I shot this photo while the rented mini-van I was driving
was rolling up the road toward the Red Rock Country and Sedona, Arizona. This
was my first (and so far, only) visit to the "small" artist community
about 110 miles north and, about a two-hour drive from Phoenix. My mental
impression of Sedona had always been of a small hamlet in a valley made up of
red rock mountains. I pictured small, low to the ground, adobe cottages inhabited
by a community of artists who painted, threw and decorated pots, sculpted,
composed music, wrote books and other similar artistic endeavors with a small
population of folks to operated retail establishments and support services for
such a community.
Of course, from this approach (driving in from Cottonwood, a
community about 19 miles south of Sedona, a 25 minute drive), I became
immediately disillusioned. First, of course, I could see that the small city
was spread out over a sizeable piece of geography. The actual city area of
Sedona is about 18 square miles. The significant number of signs identifying
various civic groups that were present in Sedona was also a quick giveaway that
what I was soon to experience was nothing like my mental picture. I also
learned that Sedona is about 4,500 feet above sea level in the high desert and
I was expecting it to be at a much lower elevation in some kind of
"bowl" surrounded by mountains. Actually, from the vantage point of
the motel I decided to stay at in Cottonwood (I didn't have My McVansion at
this time), Sedona appeared to be much lower than Cottonwood. In fact, I guess
the desert can be deceiving, because Cottonwood was actually about 1,200 feet
lower than Sedona.
When I finally arrived in Sedona, my mental picture was
dashed. I found a small city of about 10,000 people (about 1,300 less than
Cottonwood). While the houses were generally low, they really didn't resemble
the small, adobe cottages I envisioned. But, I guess the thing that really took
the wind out of my sails was that it appeared to be a pricey tourist trap. I
didn't see any quaint evidence of the artist community I imagined. There were
numerous strip malls, restaurants of all descriptions including a sizeable
number of upscale restaurants, a variety of better known, mid range to high
priced hotels and along with the general retail and support stores and
services, there were lots of places to help reduce the amount of cash one had
by replacing it with pricey "stuff." At the north end of Sedona there was a very
upscale, Spanish architecture, walled mall. It was lovely, but certainly not
what I was looking for. In general, I could easily ascertain that Sedona was a
much more costly place to both visit and live than near by Cottonwood.
So, in doing a little research, I guess what I was really expecting was a 1970 type Sedona when the population was about 2,000 and not a 2010 Sedona with
a little over 10,000. That was an average increase in population of about 2,000
more residents every decade since 1970. The mental picture I had been carrying around
in my mind since around the mid 70's is what I would have likely found if I had
visited Sedona back in the day. While I enjoyed my visit to Sedona (I was there
attending a workshop) and I enjoyed exploring some of the region and seeing the
geographic features of the region, it's not a place I'm anxious to return to just
to visit and hang out. And frankly, I stayed at a nice, budget motel in Cottonwood
for about $100.00 per night LESS than it would have cost me to stay in the Hampton
Inn in Sedona. That was about a $300.00 savings and I can guarantee it didn't cost
$300.00 to make the 38 mile round trip to Cottonwood each day for three days.
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