at the Kokopelli Inn, just south of Sedona.

Paige and I then tooled around looking for some odd supplies as we were planning our next three days of hiking. This took much longer than expected, and so we didn't get out to where we were planning to go hiking, Secret Canyon, until after noon.

One thing I forgot about Secret Canyon was that the road leading up to the trailhead was not paved. Not a big deal you might think, however my car was also filled to the brim with stuff, with the trunk sagging about 4 inches from normal. Also, this was not your prototypical dirt road. More like a dry creek. It had huge rocks and bumps and gashes in the road that would make driving on a flat version difficult. Yet, this one was not flat. Needless to say, the Pontiac's trip down to Secret Canyon for 20 minutes was about as harrowing a drive I have been on.

SO, when Paige and I finally got to the trail, it was like in the middle of the day and over 95 degrees. We hiked for about an hour in the desert before, saying screw-it, and heading back. It wasn't that the hiking was difficult, but more that we were worried about my car bursting into flames. I mean, the Pontiac is black, and the sun seems to like that color. Paige was also concerned about getting to the Grand Canyon in time tonight for a camping spot. Unfortunately, all of this worrying resulted in us not even actually seeing Secret Canyon or David Miller Pass.

We then returned to the car. There we found that my steel wine rack which inadvertently laying against the window, had begun to glow orange. The rain poncho next to it had melted into a gummy material. Fortunately, the car started, and then Paige and I made our way back to the HWY. Unfortunately, the enginge was overheating, so we had to make due without air conditioning. Not a fun ride.

Paige and I then took the scenic route out of Sedona, north to Flagstaff. We stopped at an scenic overview of Oak Creek Canyon, and then plotted our next moves. Seeing the trouble we were having with hiking away from our car, packed to the brim, we decided to find a hotel in Flagstaff for the night, make a day of it at the GC tomorrow, and then spend an extra day in Las Vegas. This made Paige very happy, as well as the Pontiac... or so we thought.