Where We Spent Thanksgiving & Fell in Love With a Beautiful City

One of the most unique, ritzy, and beautiful places we have ever been to was a tiny village hidden in the city of Sedona. It is surrounded by a tall cement wall, which we only happened to see as we were driving back from visiting The Chapel of the Holy Cross nearby. This is the city that we traveled to, after our stay in Moab.

Tlaquepaque Village was decorated with many designs and colors – each tile on a wall or on a walkway was designed in a special way. Some places of the village played music, while in other parts, you could hear a fountain splashing. Each store sold something different that you probably wouldn’t see anywhere else, for instance, in one such store we found a guitar made of sockets, gears, and other metal parts. Although Sedona is known to be a bit of a wild city, with all of its art festivals and such, it attracts travelers with its quaint little shops, art galleries, and hiking trails.

We camped about twenty minutes outside of the city with a few others who were also there visiting. Here, many people on Pink Jeep Tours drove by several times a day to see some of the historical things in the area. We almost wanted to ask them, “Hey, what are y’all going to see?” Fortunately, we met a man who gave us some great tips about some of the historical caves and Indian ruins nearby. He was on top of a large butte trying to site mountain lions, but he stopped looking long enough to talk with us a little while. Thanks to his advice, we decided to go visit a nearby cave left by a man who came to settle and grow crops. The remains of his irrigation system were still somewhat intact. We also visited several ruins from Indians’ homes that they had left several hundred years before. The walls of their huts were built against large walls of rock, probably to protect them from rain and wind. Our guide told us that the men and women worked all day in their fields where they planted food and had their living. It was pretty cool to imagine what this place must have been like at one time.

Still in Sedona, we spent our first Thanksgiving with just the two of us. When the day came, it was very sunny and warm and we spent some time enjoying the outdoors after our feast. That evening, we had pumpkin pie around a campfire.

We only stayed about two week in Sedona, which seemed short compared to the month we had spent in Moab. Although we love traveling, we are learning that we enjoy things more when we travel slower and take our time. With this thought in mind, we headed to a spot we had stayed at before in January of 2017: Deming, New Mexico.