The Honeymooners

The morning after our wedding and reception, Mark and I had a professional portrait done in our wedding clothes (courtesy of my sister Karla) before heading off on our 2-day honeymoon.
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Since Mark was working temp jobs and I had quit my underpaid instructional aide job to finish my last year of college, we were on a very tight budget.

Still, we felt it was important to have some newlywed time alone, so we traveled north of Phoenix to beautiful Sedona for a very short honeymoon. Sedona is renowned for its red rock formations, artist colonies, Oak Creek Canyon, Slide Rock, and the Church of the Cross.

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I shot these pictures from the car as we neared Sedona.

We stayed at Cedars Resort (actually a motel, but a very nice one). The balcony of our room overlooked beautiful Oak Creek.

Here is a nice shot of Mark's foot on the balcony rail, and the flowing creek waters below. It made a peaceful trickling sound for us during our 20-or-so hours there.

This is an even better shot of Oak Creek, taken when we hiked down to the creek itself.

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I've often thought that if I'd been a homesteader a few hundred years ago, I'd have wanted to build my home in the trees near a creek like this.

After we checked out of the "resort" the next morning, we drove up to the top of Oak Creek Canyon. The view was spectacular.

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Mark thinks he's part mountain goat. He liked to spook me by jumping out onto dangerous outcroppings. He did the same thing both times we went to the Grand Canyon. It's amazing that he's still alive!

I was usually behind the camera, but here's my proof that Mark was not on this honeymoon alone!

On our way back down, we stopped for awhile at a rainbow trout farm just outside Sedona, which was Mark's favorite part. He was wishing he had his fishing pole!

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We also stopped to see the amazing sand sculptures done by an elderly resident of the area. He did this sculpture of Jesus Christ and another of the Last Supper using nothing but sand and water.

After that we headed back south toward home. Along the way we stopped to see Montezuma Well, which is fed by a warm underground spring that's really in the middle of nowhere.

High in the cliffs above the well are these ancient cliff dwellings built into the rim.

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I like to imagine what life was like for the folks who dwelt there. It can't have been easy. Even the nearby well water would have been difficult to reach, so far below.

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And how did they keep their toddlers from falling over the edge?!

The ruins are barely visible in this view from across Montezuma well.

A little farther south and we came to a path that led to the source of a warm water spring, bubbling right out of the rock. I had to put my hands in the spring to test the water!

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I remember having an amazingly peaceful feeling there, as if I were in a blessed place.

Finally, we came to Montezuma Castle, which is several miles south of Montezuma Well (no connection between the two).

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I was so impressed by this huge cliff dwelling. How in the world did these people accomplish such a marvel in ancient times? What craftsmanship they must have had to leave such a monument still standing after a thousand years!

On our way home, we paused at this rest stop at a most fortuitous time. You see, the name of this rest stop is "Sunset Point."

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It was only 2 days long, but our honeymoon was a time to relax and just enjoy being together. And isn't that what it's all about?