Courtney and the Vortex

Sedona, Arizona

This past Saturday me and my fellow adventurer, Michelle, (and her dog, Bella) went to Sedona for the day. The weather last week was really nice and I hadn't been on a day trip since March so we spontaneously decided to go for a hike. I've been visiting Sedona nearly every year since I was a little girl (we live only 2 hours away) but I'd never really done any hiking there. My family would always go camping in Oak Creek Canyon and just bird watch and play in the creek all day. But I'd heard a lot about Sedona's vortex areas and thought it was time we checked it out. To be honest, I only had a vague idea what a vortex was. I understood that they were areas of high energy that came directly from the Earth's surface but I didn't know much beyond that. The only vortexes I had experience with were the ones in the water temple in Ocarina of Time so I was kind of expecting them to look like a pit or something. Michelle didn't really know what to expect either so we thought we'd just surprise ourselves when we got there. I did some research beforehand on which was the best trail to hike for beginners and we decided on the Boynton Canyon Trail which is 6 miles roundtrip. Before we hit the trail, though, we made a quick detour to check out the Chapel of the Holy Cross which is a church that's built right into rock face. I'm not a religious person, but it was pretty cool and the view was fantastic. We took some cute selfifes with Bella and then continued on our way.



View from the Holy Chapel of the Cross

By the time we got to the trail it had warmed up a bit but not too bad. I think it was high 70s to low 80s and there was a nice breeze going. The hike started out in the valley but eventually turned into the forest. It was cool to watch the scenery change the further we walked. One of my favorite parts of the hike were these little lilac butterflies that would all gather on the trail and when you'd walk over them they'd burst all around your feet like confetti. I honestly felt like I was in a Studio Ghibli film it was so beautiful. About 30 minutes into the hike we passed a group of ladies that had all gathered around a rock wall and were touching it a lot. We wondered if that was the vortex area but weren't really sure so we kept walking. It's hard to describe but I felt so...content this entire hike. I just felt light, peaceful and happy (which is kind of a rare feeling for me). I just couldn't stop smiling and felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I'd even started my lady time that very morning and was expecting to be in terrible pain the whole day but the pain never came.



Lil desert flower

The only thing missing from this hike was the creek. I just love the sight of rushing water and it would have been wonderful to stick our feet in the creek. Other than that, it was perfect and a large majority of the trail was shaded. We had brought a few snacks so halfway through we took a short snack break and so did the mosquitos, haha. The Boynton Canyon Trail ends with a magnificent few of the canyon but since the terrain did get a little steep at the end I had to climb to the top solo. It was pretty amazing and I felt it was well worth the trip. I sat there for about 5 minutes and just stared at the beauty. I think round trip it took us about 3.5 hours which isn't bad for a 6 mile hike (and with a pupster in tow).



My hiking buddy, Michelle

When we got back to the car we were pretty starved so we stopped at Whole Foods for a bite to eat. I got a roasted veggie sandwich (with chips AND a pickle) and a peach tea. After hiking our butts off all day our sandwiches tasted AMAZING. If I had the money I'd totally retire in Sedona. It's just such a neat place and everyone seems so happy and laid back.


View at the end of the Boynton Canyon Trail

Once I got home I told my dad about my experience hiking through the vortex and explained how oddly calm and content I felt throughout the hike and he said that that was the energy of the vortex affecting me. Apparently, the energy affects everyone a little differently and especially those who are really sensitive individuals (like myself). I thought that was really cool and I will definitely go hiking in Sedona again now that I know how good it makes me feel.

I recently got a fancy new camera and am just lovin's it!

In my next post I will write about this weekend's adventure (I know, I'm totally hogging all of the fun). Today I am leaving for San Francisco to visit my dear friend and fellow crafter, Miss Twinkie Chan. I haven't been to SF since I was 8 years old so I'm very excited to explore and hang out with my babe. Lots and lots of pictures to follow! And to all you papas out there, Happy Father's Day!

Day Trippin'

Me, Jackie, Sharleen and Heather

Sometimes you have a truly fantastic day and this past Saturday was one of those days. I had gotten the elusive Saturday off from work and thought I should make the most of it so I asked my girlfriends if they'd be up for a day trip to Sedona (Heather had never been). Everyone thought it was a good idea so we all met at my house Saturday morning. I thought it might be fun for all of us to wear a fandom shirt since we're all about our fandoms so we did! It was funny because all day people kept complimenting us on our shirts and would say, "I like your shirt...and your shirt and your shirt...I like all of your shirts!", haha!

I volunteered to drive since it was my idea to go on this little excursion and also because I've been to Sedona a bajillion times and know my way around. However, driving still gives me a little bit of anxiety so my stomach was feeling a little iffy for a while. When we got to Sedona Sharleen told us about this place called "New Center for the New Age" and said there was a "healer" there who looked like Sauruman (pictured on the right). So we pulled over to check it out. As fate would have it, he was available that day for a reading so we all agreed to have a 15 minute session with him. This was my first time seeing someone like this so I was a little nervous/giggly and didn't really know what to expect. He was really soft-spoken and weirdly enough, I felt super calm as soon as he started talking to us. He had to do an accelerated session for us since there were four of us and we only had 15 minutes. He did a quick palm reading (Jackie got skipped for some reason) and he told me that I was going to "make a lot of money doing what I do" so that was cool since I've been poor for most of my adult life. Party. Bonus. Heather got told that she dwells on the past too much and Sharleen needs to exercise regularly. For the most part, he mainly talked about himself which was a bit of a bummer but he did have some good advice for us. For example, we need to drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and we need to think happy thoughts because we all create our own realities. You are what you think. My old man is one of those "New Age" types so I've been hearing everything this dude said my whole life but I dunno, he said several times that we need to practice being happy and having more fun and after our session I didn't feel any anxiety for the rest of the day. Weird. We had wanted to take a picture with him but sadly, he declined.

 Next we drove to Oak Creek Canyon and hung out at the creek. It was hotter than I had anticipated that day so I was a little overheated and had to get in the water. It wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be and I felt really refreshed. After that we were all getting pretty hungry so we drove up to Flagstaff for lunch. I rarely spend much time in downtown Flagstaff since I hate parking but I didn't have too much trouble finding a parking space and it was fun to finally get to explore the area. We had lunch at a really cute cafe/bistro called Macy's. I got a mozzarella sandwich and a fruit cup that were major nums. Flagstaff has kind of a Portland vibe and made me think about my time there and being on my own for the first time.

After lunch we walked around and did some shopping. We found a great candy shop called "Flagstaff Chocolate Company" where I bought some peanut brittle and some excellent salt water taffy (which I'm eating as I write this post). On our walk back to the car we saw a double rainbow which was a really nice way to end our day in Flagstaff. On the drive out of town it started raining like crazy and we got to see the entire rainbow and even where it ended in the trees (had never seen that before). Since we had left a little later than I had hoped I had to drive back in the dark which was a little scary. My car isn't good at going up hills so it would slow down like crazy and people would get right on my bumper. There was one guy who I thought was going to run us off the road. He even flashed his brights at me which was supremely rude and Heather flipped him the bird. When he passed us we saw his license plate said "GWAMMA" and Sharleen said, "You just flipped off Gwamma!". It was funny. Even though it was pretty intense driving down winding hills in the dark with crazy drivers afoot, I think I did pretty good driving-wise and am happy to say I got everyone home in one piece.

So although I didn't really get to go on holiday this summer, it was nice to get out of town even if it was just for the day. And I'm happy to have fun people to go on fun adventures with :)