The Perfect Day...

What does the perfect day look like?

Well, I'm sure that to different people it looks mightily different. If you were to just run into Snap Snap and ask me on an ordinary day, I may look into the distant recesses of my mind, and find Italy.

Florence to be exact.






I could stay and wander around in Florence for a long while and never get done sighing and taking it all in...the colors, the antiquity, the art...It's a feast for the eyes and the intellect. You feel like you're a part of something bigger there...









Or, the ocean.

I love the ocean, and I haven't been in quite a long while. I can imaging myself dipping my feet into the water, letting the waves wash over me, and feeling my feet sink deeper into the soft wet sand. At sunset? Forget about it...the metallic pink coloring the edges of the silver and blue waves is breathtaking as well.

Or...

One may step into their own backyard. Travel a smallish distance, with great music, some rice cakes...a few handfuls of dried fruit...and a special person...



To Sedona...

Doe Mesa to be exactly exact.




I've never been out there, and am chomping at the bit to go back to Boynton Canyon (I love WestFork because it's so near Oak Creek, but the Mesa is in a totally different place)


We didn't get started too early...just right. And, found ourselves at the base of the Mesa, planning on going up to the top. Rich had seen some great lizards and wanted to go back, and while we didn't see any lizards...we still had plenty to photograph.


It's nearly impossible to take a bad photo in Sedona...it's just amazing there.

And...we hiked and hiked up the switchback to the top of this Mesa. The trail is not a killer, and the temperature was perfect, as it was an amazing day in Northern Arizona...moving towards fall with a little breeze every now and then. Plus, we were on the shady side of the mountain, so that made it much easier to hike.

Up at the top is the most amazing views and look outs towards all different points of Sedona and the Verde Valley. There are times when being in Arizona, looking at the true raw beauty that abounds than not only leaves me breathless...but, makes me want to cry for the sheer amazement that I am allowed to be in the world just witnessing it all.

We hiked down making plans to hike later in the day, and were off to the camera shop for a bit of lens fixing for Rich's new camera. There was a bit of shmootze inside the thing, and they blew the heck out of it with one of those cans of air at the camera shop...so, it seems to be fixed for now.


After that...and wandering a bit around Old Town Sedona, we headed to New Frontiers for a little food. Now, Rich stayed out in the car and polished up the lens and I ran in...dang. I almost wished I didn't. Their New Frontiers is so much nicer than ours, I was a bit jealous...but, I did get some organic guacamole and chips for us, and some qinoa tabouli salad for me (the traditional bulgar wheat one kills my stomach...and I have been craving this like mad...I need to learn how to make it myself)




We then popped over to Huckby Trail...ate a little picnic (well, I did, and Rich ran around photographing and stopping by for some guac here and there) We both looked at each other at some point right around this time and said,

"...hmmmm, tired"

Yup...we were too tired to keep our promise of another hike...we immediately blamed it on the heat, and are looking towards the future (of next month) when the temperatures are cooler and we can certainly go all day.




So, back home we came...where Rich edited his photos, and I drifted in and out of consciousness on the couch (hey...we've already discussed the benefits of the couch in the Airstream) until I hauled my tiredness home, to relax in a lavender bubble bath and watch a movie...

There were just so many amazing things about this day that made it perfect...

perfect...

perfect...

perfect...

sigh.