Las Vegas, NV --> Sedona, AZ

Sabbatical Day 3 |  May 30, 2011 - Memorial Day
Las Vegas, NV --> Sedona, AZ

Today has been kind of hit and miss - and definitely more of an adventure than I thought it would be!! But, at the end of the day, I have this to say about Arizona so far: a. They love their roundabouts very very much (Seriously, they do!! In the stretch that we traveled across Sedona, I think we went through more roundabouts than there are in the entire state of Utah!) and b. The stars here are abso-freaking-lutely GORGEOUS! I could lay down on the ground, look up at the sky for 5 minutes, and die absolutely happy. Breathtaking.

Unfortunately, we got a late start (Sorry honey :0(  ) due to a chain reaction of events which, of course, started with getting up a little later than planned (in my defense, I'm still trying to figure out how to be a 'day walker'). First, I forgot to give Matt the car keys when I went back into the casino to run an errand and so I had to walk back to give him those, and then I had to run my errand, and then the Starbucks people kind of dilly dallied. We did eventually get on the road, and our first stop was to go to Tokyo Discount so that I could get a few more friends for Domo so he wasn't lonely on the trip. Unfortunately, we missed our turn to get to the store and due to Memorial Day traffic, that resulted in an extra hour of travel time. BUT we finally found the store and now Domo has a few more friends to keep him company! You should see them throughout the trip lol!!

We "kinda" went to Hoover Dam (read: we passed the exit sign that said "Hoover Dam"). We thought that we would be able to see it from the bridge so we didn't turn off to actually see the dam.. As Sabrina would say: "False". Didn't get to see the dam from the bridge. Apparently it's one of those things that doesn't have a 'drive by' version. Oh well. Maybe on another trip. It WAS fun to listen to the channel on AM radio about the Hoover Dam and the 'Dam' tour and other 'Dam' information - cleaver play on words!

After our brush with the Hoover Dam, we went to 3,333.33 FT Above Sea Level in Kingman, AZ. Kinda lame. It was more fun to see the sign about Route. 66 and the locomotive across the street. After, we did drive down Route 66 for a little bit and then we headed to Seligman, AZ to the Roadkill Cafe. Matt is pretty sure he saw a bear on the way - I'm pretty positive that it was a chocolate milk producing cow. Said debate did result in some pretty priceless banter. Needless to say, we had to compromise and refer to it as a UGO - 'Unidentified Grazing Object'. I saw some antelope too...

Roadkill Cafe = fun to say that you were there but the food isn't anything to write home about. Matt was kind of disappointed that there wasn't any truth in advertising. There was a 'Bambi Burger' on the kids menu - but it was just beef hamburger. Dang it! It shoulda been made of deer meat!  Pretty sure I wouldn't have eaten the wings if they were real bat wings though - blegch!

After dinner we headed to Sedona. A little back story first. We refer to Matt's dad's GPS unit as 'Matt's Girlfriend', or 'the b*tch', because, well, it's a woman's voice - and she nags, and then she gets all cranky when she has to recalculate the route. I swear!! Anyway, that in and of itself is very entertaining for the two of us when we travel. Anyway, she told Matt to take 89A into Sedona. So he did. However, we didn't stay on the freeway version of 89 - we took the "scenic" version. Which added a good 30 minutes to our ride. AND it was full of suicidal deer eating alongside the road (at least 8 that we saw) and twists and turns - think hairpin turns, high rock walls, trees, etc. Oh and pitch black and a two lane road.  For my Vermont friends -- think East Hill Rd. past my old house on the way to the Conrad's - but add steep rock walls, and drops on the opposite side. For my Utah friends: think Parley's only a helluva lot narrower. For those in between: think - roller coaster through the dark with animal threats  LOL  We made it to Sedona around 9:30 pm and found the only McDonald's in the world (literally) that does not have yellow arches - they are teal. I also discovered that they have a chocolate banana milkshake. Totally had to try it. Don't tell Weight Watchers!  Then we navigated the 8 billion roundabouts and found our hotel. 

Dear Matt's Mom - you would be in heaven here!! It's kokopelli EVERYTHING! What made it even more perfect is that within direct line of site of our room is a store called "Maria's". Oh, and it's surrounded by rose bushes.  It's fate -- you were meant to come stay here sometime!

So - though there were some opportunities for improvement on the day, it was a great day. The sun was out the entire day and it was the perfect temperature. We got some great pictures and we had some funny conversations during the drive - that's the whole point right??   Tomorrow we are going to try to hit up Bearizona. You guys will DIE when you see this!! I CAN'T WAIT!!