Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Driving west (technically north, but it feels like west) on 179 from the I-17 turnoff towards the village of Oak Creek, there is a magic bend in the road. Before you reach that spot, you are driving through the same high desert scrub forest of short juniper you’ve been looking at for some time. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it, but I never do. As you go around a slight curve to the right and over a little rise, the entire valley suddenly opens up, and the wonderland that is Sedona appears before you. Suddenly, the landscape is a brilliant red, as if the rocks, mountains and hoodoos have been freshly baked and set before you to enjoy. When Dorothy first opened her front door and emerged into the land of Oz, she gasped in amazement. I think I know how she felt.