Today was a day of trusting the flow, where every single moment felt like it led us to the next moment…and all of it was on purpose.
Our day started with a check in for the vortex jeep tour at 7:30, but instead of waiting around on a bench for the 8am start time, we decided to do a little loop walk around the still sleepy neighborhood. On our walk, Jen expressed disappointment that she’d not remembered sooner to grab some stones to “charge” at the vortexes while we’re there this morning.
But then, we saw a little coffee place open off the beaten path and went in to grab some caffeine…and wouldn’t ya know, they sold stones in there. So she got a rose quartz for a dear friend and a lithium quartz for the kiddo, along with an iced dirty chai latte with oat milk…and then we were off to the vortexes.
Our first stop was a vortex called Rachel’s Knoll…less well known than “the big four”: Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Boynton Canyon, and Airport Mesa. Our guide told us that Sedona actually wasn’t known for vortexes until some psychic lady visited in the 1970’s, but she was kinda out of shape, so she picked those four because they weren’t much of a walk to get to and she’s like “Yep, here. And here. And there. And here.” And then she was done.
There’s actually a bunch of vortex energy spots around Sedona. A vortex was scientifically described to us today in a way that made very little sense to me, but Jen totally geeked out with her brilliant science brain about it…something about volcanic rock that’s oxidized, and iron and quartz being conductors, and underground rivers converging, and these things called meridians that engage with something in our inner ear. I don’t know…all I know is the vortexes here can be identified by red sparkly rocks and twisted juniper trees.
So, a long time ago, this chick Rachel owned a bunch of land out in western Sedona and she felt crazy energy up on this knoll on her property. She put it in her will that if her sons ever sold the land after she passed that there’d always be a way for the public to still experience the energy of the knoll.
Of course they sold it and probably made bajillions of dollars because now it’s a gated community with a golf course and fancy homes, but the public is still allowed in for $3 after a long legal battle to make sure Rachel’s final wishes were carried out.
So our guide said to walk around Rachel’s Knoll with our hands out flat and palms facing down…and tell him if we felt any kind of sensation. As I walked around, I suddenly felt crackles of static in my fingers and he drew a circle around the spot where I felt it and brought out these witchy copper sticks to “test” it. He held the sticks out about a foot from each other and, as he walked into the circle he drew, the copper sticks crossed inwards.
He brought us sticks to try as we walked around. And sure enough there were a bunch of spots where the sticks moved and crossed like magic. Jen couldn’t look away from her sticks…even for this photo…it was super cute.
And here’s a twisty juniper that looks like magic princess hair up close.
We also learned that agave is really interesting. If you ferment it once, it makes tequila. If you ferment it twice, it makes mezcal. Indigenous folks used the sharp prickles and threads to sew stuff, like cow hide. And when it’s in its prime, you don’t wanna fall onto it …old timey white people who fell off their horses named it “the cowboy killer” because it’s strong enough to pierce right through ya.
The most beautiful thing I learned about agave today is that, right before it’s about to die, it uses all of its energy and nutrients to grow a really tall blooming stalk in just a few days…as the base of it withers away. The flowers on the stalk grow high enough to blow away and spread seeds to make new agave plants.
We saw some on our hike yesterday…I had no idea this flower, that was so beautiful it stopped us dead in our tracks, was actually the sign of a dying agave. There’s a metaphor in this.
After Rachel’s Knoll, we headed over to the Peace Park, the same place we went yesterday and felt all the peace. We learned some more about it though and that it’s also considered a vortex, which makes sense after how we felt being there yesterday. We learned about the traditions and prayers there…the weird part is that we drove away yesterday saying we definitely wanted to return and spend more time here…and then there we were, here again.
It was fun riding in the back of the jeep with the wind blowing in our hair, but this wasn’t an off-roading tour by any means. The jeep seemed to be just a vehicle to get to two places we actually coulda done ourselves. But learning new stuff was cool and now we kinda want some copper witch sticks of our own.
We returned to town and recapped our adventure over a white pizza with peaches and pancetta from this place called The Hideaway House that overlooks the creek. The view and the food was amazing and the owner was super friendly.
We headed back to our room to change and go for a swim, but remembered the creek we went to a few days ago filled up pretty early and it kinda looked like a little storm might be rolling in, so we decided instead to hang out in the hotel pool with our little speaker and floaties.
We had the whole place to ourselves and marveled as the sky gave us a really neat cloud show.
We heard some thunder and saw one streak of lightning. Drops of rain fell into the pool. A few folks showed up to swim when the sun came back out and we met a couple from Philly with some funny stories of their adventures traveling with their adult children.
We headed to a Mexican place for dinner because Jen is loving these prickly pear margaritas they have here and then indulged on the gelato I’ve been wanting to try since Monday.
A guy in the gelato store cut in front of us in line and we sat on a bench deliberating what the best and most peaceful way to handle that situation might be. I always think of something clever and biting to say 20 minutes later after an incident like that….
We wanted a post-gelato walk, so we headed down to the wine store to pick up a few bottles as our remaining souvenirs.
As we walked, we caught the solstice sunset (seen above) and then the moonrise over Snoopy Rock took our breath away (full moon is tomorrow).
We walked and talked tonight under this beautiful moon about all the sensations and vibrations we’ve had since being here. We’ve talked about inner work we want to do to become better versions of ourselves. We’ve talked about letting go of things, how to be present and appreciate the beauty in little moments. We both agree this place absolutely delivers and deserves all the hype we heard before we got here. We’re already trying to figure out how soon we can make a return trip.
