Yesterday wasn’t too chocked full of adventures; the girls (Bri and Brandi) had to leave us to head back to the doldrums of Minnesota.

Stopped by a nice little Mexican place in the Hilltop area called Javelina Cantina where the girls feasted on the finest Mexican cuisine and I engaged in a battle with a pork adobo sandwich layered with cheese lettuce and tomatoes, smothered in guacamole, creme fraiche, and cumin aioli on some toasted bread. I only ordered it because I love to say aioli. Needless to say the sandwich won and my pants lost. From now on its fork and knife meals for me.

We headed down the strip to visit Mooney’s Irish Pub at the end to enjoy a cold frosty beverage before making the trek down to the airport to provide relocation services for the girls.

The trip down to the valley was uneventful. Saw several law enforcement officials along the way. I can now boast that I did not make any new friends on the trip down to the airport or the trip back up to heaven. All in all a boring trip.

We finished the night in our usual location – the deck watching the sunset across the red rocks and making plans for the day when we can stay for much longer periods of time.

Several years back, we took a hike up Cathedral Rock and didn’t really think much of it at the time. We have a new goal to hike as many of the trails as Sedona has to offer and decided that we would start accomplishing that goal by going back to where it all started.

Woke up this morning, and after getting a little work in, we loaded up the water pack, slipped on the old hikers, grabbed the hiking poles and headed out to locate the trail head.

Cathedral Rock boasts some of the most awe inspiring views of both Sedona, (see the new pictures in the galleries under the “hiking” section) and the neighboring village of Oak Creek. This is a short, steep climb into the saddle points or “gaps” of Cathedral Rock. The towering side rocks keep the saddle points shaded and breezy; but the lower portion of the trail is bare red rock with total sun exposure. Though the actual hike is only 1.5 miles up and back, you gain about 600 feet in elevation along the way; some of the trails up are fairly steep and it takes a little to navigate them but the view at the top is so worth the climb.

The climb up was something else. Took us about 2 hours to get up and about 30 minutes to get back down. Time for a little lunch and a beer or two at a local watering hole called the Full Moon Saloon in the Village of Oak Creek.

A quick buzz through the grocery store for a couple more provisions, then back to the hacienda for a steak dinner and yep, more deck dwelling.

I love this place.