Sedona

8.10. In Prescott, after an hour's drive, we find a great breakfast spot: a small bakery café. It has many guests and a few of them start to play music and sing. We can join in and sing along with one or two songs, and not just us, the whole café joins in! Since we want to reserve our Jeep for White Pocket, we ask the owner if we can use her phone. Her friend offers us her phone to call Page Jeep Rentals, the only remaining 4x4 rental company. Shockingly, all the Jeeps are booked until next week and I'm very sad that I won't be able to visit this beautiful place. On the drive through Jerome, a mining town on the hillside (reminiscent of French or Italian mountain villages), I can't shake the thought, and we try to adjust our route at the public library in Cottonwood so that we can make it to White Pocket in a week. Otherwise, we don't want to waste any time, since our flight from Denver is already booked. It takes us three hours and 5 more phone calls to adjust the route so that White Pocket is possible. We are happy!

A bit more driving and two planned stops that we can't make, but the weather is on our side. We can also let Erik (the naturalist we met in the Redwoods) know where and when we will be on the road to meet up again.

After that, we drive to Sedona, an incredibly beautiful place nestled amidst tall canyon walls and rock formations. The tourism there is likely at its limits, with cars, people, and hotels everywhere. It's not surprising that people come here, the nature is breathtaking, but the traffic jams and crowded parking lots do dampen the experience a bit.

We visit three places with different views before leaving Sedona again due to lack of accommodation options. Of course, we have to celebrate the disappointment in the local brewery with a flight ;).

Amelia drives another 1.5 hours to Flagstaff, where we find a spot at a KOA campground.

At least that means a warm shower tomorrow morning!