View from Room 237, Sky View Lodge, Sedona Arizona. |
My wife and I don't usually pop for a room with a view. The idea being that we aren't planning to spend time in the hotel room, gazing out the window. Instead we'll be outside, experiencing whatever place we are visiting. Stow the luggage, grab a map and get out of there. By the time we get back, it's dark. So why waste the money?
But something told us to pony up — and it wasn't much; an extra $50 a night, maybe — for a room at the Sky Ranch Lodge in Sedona, Arizona facing Red Rock State Park and, well, just look at it. Our first morning here we took our coffee on the porch and, honestly, for a moment I thought of suggesting we not go anywhere. Spend the day sitting here. Because really, what could be better than this?
That was a dumb idea, as we found out when we tore ourselves away and spend a delightful three hours exploring the trails off the Sugar Loaf trail head. We pretty much had the place to ourselves — it's off season here in Arizona, meaning the temperature is in the 40s — balmy compared to Chicago — and we passed other hikers about once every 20 minutes. If that.
I've been hankering for such a place. The old familiar rooms and vistas are nice. But after a while, you just want to see something incredible. At least I do. The restorative thing about nature, besides the sheer physical beauty, and the physical exertion it takes to clomp through it, is its utter timelessness. The view of Castle Rock is the same now as it was 5,000 years ago, or 5,000 years from now, for that matter, and our petty worries of the moment are reduced to frost on a stone. Thanks nature, I needed that.
I should add that the people at Sky Ranch Lodge were exceptionally nice — from Larry, who drove the shuttle van, to the kids behind the desk, suggesting hikes and restaurants. I've been to too many places where the staff are so busy daydreaming about whatever they imagine their calling may be when they finally find a way to escape the hospitality business that they forget their job right now is to make you feel welcome. Not here. Our comings and goings were marked by a fanfare of friendliness.
The same red buttes provided background for George Herriman's classic comic. |
I brought up the subject to one of the managers, and he suggested it is because the Sky Ranch has been family-owned since 1982. That makes sense to me. When it's y0ur own business, you tend to run it better. With the possible exception of this one here, which certainly has been phoned in the past week while I've been having some R & R out West (in Coconino County. "Krazy Kat country!" I enthused when we passed a sign). So thank you for indulging me, and not complaining too much, and I'll be back in Chicago soon, doing what I do best. Or at least do well enough to get by.
I love it up there this time of year. Prescott, Flagstaff . All the places.
ReplyDeleteWe were planning a trip to Sedona one year but it was July and the 110° temperatures scared us off. I wouldn't mind being there right now.
ReplyDeletelucky you
ReplyDeleteI hitchhiked (you could do that then) from SIU Carbondale in 1972 to visit my brother in Tucson. I was so taken with the vastness of the Western landscape compared to Chicago. Chicago is a great place to make money, form friendships with names that go back years, and enjoy world glass dining and entertainment. Arizona is as good as it gets for outside adventure, hiking, biking, camping, exploring. We return at lease once a year. Nature is religion to us.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful. I hope you took more. The lighting feels different in a place like Sedona. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
ReplyDeletethat place looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt really is beautiful there. You are not missing much here in Chicago right now, except for some character building. Safe travels! Mary
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the first time I visited the Grand Canyon (50 years ago) and stood on the rim looking at a breathtaking view. While taking it all in, I heard noises I couldn’t quite identify. Turns out I was listening to the wind in the trees. Never heard that sounds like that while living in the Southside.
ReplyDeleteYou have a stunning view. Relax and enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteNow I know where Ignatz got all those rocks,
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I don't usually request a room with a view, either. Sometimes we luck out...most times, we don't. Seattle was gray and foggy, but the view was impressive. Philly had some nice old buildings. In Manhattan, our glorious view of the nearby Chrysler building made the tiny, narrow room (mostly filled by the bed) look like a movie backdrop. Especially after dark.
ReplyDeleteAll my Chicago connections have moved or died or become estranged. My city has changed so much in thirty-plus years, but I'm not exactly a stranger in a strange land. More like a tourist now...but one who's spent a lot of time there. Thirty-six years' worth.
Got the classic tourist's city view during my last two visits, albeit from a dozen miles away, at the Holiday Inn in Evanston. The whole megillah...from northwest Indiana to the downtown skyline (so much bigger...and wider...since I left), my old Evanston neighborhoods... late night "L" trains rattling by in a shower of blue and white sparks...Metra commuter trains roaring past... and even all the way out to the winking and blinking at O'Hare.
Amazing what a lousy ten stories can do, in a city that's pool-table flat. Not as stunning as the mountains of Arizona, perhaps, but the full moon rising out of the lake wasn't bad, either.
I usually stop missing my hometown after a few days.
This last time? It took about three weeks.
$50 a night is a bargain. I would advise anyone making the drive from Phoenix to Sedona, convince someone else to do the driving so you can fully enjoy the scenery along the way. BTW, if you take a ocean cruise, schedule it during a full moon, if you can. Watching a full moon rise on the dark ocean is a singular experience. Do not be late, the first minutes are the best.
ReplyDeleteI might not have been clear: $50 a night MORE.
DeleteYes, I got it. You can't get a fleabag motel in Bumfuck Arkansas for $50. My fault for assuming 'more' was understood.
DeleteWelcome to AZ Neil! Visiting Sedona during the off season is very smart. The place is annoying enough when busy that the views almost aren't worth the effort. The red rocks are mesmerizing even after seeing them for the 7th or 8th time!
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't want to be there in the summer. Try New Mexico, mild winter, not as boiling hot and the politics are good. Plus the Sandia Mts. make for a nice view.
ReplyDeleteYes! Albuquerque! Looks like a nice town. Didn't realize it has doubled in size since I was there in '68, on the way to California for the first time. It had about a quarter of a million residents then. And the Sandia Mountains were quite impressive to a flatlander from Chicago. (SG)
DeleteI'd steer clear of Albuquerque unless it was a day trip. Not a place you want to be at night that's for sure. The outskirts aren't too bad but it's real breaking badish there
DeleteThe place to go is silver City, New Mexico. I only say that out loud because they need the tourist money. It's the gateway to the gila wilderness.
The Aldo Leopold national Forest is an incredible place. The gila wilderness is 165,000 acres of no roads. No structures. No nothing that wasn't like it. It was before white people got here
If there is a view to be had, ask to for that. Often, it doesn't cost more.
ReplyDelete