Spa Day at Mi Amo

Who does not love spa day!

Mi Amo spa at Enchantment resort is the place to go.

Beautiful surroundings, excellent food at Mi Amo Cafe, and wonderful spa services.

Check out our Viva la Voyage travel photo site to see photos of the Great Synagogue of Budapest, Hungary.

Photo: The serenity of Sedona

The serenity of the view from this scene seemed like a fitting way to conclude the series of photos that I have shared this past week from one of Stuart's off-road trips in the Sedona area.

Of course, this scene is serene only if one drives carefully and safely out of these locations

This week we are showing photos of beauty of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Submarine Rock Outside Sedona

This is a view from the top of Submarine Rock, looking west.  The person about half way out gives some perspective on the scale of this scene.

Submarine Rock gets its name because from the side, the profile of the rock looks like a submarine.

I will conclude this little series tomorrow.

This week we are showing photos of beauty of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: The Broken Arrow Jeep Trail in Sedona

Stuart successfully drove down the rugged jeep trail that I have shown the past two days.  Tomorrow I will show the visual reward achieved by those who travel the Broken Arrow trail.

The trail was named Broken Arrow because it was the area where the 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie "Broken Arrow" was filmed.  It was nominated for three Academy Awards and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding.

It received the award because it portrayed Native Americans in a sympathetic light, which was very unusual for Hollywood in that era.  I have not seen the movie, but I did read that the role of Geronimo in the film was played by Jay Silverheels, who of course was best known for playing Tonto in "The Lone Ranger" TV series.

This week we are showing photos of beauty of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Rugged Sedona Jeep Trail

This is one of those times that one might give the advice "Do not try this at home," except you can't drive on trails like this at home.  So the advice should be "Do not try this while away from home."

This is part of the Broken Arrow trail on the outskirts of Sedona.  It is the most popular of the Pink Jeep Tours, and a few private jeep drivers, including my step son Stuart, also tackle the challenge of this trail.

Tomorrow I will explain the Hollywood connection that is the reason that this trail is called the Broken Arrow trail

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of beauty of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia.

Photo: A Very Rough, Rocky, Sedona Jeep Trail

This is an example of one of the jeep trails near Sedona.  It is a steep, rocky trail that certainly cannot be driven by anyone other than professional jeep drivers or very experienced amateurs who have very rugged off road vehicles.

My step son, Stuart, fits into the latter category.  His Jeep is visible at the end of the hill in this photo.  In the next two days I will show how he attempted to make it down this jeep trail.

This week we are showing photos of the architecture of Budapest on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Pink Jeep Tours around Sedona

When driving on the back roads near Sedona, one will often encounter a pink jeep, such as the one in this photo.  Pink Jeep Tours are a popular way for people to experience the back country.

In the next few days I will show an example of why it is advisable for people to take a tour and not to try to explore the jeep trails on their own, unless they are very experienced off road drivers.

I will also show the visual rewards for those who do travel off road.

This week we are showing photos of the architecture of Budapest on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Jeep trail towards Sedona

This is a photo of my step son and his wife heading towards Sedona in their Jeep.

They love to go off roading, which is quite understandable, with scenery like this.

This week we are showing photos of the architecture of Budapest on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Closer view of a burned tree

The photos I have posted during the past few days, in recognition of the efforts underway to fight the Slide Fire between Sedona and Flagstaff, showed the terrain from a distance.  So today I am posting a closer photo of a burned tree near Sedona.

When hiking in the area, one thing that really made an impression on my husband and me is how frequent lightning strikes must be.   There were quite a few trees that had been burned out.  

In Arizona we get a thunderstorms with dramatic lightning displays due to the interaction between clouds and humidity with the intense summer heat.  Fortunately, most of the lightning occurs during mid July and August, which is when humidity levels are a little higher and the conditions for wildfires are somewhat decreased.  May and June, however, are both hot and very dry, which makes the conditions for wildfires more dangerous.

This week we have photos of the Patagonia region of Argentina posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Rough terrain for fighting the fire outside Sedona

This is a wider view of the lightning-struck burned tree that I showed yesterday.  This photo shows how difficult it would be to fight forest fires in the steep terrain around Sedona.  It is impossible to get equipment to much of the area.  CNN reported that there are 15 Hot Shot crews on the fire, and they try to cut fire breaks and set back fires by hand.  One of the fire fighting officials was quoted in CNN as saying the area is "billy goat country."

It appears that when the tree in this photo burned, the area uphill from the tree was rock and there was not enough vegetation for the fire to spread beyond the single tree.

