Sedona- a rocking city

My first time in the red rock country was full of adventure and laughter. I know laughter is not something that people think in reference to Sedona but here’s why I mention laughter- Girls Trip! 🙂

I have been working out at the same gym (Fit Body Bootcamp) with Tanya, Ana and Jill for the past 5+ years. And having known them for a while, I knew it would be a fun time when I got invited to celebrate Tanya’s 50th birthday in Sedona. What I didn’t know was that it would be so much more fun than I had even anticipated. Having been on a few girls’ trips with my OG Yogi girls, the bar was set pretty high but these girls delivered- they are fun, funny, smart and absolutely the best girls to travel with.

Before making our way to Sedona, we explored a little bit of Scottsdale- highlight was the hat making experience at the Rancher Hat Bar in old Scottsdale- it was such a fun activity to do on a girls trip. The other highlight was ‘whipped feta’ that we kept seeing on the menu of almost every place we ate at, pretty random but apparently an Arizona staple (who knew)?! I loved ‘Culinary Dropout‘ restaurant not just because of the name but because of their best ‘whipped feta’ topped with honey, fruits and nuts!

As we drove to Sedona, the landscape gradually started to change with the desert mountains of Scottsdale giving way to these huge red rocks. It was jaw dropping beauty that felt like an AI generated scenery- unreal. The magnanimity of these rocks is unfathomable and uncapturable (trust me, I tried). I took what felt like a million pictures and still came back with not even one that fully justifies its beauty and magic. Speaking of magic, Sedona is known for its ‘magical’ powers- the Vortex (“a swirling center of energy that can produce a range of physical, emotional, and spiritual effects”), the healing power of the red rocks, the spiritual enlightening and whatever other mystic powers you may have heard of. As a person who is equal part skeptic and believer- I’m here to tell you, I didn’t feel any different when we hiked our way to the Vortex- our first vortex experience was at the Airport Mesa hike and second at the Cathedral rock. Even though, there was no shift in my ‘energy’, I did feel the calm of our surroundings. The viewpoints were spectacular- the way the clouds parted to let the rays of sun hit different parts of the red rock formations was something I think every nature lover should experience. It is nothing short of magic 🙂

Our other hike- Soldier Pass- led us to a cave, while crossing the ‘seven sacred pools’ on the way. It was a tough hike towards the end because getting into the cave required us to climb this small narrow path but we all did it (me with great difficulty and a lot of support- thank you Ana). After working up an appetite, we stopped by at the town center for a little lunch. It was so fun to walk past all the wellness, crystal, chakra, etc. stores. These stores are a quintessential part of Sedona, not just in the town center but truly everywhere- almost every street corner has its variation of meditation, aura reading, crystal matching shops- that’s the beauty of Sedona, it is unapologetically a self proclaimed wellness destination.

We ended our trip at one of the best restaurants in the city called Mariposa– reservations for this place are hard to come by, even if you book a month in advance. It’s a beautiful space with big floor-to-ceiling glass windows giving a panoramic view of the red rocks, gorgeous décor, ambience and good food. It was the perfect way to end our girls trip- a trip that was full of matching outfits, discovering new things, venturing into the vortex, hiking the red rocks, witnessing the sky full of stars, getting massages and sharing a whole lot of laughter.