Thanksgiving in Sedona, AZ

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope you all had a nice time with your family and friends. We are so thankful to be on this trip of a lifetime!

Camp Verde, AZ
November 27, 2013

Welcome to Arizona!  Today we’re going to a castle…on a cliff!  Me and Tyler weren’t that excited, and for a good reason too.  It was just an old castle.  My Mom kept trying to get pictures.  Tyler kept trying to escape, but I let my Mom take pictures.  The castle was so boring that I am even bored reading this.  Ok, so why they lived on the cliff was because they didn’t want their homes to be flooded and it was near a pond.  When we were done, our parents asked how we liked it.  It wasn’t that exciting to me and Tyler.

~Jack

We left Flagstaff at almost noon.  We just had a short drive down into the Sedona/Camp Verde area.  We found Montezuma’s Castle National Park and decided to pay it a visit. Montezuma Castle is a five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling that sits in a recessed area into the cliffs.  And the dwellings weren’t a castle at all, but a multi-family “prehistoric high rise apartment complex”.

The National Park's have a Jr. Ranger program, perfect for homeschooling!

This is a diorama of what the inside looked like.

Here is some info I found online:

An ancient Indian Tribe called the Sinaquas (Spanish for without water) who built the cliff dwellings called Montezuma Castle about 700 years ago in the early 1300s. And for unknown reasons, the Sinaqua abandoned their habitat in this Verde Valley Arizona area in the 1400s. Maybe they had over extended agricultural pressure on the land. Perhaps there was a lengthy drought or they could have been eliminated through conflict with the Yavapai Indians that still exist today. If there were any Sinaqua survivors, they were likely absorbed into other Indian Tribes to the north.

Interestingly, the name Montezuma Castle was a mistaken name. Early settlers who discovered the cliff dwelling ruins erroneously connected them to the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but in-fact the Sinaqua ruins had been abandoned a hundred years before Montezuma was even born.  No doubt the Sinaqua were daring builders having scaled the high cliffs to carve-out a recessed area into the limestone walls to erect these strongly built dwellings high above overlooking the Beaver Creek area just a few miles from what is now known as Camp Verde Arizona.  It took ladders to climb to Montezuma Castle and as the Sinaqua reached each level, the ladders made their way to the cliff community making it difficult for enemy tribes to penetrate the natural defense of straight-vertical barriers.

We settled into another nice campground for the night and were treated to an amazing sunset...

I wish I had a better vantage point, but it does give a sense of scale.

Thanksgiving Day

Today we are going on a hike!  It’s at a place called Buddha Beach!  Oh and it’s Thanksgiving too!  I almost forgot.  This should be fun.  I wasn’t surprised to see that it was a hike through the woods.  That’s where Tyler found his walking stick.  There was a brook to, so I found myself climbing trees that were hanging over the water.  Once I was done climbing, and my Mom was done taking pictures, we moved on.  Up next was amazing.  It was almost like petrified sand. It was orange looking rock covering the ground.  There were a lot of people meditating there.  After that there were stacks of rocks called totems.  We made our mark and made our own too.  I put a leaf in mine so I could recognize it. We moved on, but Tyler forgot his stick!  He went back and saw that another kid took it.  I tried to cheer him up by finding an awesome, multi-use stick, but he wouldn’t take it.  It became my stick.  There was a little pond, and when we got there we decided to turn around.  It looked like the kid forgot to take the stick too, so that cheered Tyler up.  We were exhausted!  So, we stored our walking sticks and headed back for a Thanksgiving feast, fortunately provided by the RV Park.

~Jack

Today, was a nice change of pace from our usual Thanksgiving routine.  I love being with the big family and all, but, being in Sedona rocked! This place has the ultimate WOW factor!  We took a nice hike in Red Rock Crossing with spectacular views of Cathedral Rock and and nice hike to Buddha Beach.  Some people say that there are special places in Sedona, Arizona—vortex sites—where the energy is particularly powerful and transformative;

One reason why hiking is the perfect way to experience Sedona’s vortex sites is because hiking connects us not only with nature but also with ourselves, says Dennis Andres, author, guide and founder of Sedona Private Guides.  “Hiking gets us breathing.  Breathing gets us feeling.  Feeling brings us to the present moment.  That is why hiking around sacred places in Sedona is fun, spiritual and rejuvenating,”  Being in the presence of natural beauty is known to be nourishing to the body and spirit. “To some people hiking will bring a sense of peace; to others it is more of a thrill.  One thing is for certain, everyone seems to feel better for having done it,” adds Andres.

People who have visited Sedona’s vortex sites often report feeling tremendous vitality, unexpected energy and increased physical stamina, a sense of euphoria and a feeling of wellbeing.  Many choose to sit quietly once they get to a vortex site and enjoy the views; others meditate or pray. Everyone experiences vortex energy in individual ways, depending on their inclination and sensitivity.
“I feel that it’s not important what spot you are standing on as what is going on inside you wherever you are standing,” says Andres.  “If you appreciate the natural beauty around you, you’ll surely have a beneficial experience.”

This rocky beach near Oak Creek in the shadow of Cathedral Rock is thought to be a powerful vortex. Many people make these rock cairns at what is known at Buddha Beach, either for offering their prayers and intentions, or just for fun.

We were going to spend the night in Sedona, but the campground was full. We ended up back at last night's campsite and were treated to a nice Thanksgiving meal, all prepared and being served in the Community Room. Scott was fully prepared to cook, but, we probably would have been eating late, so this was a nice treat and everyone was so welcoming and friendly.

Just got back from a nice soak in the hot tub and we are all ready for bed! Not sure if we will stick around for another day or head up to the Grand Canyon!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

~Linda