Our recent jaunt to Carmel reminded me of another pleasant wintry vacation we took, in 2009 before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye.  I had been in the greater Phoenix for a few weeks, and my husband drove out with the dogs to stay with me for the latter part of the trip.  We took the long way back to the bay area, by first traveling north up Highway 17 to the very spiritual town of Sedona.  None of the photographs above were altered in any way – the sky really is that blue in Sedona, and the red rock structures just pop.  I felt like I was living in a reel from one of those old View Master toys.  We loved the hotel we stayed at, the Hilton Sedona Resort and Spa, which lies just at the beginning of the main drag into town.  The resort has an elegant lodge feel to it, and the rooms are tastefully decorated with Southwestern accents.  We happened to be there on Valentine’s Day, and the hotel’s restaurant featured a special prix fixe menu.  I wish I had my camera with me, but the one menu item I remember quite vividly was an appetizer of hamachi (yellowfin tuna) in a spicy tomato sauce.  The thick slab of hamachi was buttery and soft … I wondered how they managed to haul in such a near-perfect piece of fish in the middle of the desert.  Best of all, the Hilton Sedona is dog friendly, and we saw a fair number of other dogs there.  Upon check-in, the hotel gave us a doggy treat bag, water bowl, and dog bed.  Sedona also has a well-kept dog park, with a separate play area for smaller dogs.Another side benefit of road-tripping to Sedona, is the fact that there is a good chance you’ll have to travel along the historic Route 66 on at least one leg of your trip.I snapped this photo in the town of Williams, Arizona, where we stopped for breakfast at Old Smokey’s, a place that knows how to do a good roadside diner breakfast.  The restaurant was bustling on the weekend morning that we go there.  They are located at 624W Route 66 in Williams, Arizona, and are open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  Check out their country store, right next to the dining area.

Sedona and its surrounding towns offers an array of outdoor opportunities that, because of our limited time there, we weren’t able to take advantage of.  But we (and the dogs) vowed to get back one day.