I arrived in Sedona on Tuesday afternoon and went straight to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It’s a chapel that’s built into the rock and has an amazing view of the city and the red rocks. Inside, there’s a huge statue of Jesus. There are footprints on the floor and if you step on them and look up, Jesus is looking at you. I was hoping it would be comforting to have him look at me, but there’s something about his eyes that made it a little creepy. I should have taken a picture of the chapel from the outside because it’s pretty cool to see it on top of the rocks, but I didn’t think of it when I was there. You can Google it.

The next morning, I woke up at 5 am to hike to Devil’s Bridge. You have to hike very early in Sedona because it gets really hot in the summer and the parking lots for the popular trails fill up quickly. It really helped that the sun was already up at 5. I don’t think I would have been able to leave my Airbnb that early if it was still dark. Getting up early was worth it. The view from Devil’s Bridge was spectacular.

After the hike I went to Tlaquepaque, a cute shopping village. They have a bunch of galleries and different shops. I didn’t intend to buy anything, but I left with coasters and a beautiful carved candle that glows when you light it. By 11 am, I had done everything I had planned for the day. It was a very strange feeling. It felt like it had to be at least 3 pm, but I still had the whole day ahead of me. I spent the rest of the day relaxing at my Airbnb.

I tried to go to bed early so I could wake up at 5 am again on Thursday, but it took me a really long time to fall asleep. By the time 5 am arrived, I was still extremely tired, so I decided to skip the hike. Staying in bed was an easy decision, but skipping the hike was a hard decision since it was my last day in Sedona. Later in the morning, I went on a scenic drive through Slide Rock State Park. In the evening, I watched the sunset.

Yesterday morning, I left Sedona and drove to the Grand Canyon. I need to go back to Sedona, but at a time of year when it’s cooler and I have more of the day to hike. Waking up at 5 am is brutal.