In August I headed to AZ.  Having never been to AZ before I wasn’t sure going to the desert in August was the best idea I’ve had.  The timing was influenced by a photography workshop.  M&M’s sister and family live in the Phoenix area.  I was able to spend the weekend with family.

Saturday we headed to Sedona.  Snoopy Rock is a favorite landmark.  Uhm… I had a little trouble finding the rock formation.  Had to hand the camera to Meghan so she could frame in the view finder for me.

If you are ever in Sedona sign up for a www.pinkjeep.com. The sunset tour was gorgeous.

When we stopped we were losing light quickly.  I needed a tripod… had to brace myself against the pink jeep to minimize movement (oh and it was a bit windy).

(The difference between the lighting in the above two images… Snoopy Rock was taken late afternoon and the rock formation above was taken in the golden light of sunset.)

On the drive back to Phoenix that night, the adventure begins.  There are two ways out of Sedona.  One easy and the other more scenic.  We took the more scenic route (I was not driving).  We drove through the historic mining town of Jerome “America’s Most Vertical City”.  We found ourselves quickly in what felt like a creepy, scary movie.  The road out of Jerome is in the foothills and it’s one hairpin turn after another.  Did I mention the sun has set and it’s dark.

Signs are posted “low visiblity forest fire” (We could see the fire in the distance on the way to Sedona earlier in the day).  Next we see signs for “heavy equipment”.  Linda takes a hairpin turn and right before us is the forest fire.  A scene right out of a movie.  While I was tempted to ask Linda to pull over (remember I had my camera) I wisely kept my mouth shut.

The road we were traveling on was closed the next day… http://www.readitnews.com/prescott-arizona-news/latest-prescott-news/2477-increased-activity-on-woodchute-fire.

I can’t wait to return to Arizona when I have the family with me and more time to spend seeing the sights… Jerome in the daytime!  Next up part two photography workshop.