Cliffs of Sedona

What with the Boomers trading their homes for RVs, the myriad van-dwellers, people living in their cars, truck-campers, Overlanders and other assorted flotsam, the hills are alive like carrion w maggots.

Thay's them, the cliffs,

in the background

Airing the Quilt

Forest Road 525 takes the brunt of the onslaught. Two years ago I slipped into a bumpy little slot in a junction from where I watched the parade. See blog:

https://newmexnomad.blogspot.com/2021/11/sedona.html?m=1

This year they, the Forest Service, outlawed dispersed camping and created large holding areas where everyone is forced together cheek-to-jowel.

The hippie buses are trapped between forty-foot motorhomes that're wedged between pannier-laden overlanding moto-guzzis that're stuffed betwixt sedans of varying vintage, some with missing windows, no plumbing, not even psuedo, and throughout are all the rest in their AWD cars w rooftop tents out for a weekend or short vacation. It's ALMOST worth charging admission.

I've been at this long enough to have my own places. But they too are getting crowded. Today I drove 40 minutes instead of twenty and came home to a hilltop with a view of the main attraction, but far enough to obscure the swarming teems.

As always, the picture just serves as a reminder. There's no camera that can do it justice. A beautiful nail-paring of a moon gleams from nearly straight up.

Sedona

Sun comes up and caresses the magnificent bluffs south of Sedona. Red sandstone bases with creamy white tops...the mornings and evenings are visual feasts.

I woke at 5:45 from a dream of terrible mundanity inspired, I surmise, by the aweful suburb of nomads I'm surrounded by.

Daly City

Forest Rd 525 runs north-south along the front face of the edifice and combined with the PERFECT weather, has drawn a multitude of "seasonal visitors" and transients like myself. 

I drove in 6 miles from highway 89A b4 finding an empty spot. I hadn't been in place ten minutes when a couple (no DOG, thank god) in a Dodge Caravan (note tone dripping with disdain), pulled into the spot next door, a mere 100 ft away. Fortunately, I was still packed, and left.

The goddess smiled, as she has for most of my life when looking for home, and my next spot was only big enough for one. But being next to the confluence of 525 & 525D (No harm in telling, you can't POSSIBLY detract), I got to see all the traffic, including oxidized-pink jeeps bulging under their load of beaming tourists hanging from the roll bars. 

Outbound...Listing to Starb'd

Sated on the repast of another glorious sunset, they roared by on their way back to their barn. 

From behemoth-sized buses to dilapidated RVs to CRVs -- crowded in amidst the vast ubiquity of Toyota Tundras -- the populous is WAY too dense. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see no defecatoory evidence of previous inhabitation.

Balloon!

Tony & Alexander - Chase Crew

I was inside having coffee when I heard the sound of a motor. I'd noticed a balloon a little earlier and when I looked out, was surprised to see it coming down nearby. Flying around it was a parasail, the source of the motor sound. In my whitey-tighties and (color-coordinated) white shirt, I took this video.

I got dressed (one has to make concessions) and ambling over to the van, watched as about a dozen passengers filed aboard. When I mentioned the video and blog, the tour guide -- eager to be away -- said they had plenty of video and, quickly shutting the door, drove 'em off.

What a cool way to start a day!