Raw Spirit Festival Off Site Adventures

Much of my fond memory making at the Raw Spirit Festival  happened away from the festival site. The first morning after arriving in Sedona, even though we had a late night, my two Twitterfriends (WendiDee and Dealivinglotus) and I set off early to search for a Vortex or two. We drove around using Wendi's printouts and my sometimes useless GPS. Soon we were up on top of a beautiful scenic overlook. 

I was amazed at how perfect the view was.  

I found a cactus that I wanted to take my picture with, 

but spent the next 10 minutes picking quills out of my back. 

I hardly felt it, so I was surprised at how easy they stuck to me!

We were having fun looking around and taking pictures. 

We found a circle of rocks, supposedly an area marked off with stones should indicate that there was a recognizable force there. Just as I stepped inside the circle I felt a quick rush and a tingle right down to my fingertips

(The same feeling I get when I first see that police car with it's lights flashing, in my rearview mirror, as it rushes past me to pull someone else over... a happy rush and tingle feeling). 

We took off our shoes and stood toe to toe, but I didn't feel anything else there. Probably the excitement of the moment is what caused it, 

but it was pretty fun to play along. 

We climbed to the highest peak 

and reached up to the big blue sky. 

I felt happy and free!

We stopped by Bliss Cafe and ordered a delicious lunch. I purchased a fresh living pizza,  a piece of raw coconut cream pie,  AND a slice of carrot cake. It was my first all raw food restaurant experience and I was thoroughly enjoying it.

The next morning I woke early again. After another late night, I should have been tired, but I knew the sun was coming up without me and I was wide awake. I asked my room mates if they wanted to go catch the sunrise. Dea sleepily declined. She was suffering from jet lag, having traveled all the way from Italy. Wendi and I grinned at each other and jumped into action. We hopped out of bed and were out the door in just moments! The sun was already up but the plan was to drive over to part of Coconino National Forest. As we drove around, (I'm easily distracted) we took a few side roads off track. GPS frequently said, "Recalculating." Suddenly Wendi shouted, "Hey, stop the car! I think that was LindaSalas!" Sure enough, there she was, another one of our Twitter friends, trying to get a pretty picture from her hotel drive, while standing among chest high construction cones. We offered her a ride to wherever we were headed and she happily accepted.

We found a few scenic overlooks as the sun grew higher in the sky. We were still hoping to see the Oak Creek vortex inside the Red Rock State Park. It turned out the gates were locked and the park wouldn't open for another hour. We had time before the RSF began, but didn't want to waste precious time waiting at the gate. 

We really only wanted to see the river, so we parked a few miles away and walked down an old farm road to the river. 

We had a good laugh when we discovered that we'd just taken a secret entrance into the park and it took us long enough that by then the park had opened! As we walked along the park river trail, we continued talking, laughing, and musing over how easy it was to just pick up our realworld friendship where our onlineTwitter friendship left off.

 The three of us took pictures with our three cameras, striking poses here and there.

Wendi,

Linda,

and me.

I particularly liked this one of Wendi. We were listening to the rushing river and it's musical babbling sound. She was so completely savoring every moment of her trip. Her morning with us was joyful!

Further down the river, there was a muddy landing where the water was quiet and slower moving. 

I caught Wendi and Linda playing in the mud.

On closer inspection, I saw that they were creating designs.

The mud was a rich red color, smooth and cool. 

It felt soothing to move it around.

There were puddles of water trapped in the rocks. 

They made nice places to soak feet or rinse hands.

Walking back, I found a huge cicada that didn't seem concerned with me.

Further up the road, I picked a few 

prickly pears(click here to see our friends 

Kevin and Annmarie talk about them). 

I noticed how they were different colors and 

was unsure which ones were the ripe ones.

I liked my silhouette in the picture.

Along the roadside on the drive back to our hotels, Linda pointed out many mesquite trees and we stopped to pick a shirt full. 

I liked having the opportunity picking from my window. 

Like a raw superfood drivethru. 

We had worked up quite an appetite by the time we got back to the hotel and we were pleased to find that Dea had set up a nice breakfast of durian and papayas for us.

I added some roses from just outside our hotel patio.