PJ has been putting in a bunch o' time at Mayo in connection with a transition of elements of its paper record keeping system to electronic. But now that phase is over. So we went to Sedona for a short, fine trip. Drove up on Sunday October 17. Stayed two nights at the "Orchards" lodge - we've been there a couple times previously, we like the views, and we like the access to the L'Auberge facilities (which are creekside right down the hill). L'Auberge has done a tremendous amount of renovation and expansion since our last visit, and we thought the changes look pretty good.
As sometimes happens on our travels, we find a restaurant we like and pretty much stick with it. This time around, it was the L'Auberge restaurants. Had dinner there Sunday night in the main dining area - PJ had a delightful filet, I had the finest duck dish we've ever run into. Most enjoyable. After a Monday mid-late-morning hike, we ate lunch cr
eekside at the same restaurant - simply a lovely setting; a beautiful, sunny afternoon. When it came to Monday evening, we went to the new bar/lounge area of the restaurant - sat outside on the porch - under a bunch of trees, close enough to hear the creek, with rainfall sounds all around - quite nice.Our Monday hike was a new one for us - Brins Mesa Trail. Just what we were looking for - easy access, reasonable workout (including a scramble at the end which isn't really part of the trail, it's 4.5 mi roundtrip, 1000' or so elevation change); nice scenes along the way; spectacular payoff view at the end. Especially if one takes the "scramble" portion.
All that being said, in
the end we're not huge Sedona fans. Having sampled the parts of Sedona we like, we lit out Tuesday morning after coffee and spent the rest of our day in our old favorite, Jerome. Walked the shops a bit; ate lunch at Grape; then headed back to Phoenix.