This week we have photos of the Patagonia region of Argentina posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: A burned tree near Sedona

As I did yesterday, I am posting another photo of a burned tree near Sedona as a way to express our thoughts and prayers for the firefighters and residents of Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, and the Flagstaff area, some of whom are in the vicinity of the current Slide Fire.

The tree in this photo appears to have been struck by lightning, but the area around the tree did not burn.  The current Slide Fire appears to have been man-caused, not the result of a lightning strike.

This week we have photos of the Patagonia region of Argentina posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: A burned Sedona tree in recognition of the current Slide Fire

As you may have seen in the news media, there is currently a major wildfire in Oak Creek Canyon, between Sedona and Flagstaff.  I am therefore posting this photo of a burned tree outside Sedona.

CNN reported on Sunday that the Slide Fire, as the current fire is named, is only 5% contained and has burned 8,500 acres.  It is in extremely difficult terrain for firefighting, as the red rock cliffs around Sedona are very steep.

Sedona is a major tourist destination, and there are homes, cabins and resorts scattered in the area.  More than 3,000 people have been given evacuation notices.

We hope that the weather conditions change to assist the brave firefighters who are battling this current blaze.

This week we have photos of the Patagonia region of Argentina posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Sedona views

Traversing terrain like the photo I showed yesterday pays dividends such as the views that you see in this photo by my step son.

If scenes like this look a little familiar to people who have been to Disney World or Disneyland, Sedona was the inspiration for Disney's Thunder Mountain Railroad ride.

If you look closely at this photo, you will see Stuart's Jeep on the rock at the right of this scene. Stuart chose a location such as this to propose to Christina.  As young people today like to do, he surprised her after setting up his camera so that he could record the moment on video.

This week we are showing photos of the people of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Jeep traversing the red rock country of Sedona

Similar to the photo yesterday, Stuart likes to take photos of his Jeep in the scenic areas where he and Christina like to drive and hike.  This is another example of one of his outings near Sedona.

Stuart has modified his Jeep so that it can drive over very challenging terrain like what you see in this photo.

This week we are showing photos of the people of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Jeep perched at the edge of a cliff in Sedona

If you look closely at this photo, you will see that there is a Jeep parked near the ledge on the far side of this slot canyon.

The Jeep belongs to my step son, Stuart, and his wife, Christina.  They like to go off roading in the the Arizona desert and high country.  We met them up in Sedona not long ago and enjoyed a day hiking to ancient Native American cliff dwelling sites.

This happens to be an iPhone photo that Stuart took, Perhaps he did so to commemorate the fact that his brakes worked and he wisely stopped his Jeep before rolling a few feet farther to the edge of the cliff.

This week we are showing photos of the people of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Happy Heart Rock Day!

Happy Hearts Day!  I was hiking a few weeks ago in Sedona and came upon this natural heart rock that someone placed on a rock on the trail.  It seemed the perfect scene for Valentine's Day tomorrow.

This week we have photos of the Sepik River tribes and villages posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Winery from our Sedona Hot Air Balloon trip

Our hot air balloon flew towards the Verde Valley from Sedona.  There are several wineries in that area, and one of them was below us in this photo as we flew towards the end of our trip.

You can see the shadow of our balloon at the left of this photo, and at the top of the photo is one of the companion balloons to ours, very close to the ground.

The wineries near Sedona offer tours and tastings.  Dave and I have not yet visited them, although we did do a wine tour of the Patagonia area in southern Arizona.  It is good to see a wine industry developing in Arizona, and the quality of the wines can be surprisingly good.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted this on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Reflections of our Balloon in Oak Creek

After hovering over Oak Creek for a few moments, as shown in my photos from the past two days, our balloon pilot actually touched the bottom of the balloon basket onto the surface of the creek, then rose.

This photo shows the reflection of our balloon in the creek as we rose up to a more typical altitude for a hot air balloon flight.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted this on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Lower Oak Creek from a Hot Air Balloon

This is another photo that I presume most people would not guess was taken from a hot air balloon, but it was.  It looks like a photo taken from the banks of the stream, or perhaps standing on one of the boulders in the stream.

Our hot air balloon pilot was obviously remarkably skillful to maneuver the balloon to achieve this perspective on lower Oak Creek.

Tomorrow I will show proof that this photo was taken from a hot air ballon and not from the banks of the creek.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of the undersea life of the Galapagos Islands.  We just returned from a trip there, and we bought new underwater cameras before our trip, which we put to good use.

Photo: Hot Air Ballooning Very Close to Oak Creek

Our hot air balloon pilot dipped down towards lower Oak Creek.  How low could he go?  I will show more, tomorrow.

This week we have photos from a very old section of Rabat, Morocco, posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.