Sedona

Red rocks, western themed buildings, and hippies.

Sedona: a name, a place I've heard of for a few years now without ever stepping foot in it. I never really had the faintest idea when I would find myself under the red sun here, yet here I am now, and surely I'll be back. I wasn't keen on doing a long hike or run given that it was hot and my knee was still asking for time off. I settled on a local trail system near the town center. The dirt roads weren’t as friendly as I had believed, and it was the first time I'd be driving my van on roads under those conditions.Truthfully, I'm not the most experienced off-road driver, and it puts me in quite a nervous position. My brain instantly focuses on what can go wrong, and if something does go wrong, I wonder how in the world I will fix it. Pots, pans, a cooler, and random artifacts one keeps in a van were flying all over as I drove over these mangled roads; my stove went flying across the rug. "Boom, bang" is the only thing I could hear behind the curtain.The whole drive to the trailhead was rough on my old van, but I trusted her, as one must when driving a '96 Club Wagon through the desert.

I found the parking site, hopped out, and just smiled as I felt the sun warming my skin. I couldn’t help but think that all is well on my side of the world—for now.