Tropical Salad at Hard Rock Cafe

In downtown Phoenix tonight for a RoadRunner hockey game. Stopped by
HRC for a bite.

Rock Springs, Arizona - Pie Company

Down to about 80 pies after a busy weekend. Picked up an apple and a
peach.
On the return trip from Sedona to Phoenix, I stopped at Rock Springs to pick up pies. The parking lot was packed, as usual, at 10AM. The fridge was down to a few variety of pies, with a few of each left. The woman said that they had had a very busy Saturday so most of the pies were gone.
I was a little surprised at the parking lot as there were no motorcycles parked in front. But it looks like the threat of rain and snow kept the bikes warmly stowed in the garages.
Speaking about the road trips, I17 is going through some changes close to Phoenix. The rest of the highway was awesome. The surface is smooth and all of the construction is complete. I also checked on the Sunset Point Rest Stop. This was supposed to open again in January 2009, and it looks near completion. I would have loved to pull into the rest stop during this trip. The clouds were below the rim of the mesa, so that view was incredible. I took pictures while driving, so these are not as good as they could have been.

Flagstaff, Arizona - Bisquits & gravy

Specialty of Mike and Rhonda's. We drove into Flagstaff and I wanted to stop at a little place that I remembered from the travel hockey days. We found "The Place", owned by Mike and Rhonda on the west side of the street, the main road into Flagstaff. It actually used to be called "Mike and Rhonda's" so this must be the new image. Well, it was pretty worn inside with the chair stuffing exposed, but the restaurant was packed. I wanted the breakfast that we used to get: Fried eggs, hash brown potatoes, and bisquits and gravy. When the waiter delivered the meal, it was the whitest meal that I had ever seen. I think that my recent fascination with colorful and vibrant foods has tainted my appreciation of the colorless foods. It tasted okay, but it was heavy...soooo heavy, and I couldn't eat all of it.

Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona - From the Top

Beautiful view. Breathtaking!
After the race we decided to take the drive through Oak Creek Canyon. Thea wanted to go into her favorite camping spot along Oak Creek. Nice campsites on the banks of the creek. Then we drove further so that I could show her MY favorite camping spot alongside the creek: Cabins at the Treehouse resort. We decided to continue the drive up the switchbacks to the top of the canyon to admire the view. There were about 10 Indian jewelry and pottery booths along the walkway with beautiful pieces. Someone was playing an Indian flute and the sounds floated across the viewing spots. It made it seem as if the rocks were singing. Too much drama?

Sedona, Arizona - Dawn view of the Red Rocks

Sunrise is hitting the incredible red rocks. The race is starting
soon. It's a little chilly at 38 degrees but the air is crisp and clear. I am armed with my ski jacket and handy red scarf! The race looked very difficult. If you weren't running up hill, you were running down hill.

Sedona, Arizona - Crab Cakes and Ale infused French Onion soup.

I wasn't very hungry and opted for appetizers instead of a full meal. I started with a nice shiraz and then moved on to the crab cakes and French Onion soup. The Ale infusion produced a hardy taste in the soup which was very yummy. It was loaded with onions cooked to perfection. No desert...no room! It was more filling than I had expected. Thea ordered a salad with salmon and (yech) anchovies. I didn't look and didn't take a photo. Susan ordered a dipping appetizer.

Sedona, Arizona - View from Oak Creek Brewery & Grill

Wow. Red rocks.
Thea, Susan and I stopped in for a bite. We were lucky to be seated on the side of the building which faced some incredible red rock formations. The entire side of the restaurant featured large windows (probably very common with all of these great views).

Sedona, Arizona - The Secret Garden

Stopped in a little cafe. Here for the Marathon events. Nope, not
running!
This cafe is at Tlaquepaque, the shopping center as you enter Sedona. The race packet pickup was in the plaza, so I wandered over to the coffee shop. Nice space and good brew.
A few travel notes on Sedona. There is a lot of road construction on the road from "Village of Oak Creek" to Sedona. They are putting in roundabouts for traffic control, and building a berm in the middle of the road. This is a pain for the locals, but I am sure that this will reduce the number of traffic accidents as the tourist try to dash across the road. People still haven't perfected the art of using the traffic circles, as some of them are two lanes and others are only one. But I think that the traffic generally flows better than it did in the past.