What a beautiful day and an awesome adventure! We slept in just a little this morning and then had a leisurely breakfast out on the patio. And then, wonder of wonders for Arizona, a storm came up! The sky turned dark, and it began to rain. Then we heard the thunder, not too close but not far away either. The rain cooled everything off. I actually had to come inside and put on long sweat pants and socks. We finished our breakfast about the same time the storm finished its work. The rain left everything sweet-smelling and fresh. The sun and the birds resumed their places. The birds’ songs seemed to be saying, “Thank you, thank you, for the rain.” They were especially happy! And so was I. I so love a storm!
We soon left for our excursion into the Arizona wilderness around Clarksdale, about 30 minutes from Sedona. We arrived early and had lunch at the train depot. We had a little bit of a wait because we were told to arrive early for the train. I think they did this so people would have to eat lunch there. A chicken sandwich or cheeseburger, a bag of chips, and a drink were $8.50. (rip-off!) The food was good, though. We also had refreshments on the train because we had a first class ticket. Because of our ticket, we also got to go out into the open-air car. People who had a coach ticket couldn’t. I was so glad I had a first class ticket. It was entirely different outside. I told Paul that inside we could “see” the mountains and wilderness, but in the open-air car we could experience it. (It actually rained on us twice, but we didn’t care.) It was almost like being on the river in the pontoon book except the train rocked back and forth more. I was glad I had taken two Dramamine this morning! Of course, we couldn’t get as close to the walls of the mountains as we could in the canyon either. For that reason, I liked the rafting trip better. I’m glad I got an opportunity to do both, though.
We met a sweet girl named Brandi who was our guide in the open-air car. She found out we were from North Carolina and that started our conversations. She wants to go back to NC and study with the pottery artists up in the mountains. She has also been to the Outer Banks and loves it there as well. We told her if she ever made it back to NC and needed a place to stay to look us up since we have plenty of room.
On the way back we rode up (and I do mean UP!) into a little town called Jerome that Brandi had told us about. The town looked a lot like Port Deposit, Maryland, where we used to live when Paul was in the Navy. There were lots of little artists’ shops up there. (Up there means an elevation of 6,000 feet.) She had wanted us to see this one artist’s quilts up there after she found out I was a quilter. Her quilts were pretty, but I’ve seen prettier. One of her wall hangings was about 25” by 30” and sold for $1200.00. (That is NOT a typo.) Twelve hundred dollars is right. I’m going to go home and start quilting again! (Ok, I was going to do that anyway.) I have some quilts in mind for Christmas presents, and I want to make a southwestern quilt made from fabrics I intend to buy tomorrow from a local quilt shop. I haven’t made up my mind yet what I want to buy, however. We stopped in there briefly on our way to the train, but I didn’t have time to do any serious shopping. That’s good, though, because I can think about it until tomorrow.
The pictures of the rainbows were taken on our drive back into Sedona. What a beautiful reminder that our days do indeed belong to God, and that He is the One responsible for all the wonder around us. His covenant with us is for here and now on Earth and will last into eternity. I’m so thankful I’m His child and He’s my daddy!
No comments:
Post a Comment