Sunday, 24 November 2013
* Holbrook, Arizona – Sedona, Arizona – Los Angeles, California *
The adventurers arose relatively early and left along Route 66 looking for a Starbucks for a caffeine fix. No luck, so they settled for fast food drive-thru. The snows seemed to had parted or at least thinned out as they headed west. Unfortunately they were limited in what they would be able to see today as the crew had to get to the City of Lost Angels, as the next day would be flying off to the land of Eire leaving behind Sir Rob Wildwood at his vortex point of departure in Sedona. In a few hours the party was weaving south from Flagstaff in the valleys towards the scenic New Age capital of Arizona – Sedona. First stop off was the information center so Sir Rob could get a hiking map to the vortexes and then some well needed lunch. They quested for a vegan, gluten-free cafe and found one called the Chocola Tree which was very over-priced and minimalistic in portion sizes … while good tasting not satisfying Sir Thomas Leaf felt. The explorers hoped to secure Sir Rob’s chosen lodging before they left to the fabled Montezuma’s Castle and Well, but alas, he could not reach his contact south of Sedona, so chose lodging in town. Sweet farewells were had as the prince of Endurance hugged his uncle Rob goodbye. Onwards Sir Thomas Leaf, Lady Etain, and the prince of Endurance headed south towards Phoenix searching for the mysterious well of legends.
Heading south, Sir Thomas Leaf, Lady Etain, and Cian, the Prince of Endurance took a pit stop for a chai creme frappacino enrout to Montezuma Well. Even through the drive-thru it took forever as some mass of students filling three buses had invaded Starbucks and it was simply grid-locked. Eventually they made it to Montezuma along the I-17 South corridor. Heading a tad north then east, they weaved their way past the archaeological remains of a Hohokan pit house, then into the National Monument that is “Montezuma Well”. A small 1/3 mile hike up the hill, Sir Thomas Leaf was in his glory when he saw the magnificent sink hole that is one of the most remarkable mysteries in the New World. A misnomer for having anything to do with Montezuma, the sink hole and spring has beautiful cliff dwellings above it and deep within its depths, the water and sand boils forth creating a false floor at 55 feet deep with another 65 feet to its true bottom and the everflowing vents that allow no scientific equipment to enter within its gates to middle Earth and the aquifer. The waters have 5 species of life that can be found no where else in the world, which are endemic leeches, amphipods, snails, diatoms, and water scorpions. As the botanist side of Sir Thomas Leaf got excited with all the various plant species dotting the trail, they made their way down into the valley, towards the river, where the Spring flows out of the limestone wall, into its own stream, flowing into the river.
A large sentient boulder in the shape of a Aztec sphinx guards the spring head. Cian, the prince of Endurance was to be blessed by splashing the magical waters on his feet as he relaxed in the waters. After each of the adventurers received their blessed facial splashes for a revived journey, they headed back up to the vardo, and proceeded onwards to Montezuma Castle. On the way, some Puebloans were selling fry bread on the roadside and had some trinkets the adventurers received – including a sand cast Yule tree bulb for Cian’s first Yule.
They had just caught Montezuma Castle 25 minutes before closing time so had to rush in and view the Castle, botany, and trails as quickly as they could. They absorbed the power of the place and headed onwards towards Los Angeles. Darkness fell quickly as they headed south on I-17. Outside of Phoenix they fell off the band-wagon of health consciousness as they stopped at the In-and-out drive thru to grab a late night dinner for the road. They were curious about the gluten-free lettuce wraps that in-and-out were famous for. It was a nice concept, but the food was so-so and still very unhealthy. Rockstar Energy drinks and unhealthy diet, poor for the heart and health, but amping him up energy-wise for the long journey to the City of Lost Angels. The Desert was cold up north, but started warming up the further south and west they went. Just before 1 am, they pulled into Docteur Mangor’s Manor to meet up with Lady Juliette … They set up their air mattress in the den, and fast asleep they went.
