Beautiful Sedona

It was definitely vacation time, and a Judd and Kristen kind of vacation time. So we packed up Judd's car with a bajillion camping supplies, hit the road, and headed to Sedona, Arizona.

We had never been there before, but heard good things about it. One of the first big decisions was where to stay. Judd would have been totally fine camping the whole week, but I wanted a few days at a hotel. Then the big decision was whether to splurge on a resort... or pay less for a cheaper hotel that came with a totally awesome package kayaking deal on the Verde River.

Can't turn down a kayaking adventure!

So we spend a few days hanging around town, and checked out this highly recommended restaurant. I was really excited about it, because you could dine on the patio overlooking the mountains at sunset. But it took almost an hour for a waiter to acknowledge us and bring us drinks, and that was after we politely mentioned it three different times that we were being ignored out on the patio. So we started to walk out, because for what we were going to pay for the meal, it's kind of lame to be waiting that long. And the restaurant wasn't even that busy. But the manager caught us at the door, apologized profusely, and bought us appetizers and drinks. So that's why we're smiling in the picture, free food is always a happy thing!

We realized we didn't really have the right kind of shoes for all the hiking we wanted to do, especially since a lot of it would be in water. So we got these hippie/yuppie shoes (because that's what all the retired rich hippies in Sedona wear all over town, not just for outdoor adventures!). Judd absolutely hated that his were orange at first, but they're growing on him now!

Then we made our camp home sweet home for the next several days!

Check this out... maybe you already know this... but they make pancakes in a can! It's like whip cream... but with pancake batter! I saw it and had to have it. There's very little mess, and they were pretty good!

Slide Rock Park is one of the coolest things about Sedona. It's this trail along a river. In many parts of it, the rocks make natural "slides", hence the name. Families pack this place during the summer, since it's basically a cheap water park, but it was still warm enough in October to try and brave. I posted a few videos so you can see what I mean. I highly recommend it, probably my favorite part of the trip!

I miss colorful leaves!

So each time we go camping, we get more and more creative with our tinfoil dinners. There's very little in them that's actually healthy... but we're on vacation and they're so darn good! So in no particular order... beef, carrots, potatoes, onions, cream of mushroom, Velveeta cheese, mozzarella sticks, pancake batter, salt, pepper, garlic salt, barbecue sauce, brats, and whatever else we had hanging out in the cooler. Top that off with homemade camp ice cream!

Judd going down a rock slide...

And me going down a rock slide. I love the paranoid lady's voice in the background!