Sedona - The Arrival

Monday June 7th

Journey from York to Sedona.


The journey started at York station. The taxi dropped me off at 7.50. Plenty of time to get the papers and drag my luggage to platform three. Simple journeys are more difficult when you have luggage.
For two day before this I had been updating my wardrobe with clothes suitable for the high temperatures I'd been told to expect in Arizona - The Grand Canyon State.
Train on time - underground from Kings Cross to Paddington for the Heathrow Express. Luggage - or baggage as it will soon be called is a real hassle on the underground. Heathrow Express clearly designed for cases and bags as well as people. Arrived Terminal 4 in plenty of time and met up with Rupert within minutes. He'd travelled from Hull on an earlier train.
Everything went smoothly - really no problems from here to Sedona.
Good seats on the plane 747-400 to Phoenix. Rupert and I got down to business early in the flight. Lots of notes about how the project progresses from here. Exciting stuff and that's before we get to the Digital Storytelling Festival.
At Phoenix we transfer to a shuttle bus. Just the two of us and a driver for the 2 hour drive north to the red mountains. Scenery around Phoenix was uninspring despite mountain ranges close by. It was hot 40 degrees C (100F). On the outskirts of the city we transferred to a Lincoln Sedan. Leather seats, air con, local radio playing and a tailor made commentary from the driver on the journey. We were in America - me for the first time - but somehow it was not yet real. Alongside the highway saguaro cacti grew. Just like in the cowboy movies or on the sleeve of the Joshua Tree album. They'd been there for a long time. The driver said that they didn't grow side branches until they were 100 years old - so some of these were very old. They are protected too - if you damage one you can be prosecuted. The ground was dusty and sandy yellow. The road climbed into the mountains. We were soon at 3000 feet. Overtaking huge trucks reminded us that we were in a big country. Flags flew at half mast in honour of the death of Ronald Regan. The driver said he was a good president. The best they've had in recent years.

Red rocks sprang from the earth as the car approached Sedona. The change was dramatic. Every turn in the road revealed another picture postcard view. Red rocks against deep blue skies. Our mouths literally dropped open. It was a beautiful sight. All the buildings of the small communities around Sedona blended into the landscape. Planning rules are strict here. No street lights because they would spoil the view of the stars at night. "You can pick them out of the sky when it goes dark here," the driver enthused about the town he now called home. Enticed by the beauty his family had sold up in Phoenix and moved to this place where the cheapest property is about $600,000. Churches were pointed out to us with some enthusiasm "There's a lot of them - that's a good thing" Rupert asked about the vortexes he'd read about. The driver was less enthusiastic about the New Age religions that were turning Sedona into a haven for seekers of spiritual experiences. "Do you have New Age religions in England too?" he asked. They had certainly arrived in Sedona - streetside signs offered healing, massage, readings, vortex visits, native indian remedies and a host of other alternative cures for the the American way of life.
But it was the rocks that turned our heads as the car pulled into the driveway of the hotel. We'd been on the journey for 22 hours at this point. My watch showed 4am - here it was 8pm and the hotel clerk couldn't find our room reservation. I had to add room at this point because reservation here generally means an area governed by the native indians. That's another culture to begin to understand during the visit. No record of our booking could be found - after what seemed too long we were given rooms. A meal at the nearest diner. Half asleep already but it was delicious. I waited up till 10pm and gave Joan a 6am wake up call. I'd arrived. I sank into the pillow and slept. Outside it's America.