Sedona via Flagstaff

On day two of our Flagstaff three day weekend a couple of weeks ago, Kate and I took a side trip into Sedona, which is about an hour outside of Flagstaff. This photo was taken by Kate, from inside Mother Box (that's my car's name) on the way there going through the beautiful Coconino National forest.
Another beautiful mountain around the Sedona region. The closer one gets into Sedona, the rock / mountain landscape takes on similarities to our Red Rock and Valley Of Fire regions, and anyone who has been to those places knows what wondrous spaces they are that transports one to really different terrains.
Since Kate and I were only spending part of our day that day in Sedona, we decided to take a trolley tour of the area to get a better overview and I'd recommend doing that for everyone first going to Sedona so that you can enjoy the scenery without worrying about watching the road (and then you could go back and explore the areas you especially liked at length on your own). Our tour guide told us that over 64% of people who visit the Flagstaff / Sedona area come to experience the vortexes (of which Sedona has four major ones - none of which Kate and I got to check out this time), which are supposed to have some weird kind of energy experiences around them (more so if you're a new-agey sort and or have the right drugs on you).
Our trolley tour in Sedona took us to this impressive structure, Chapel Of The Holy Cross, and it is a beautiful building with beautiful viewpoints all around regardless of one's religious or lack of religious beliefs.
I love these bilious clouds over the gorgeous Sedona mountains.

Sedona is definitely a touristy town (population about 12,000), but I'd definitely go back there some day to do some actual hiking, check out a vortex, and explore the numerous art galleries around the town (it looked like there was a lot of cool sculptures). On the way back into Flagstaff, Kate and I had a late lunch at this great vegan restaurant on the outskirts of Sedona called D'Lish with food so good I wanted to marry it.