Every time we begin plotting vacation ideas here in the US I am always amazed by the vast size of our country. How incredible it would be if we could just move into an RV and drive, coast to coast, north to south, exploring every state at our leisure.

This year we will visit a few places new to our family as well as places my husband and I visited before we had kids, which we can’t wait to explore with the girls. Also included is a small “wish list” of destinations we would like to make it to, if time and money allow.

The Desert Southwest

Apache Junction

February will find my eldest daughter and I enjoying a long weekend in Chandler/Tempe/Mesa/Apache Junction, Arizona. I have visited in the past, but this will be Brenna’s first time seeing large cactus, mountains, and a real desert. We won’t get to the Grand Canyon, but have it on our “when the girls a re a bit older” list. Read More »

In north-central Arizona, around the 11th century, the Sunset Crater erupted, leaving a layer of volcanic ash over everything, which led to increased agricultural viability, believe it or not.

Sunset Crater

The soil’s ability to grow better and retain water better led to an influx of settlers in this area.  These people came to be known as the Ancient Pueblo People, and they built dwellings made out of flat red stones pasted together with mortar.

Wupatki Ruins in Arizona

Everyone lived in one big building made up of many, many rooms.  The Wupatki settlement is believed to the largest and the tallest of the area from that time period.

Wupatki Ruins

Also on site is a geological blowhole, where air is blown out at large pressures from caves below ground.

Ancient ruins, a blowhole and a volcanic crater, all within range of each other.  This sounds like a must see kind of place!

Cathedral Rock reflecting into Oak Creek, seen here from Red Rock Loop. Photo courtesy of Robbie's Photo Art @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/photo_art/340133380.

There are places in the world known as vortexes – power spots of highly concentrated energy conducive to prayer, meditation and healing. Sedona, Arizona is one of these places. The term vortex was coined by medium Page Bryant 1980 during an investigation of sacred locations in the area, however Native Americans have long known that Sedona is a powerful spiritual site. To this day, certain of the local tribes perform special ceremonies to tap into the energy believed to be concentrated in the area.

Sedona sits in a bowl ringed by monolithic red rocks that rise spectacularly from the valley floor, thrusting skyward like beacons transmitting prayers and intentions to the universe. These formations – commonly referred to as the red Rocks of Sedona – glow brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. Although the entire town is said to be located within the vortex, many insist that some spots are more powerful than others, including the following:

• Airport Mesa (closest to uptown Sedona)
• Bell Rock (aptly named for its bell- shape formation)
• Boynton Canyon (off Dry Creek Road in west Sedona)
• Cathedral Rock (on Lower Red Rock Loop Road, this formation towers over Oak Creek Canyon and creates stunning red reflections in the placid waters of Oak Creek)

Additionally, The Chapel of the Holy Cross, Schnebly Hill, West Fork and the Amitabha Stupa are considered excellent locations for connecting with the energy.

The famous Red Rocks of Sedona turn brilliant shades of orange and red in the rising or setting sun. Photo courtesy of Phillip Bouchard @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pbouchard/3294954462.

No two people experience the vortex in the exact same way. Hikers on Bell Rock often report a sensation of spinning when they lie down on the rock. Others claim to have received physical healing or to have obtained a heightened spiritual awareness. Whether or not you believe in vortexes, it would seem that something out of the ordinary is going on in Sedona. In 1987 people came to the town from all over the world to celebrate the Harmonic Convergence, an event designed to usher in a new age of spirituality. Since then, the specialized New Age industry in Sedona has become so popular that even the official tourism site of the Chamber of Commerce devotes a page to “the allure of Sedona’s Vortex Sites.”

The Town of Sedona is located in the Verde Valley in north Central Arizona. Within easy driving distance from Phoenix, it is ideally located for day trips from the metro area.

Article by Barbara Weibel of Hole In The Donut Travels

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut

Of the numerous well-preserved Native American ruins found in north central Arizona, the ancient cliff dwelling found at Montezuma Castle National Monument is the most spectacular. Built into a recess in a white limestone cliff about 70 feet above the ground, this 20 room, 5-story structure was occupied as early as 1200 a.d., until the inhabitants mysteriously departed from the Verde Valley more than two hundred years later.

The 900 year old cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle National Monument

Believing the prehistoric cliff house to be Aztec in origin, the first settlers to the area – a ragged collection of miners and soldiers who arrived in the 1860′s – named it after the Aztec emperor, Montezuma. We now know that this unique dwelling was constructed by the Sinagua Indian peoples using locally available limestone rocks stacked and held together with clay, much like laying bricks on a modern house. Once the construction of the outer walls was completed, an adobe plaster was used to coat and seal the exterior. The Sinagua cultivated a variety of crops in the valley that spread out beneath their cliff house, using water that flowed year-round through Beaver Creek to irrigate the crops. No one knows for sure why the Sinagua abandoned their home, although some experts speculate that a severe drought dried up the creek, forcing the tribe to pack up and leave.

A close up look at the structure, courtesy of the National Park Service

After being abandoned, the dwelling survived for hundreds of years in the hot, dry climate found in this part of Arizona and only began to deteriorate when it became a popular tourist destination. Early visitors were allowed to climb a series of ladders up the side of the limestone cliffs and access the interior of the structure, resulting in extensive damage. Thankfully, the park service stopped allowing access in 1951. Visitors are now limited to viewing the ruins from the valley floor, where a self-guided, 1/3-mile loop trail leads past the cliff dwelling, through a grove of old-growth sycamores, and along Beaver Creek, one of only a few perennial streams in Arizona.

Montezuma Castle National Monument is open 364 days a year (closed Christmas Day), from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. June through August and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during other months. In addition to the self-guiding trail, an on-site museum includes exhibits and artifacts depicting the lifestyle, history and culture of the Sinaguan Indians who built Montezuma Castle. Adults pay a $5 entrance fee and children under 16 are free. Although no accommodations are available at the site, hotels and motels are located in nearby Camp Verde (5 miles), and in Cottonwood (19 miles).

Photos not otherwise credited courtesy of Barbara Weibel

Article by Barbara Weibel of Hole In The Donut Travels