Last night was terrible. We got maybe 3 hours of sleep. The room was overheated, the fan didn’t work and drunks were stumbling noisily around the hotel all night. On top of that, I try to convince myself that ghosts don’t exist, or if they do they wouldn’t want to bother me ... creepy.
As pretty a hotel as it is, we have to leave. Sleep is more important.
We hopefully enquire whether a quieter room is available. But of course they are fully booked.
We say good bye to Hotel Monte Vista and go to breakfast at Macy’s - an amazing vegetarian cafe with soothing coffee, nutritious tofu scramble burritos and devilish bagels with the most delicious, freshest cream cheese I have ever tasted - to work out our plan of attack.
After breakfast and a quick internet search we start looking for a new place to stay for the night. We have planned two more nights in Flagstaff and desperately want to enjoy them. After wandering for two hours - seeing a bed and breakfast that just looked like someone's smelly house and another heritage hotel where the woman at the front desk basically told us that staying at this hotel would guarantee that we wouldn’t sleep for two nights straight because of the noise - we stumbled across the Motel Du Beau.
We walked into the hostel’s reception, now a bit desperate for accommodation. The woman at the desk was English and lovely. We had a great chat about the pronunciation of letters in America - we have had to OVER pronounce the ‘r’ in Marty’s name otherwise Americans think his name is Matin and look at him strangely. This woman is so friendly and welcoming that when she says she has a room available for the next two nights - at a very cheap price - we instantly say we’ll take it. We pay, continue our lovely conversation, telling her that we are thinking of checking our Sedona today - “oh, you’ll love it! It’s so beautiful out there” - and then happily jump in the car and head out for some sight seeing. Room sorted.
The drive to Sedona seems so short - one hour is nothing now! - and the road winds through dramatically changing scenery. We start in Flagstaff surrounded by ponderosa pines, and as we slowly wind down the mountain, the pines drop away and the scenery becomes swallowed up by red dirt and dramatic rock formations. We have read about the vortexes that are apparently all over the area. This is one of the reasons why Sedona is so popular and why there has been an influx of alternative people and businesses in the area. Vortexes, we read, are channels or areas where Mother Natures’ pure energy explodes out of the ground. The power is so great that is twists trees that grow on the site of the vortexes. You can also feel it as it explodes through the ground. This should be interesting.
We arrive in town and head for the tourist information centre. We browse maps and brochures. There are so many businesses offering vortex related services, from yoga on a vortex tours to tarot card readers to vortex retreats.
We find a map of the area and think we are all set. Just to make sure I ask the helpers, sheepishly, whether the map I have is a good one when looking for vortexes. I expect the old guy I am talking to to look at me strangely, but Sedona knows why it is a popular tourist destination and runs with it. He gives me a more detailed map that has the vortex sites listed. I ask him which vortexes are within an easy walk from the car park - lazy I know - and he tells me of two. After this we get into a conversation about Australia. He has picked up on my accent and tells me his sister lives in Narrabrigh (sp?). Another old guy behind the counter grows interested in our conversation. I tell them that we are road tripping and what we have seen already. They are full of suggestions and excited about our trip. We purchase a park pass - that allows us to legally park and view the sites -, thank the helpful information volunteers and set out to find our first vortex.
The drive is surprisingly short. We park the car and try to decide which path will take us to the vortex location. We decide that a vortex would be located at the top of a hill. We start climbing the closest one. We get to the top and find a few people who seem to have had the same thought. Everyone sits peacefully, and presumably soaking in the vortex mojo. We try it. I feel a bit light headed and tingly all over. It may be the vortex energy or it may be the sweltering heat. I like to think that I was in tune with mother nature and receiving her burst of energy.
We climb down the hill, chat to a couple who ask us what is at the top. We tell we think we found the vortex. The woman laughs and says that the whole area is the vortex. Blast - that means we didn’t even have to climb a hill. She also tells us about he twisted trees and this particular vortex is full of male energy. What an interesting place.
Our next stop is an old church that was built into a mountain. The church is small, pretty and peaceful. People have come here for different reasons. Some are like us and just checking out the sites of Sedona, others seem to be on a pilgrimage.
We then drive to the next vortex site. We arrive in the parking lot and then read the directional sign for the walking path. 6km. It is very hot and we are not wearing sunscreen or good walking shoes. That is a good enough excuse for us - that means it is lunch time.
Marty had picked up a brochure when we were in the tourist information office for a vegan/raw cafe somewhere in town. We drive around for a while before finding it. ChocolaTree is a little oasis. It is cool inside, there is nice music playing and the staff are very welcoming. I wrote about the delicious food in an earlier blog :)
After an amazing and nourishing meal we head back to our new hotel in Flagstaff. We check in to our room, Marty parks the car right in front of the room and we settle in.
For dinner we decide to check out the other all vegetarian restaurant that I found online. It is only a block away from our hotel. The walk is quick, mainly because it is very cold again. The changing temperatures are happening so fast on our trip.
Morning Glory is a small hole in the wall that sits between a heavy metal bar and a pool hall. Walking inside we find welcoming staff and a very laid back vide. The menu is amazing - everything on it sounds delicious, from the vegan burrito to the laksa to the fried rice to the soba noodles! What to have? Marty settles on the fried rice - that comes with dahl and a salad - and I go for the Laksa. The food is delicious. You can taste the love. The restaurant isn’t busy and wish for the owners sake that it was. The food was fantastic, the service so friendly and the vibe very relaxing.
We eat until we are stuffed and then wander back to the hotel. Satisfied and sleepy.
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