A couple months ago I was in the secluded hills above Berkeley, having one of those only-in-California experiences. In the sprawling backyard behind the house, on the steep mountainside, four of us were sitting in a hot tub, watching the sunset over the San Francisco Bay towards the Marin headlands and the Golden Gate.
One of the women in the tub, a resident of Santa Cruz, was waxing about her recent travels. She mentioned having gone to Sedona, Arizona, where she had stayed several days while seeking out the locations of the "energy vortices" there.
I listened with somewhat detached bemusement. I'd never heard of the vortices. But I'm not one to judge how and where other people find inspiration and spiritual uplifting, even if it's not my thing.
Yet it did make me put Sedona on my list of places to visit. To be fair, I probably would have gone there anyway, since my aunt in Tucson insisted that I do while I was in Arizona, but I'm also fascinated by the places that other people find fascinating, for whatever reason. I'll use just about anything for an excuse for a mini-pilgrimmage. It makes for more interesting road trips, to pretend to give a damn about things.
Before leaving Flagstaff, I'd booked a couple nights at the Super 8 in Sedona. After coming down from my snowshoeing adventure on Humphreys Peak, I drove through Flagstaff one last time and guided the BMW onto the Interstate heading south for a few miles until exiting to follow the cutoff that heads through the mountains about thirty miles to Sedona.
I was not prepared for how quickly the road dropped in altitude, a couple thousand feet over the course of a couple miles of switchbacks. I could feel myself getting warmer in the car as I descended. Winter was receding in my rear view mirror quickly.
The road along the river valley into town reminded me so much of Boulder Canyon, I kept expecting to see Boulder itself emerge at any moment.
The comparison between Boulder and Sedona is not too strained, actually, on several counts. Once out of the canyon in Sedona, one is greeted by the spectacular site of the magnificent towering red rock formations that ring the town. As with the Flatirons in Boulder, it was immediately clear why many found in Sedona a center of mystical energy of some kind.
On the way through the little downtown I was amused at the names of the businesses. Every other building seemed to house a therapist of some kind---massage, yoga, psychic, crystal healing, etc.
My hotel was on the west edge of town, along the strip of traditional businesses that line the highway. All the signs for these various businesses were styled, by ordinance no doubt, to blend in to the colors of the landscape. The 'M' of the McDonalds was turquoise.
The Super 8 turned out to be a gem of a place. Not for nothing is it listed on the website as one of the "Pride of Super 8" locations. The Estonian woman at the front desk gave me a splendid room on the third floor, perhaps because I delighed her by knowing a little Estonian. The room reminded me of some of the better Best Western Plus rooms, and with a gorgeous view out towards the rock formations north of town. It even had TCM!
But just prove that "no room is perfect," the room was in the unfortunate category of having all its power outlets, save the one in the bathroom, devilishly concealed behind large pieces of furniture---a holdover from the days before ubiquitous laptops and smartphones. After the next renovation, the rooms will no doubt have the new style of lamps with convenient outlets in the base, but for now I found myself awkwardly climbing below a heavy table trying to get my laptop cord into the just-out-of-reach power strip behind the television cabinet.
As for Sedona itself, i was surprised at much I found myself enjoying it right from the start. Before arriving, I'd been reminded by Wikipedia about the "Harmonic Convergence" of 1987. Whether it was just my general feeling of well-being lately on the trip, or the energy vortices (for which one can buy maps around town), I was filled during my entire visit with a peaceful equilibrium, a warm tingling subtle excitement as if I were exactly where I was supposed to be.
Part of it was certainly that it was the off season for tourists. A film festival had just begun, bringing in extra crowds, but for the most part the town was very relaxed during my visit.
Without a Starbucks in town, I had to find a substitute location for work. The web directed me a local favorite coffee shop where I quickly found the same good table each morning with a power outlet. My table was right next to a ring of couches that were always full with people conversing, and it was during a morning of work that I had a quintessential Sedona experience.
I mostly tuned out what was going on around me, but during a moment's pause in work, I overhead one of the men at the couch telling a couple women something about the use of magnets. Given my background and expertise in electromagnetism, I couldn't help but eavesdrop a little.
"The best way to do it," he said, "is to put four magnets around in a ring. That's the best way to align the chakras."
Perfect, I thought. This is really Sedona.
If only there were a hot tub nearby.
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