Sedona: The third time!

i40 just before the continental divide

Leaving Sante Fe we drove past an RV wash and decided the RV needed to look clean in case anyone looked at it. That night we stopped again at Sky City Casino and spent some time pouring boiling water into our grey water tank in an attempt to unfreeze it. This combined with a wire up the outlet pipe eventually allowed us to drain our near full tank. The next morning we woke to a few inches of fresh snow, so the chance of the RV staying clean were minimal once we hit the interstate. From Sky City the i40 rises 7300 ft to go over the continental divide, it wasn’t long before the snow resumed and started to get worryingly heavy. All of a sudden traffic on the interstate was very thin, trucks

xmas photo opportunity just off the i17

had slowed down and the left hand lane looked very dodgy for driving. The blessing was that there was no wind and it was all quite scenic. Before long we were up and over the pass, and the snow promptly disappeared. Arriving at Flagstaff for the night there had been no snow, even with it’s 6500 ft elevation. That changed overnight and we woke to six inches of fresh snow that was still falling. After a quick trip to Safeway for supplies we headed down the hill to Sedona. Fiona suggested we should take a Christmas photo of us in the snow, so we promptly jumped off the i17, found a perfect location and set up the tripod. Lucky we did because not long after the snow disappeared at 5000 ft. We arrived in Sedona late morning to a sunny and cool day. After all the snow driving the RV was filthy again! That afternoon Rob went for a quick ride on trail that was WET with the dirt offering velcro type grip. A real treat after the very dry and loose dirt that we rode two weeks earlier.

Rain equals wet rock, just trust that there is some grip

We were hoping that the only other Australian RVing family we had met all year, might turn up and spend Christmas in Sedona as well. Symi got her wish and the next evening Brett, Suzie, Maddy and Zac turned up and camped next to us. Rob was happy as well as Brett is a very keen mountain biker and great company on the trail. Of course you can always be braver on the technical Sedona rock when someone else is there. The next few days were spent with the boys riding and kids playing. Fiona and Suzie managed to talk frequently and escape for a few walks.

Kid's world in the Washington RV

 Christmas eve we managed a family walk on the Hangover Trail. On the way up the kids delighted in picking up the many sheets of frozen ice in the creek and smashing them on the ground, or heads! Rob had ridden this trail once in February, found the trail extremely intimidating and had not been

Climbing Hangover Trail

brave enough to go back since. Eventually Brett and Rob decided to ride the trail and spent plenty of time on Hangover picking the technical lines to bits and riding a few critical lines a few times. At the end they promptly re-rode the trail and developed a Hangover addiction, riding the trail like locals not tourists! After the Christmas Eve walk they rode the trail again. Then Christmas day managed to sneak in another lap which was to be Rob’s last ride in America. This would have to be one of the most technically challenging and fun trails ridden all year. In six months it was the first trail that Brett had re-ridden. Mountain bikers put this trail on your bucket list but it beware of its very justified double black rating and it is not for the faint hearted.

Some of the endless exposure on Hangover

Learning this section of descent on Hangover took some time
but was well worth the reward

Very brave single speed hardtail rider, cameraman (Rob)
found it more nervous watching than riding.

Crazy rock tech on Hiline, there is a sharp right
turn on the dirt or the choice of a large drop!

Christmas day came and Symi delighted in the many SMALL presents that Father Christmas delivered. Maddy was desperate to see snow on Christmas day, it did sleet for a little while but that was it. Maddy was to get her wish a few days later when a foot of snow fell on Sedona, very rare. The kids spent the day playing with their new toys and we had a game of ladder golf. Late in the afternoon we had a joint Christmas dinner of lamb (hard to find in the states) and baby back ribs with the Washingtons.

Top of Hangover, soaking up the vortex energy.

Getting a lift with Ken in his 57 Chev which is his daily driver.

RV Xmas dinner and great company.

Boxing day it was time to hightail it the 750kms back to Anaheim, our longest drive in a day all year. Fortunately we had been inundated with interest in the RV and had many seemingly serious buyers lined up to view the RV the day after.

Symi nailing a rock section on Grand Central

RV xmas, home made advent calendar and stocking.