“Oh, Wade…”

Tuesday, July 21, 2008, 2:00 am

First, a favor. We learned last night that Kathy’s and my aunt Mary Ness is in the hospital. She needs dialysis, but she is reacting poorly to the treatments and an alternative must be found. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

We just got back from a fancy dinner in Sedona - The Silver Saddle Room at the Cowboy Club. Sounds like your basic steakhouse, but not in Sedona. This was high end, five-star chef quality - fancy drizzles and palate cleansing sorbet between courses. The prices reflected that, probably the most expensive meal of the trip so far, but still more reasonably priced than our resort’s restaurant on the river. We all agreed that even so, it was an excellent meal, and not too bad a price for the quality.

We had a connection with our waiter. He grew up in Charleston, SC, and all of his family had gone to either USC (the lawyers) or Clemson (everyone else). He now lives in Sedona with his wife, who wanted to learn therapeutic massage and believed this was the best place to do that. Kathy and Scott have a friend (Beth Borum, now Beth Choplin) who was a teacher in Charleston. Turns out our waiter had her for a teacher, for one day. On his first day in her class he corrected her. She threw him out, forcing him to switch to another class. Good times.

Sedona is the new age capital of the west, even more than Boulder, CO. The place is a mystical and ‘spiritual’ haven, and all of the local maps show the hotspot ‘vortexes’ of mystical energy that are all over town. It’s why there are so many spas and resorts here (the scenery and tranquility probably don’t hurt, either).

We are staying at one of the premium ones, L’Auberge (I think it means ‘The Burger’, though I could be wrong). It is about as high end as you get. Everyone is super nice, and whatever you ask for just shows up at your door. It’s so posh that they still treat you nice even if you’re not posh. In my case, that’s a good thing. The Sommerfelds have made the shift smoothly, like ducks to water. I, however, feel a little like Jed Clampett, or rather, a poor Jed Clampett without any Texas Tea. I want to sit on the front porch of our cabin and start whistling across the top of my Moab growler jug and yell ‘Yee Haw’.

I’m just teasing. The place is beautiful. Our cabin is right on Oak Creek, and the sound of the stream and the look of the trees remind me of time spent at Bat Cave, NC. Every single staff person here is the epitome of professional, and we all feel like kings and queens. Our personal concierge, Wade, is more than happy to fulfill our every wish, and we have had a great time utilizing his talents:
- “Wade, our room doesn’t have a DVD player, could you find one for us please?”
- “Wade, where are the ice machines? … You’ll bring a bucket of ice right to us? Wonderful, and thanks!”
- “Wade, we’d like to avoid the high cost of your overpriced restaurant here on the premises and eat at one of the restaurants in town instead. Could you recommend one? … The Silver Saddle sounds delightful; could you make a reservation for us please? … Super … Oh, and that would mean walking up the hill, so would you mind finding that cute golf cart and hauling us up there?”
- “Thanks for everything, Wade. And by the way, that DVD player didn’t have a remote, so after you drop us off, see if you can find one and deliver it to our room. You’re the best.”

Sedona is a lovely city and area. We’re only seeing a small part of it since we’re letting Forest rest and are limiting ourselves to foot, Wade, and free shuttle transportation. The surrounding red rocks and mountains are lovely and make this one of the prettiest small towns I’ll never be able to afford to live in. Our drive in from Flagstaff along scenic 89-A is rated by Rand McNally as one of the top 5 in America. It starts off in a lush Ponderosa Pine forest at the top of the ridge. Then you explode out of the forest onto the rim and you are treated to spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. You drop through a series of super tight switchbacks and hairpin turns until you find and follow Oak Creek, which leads you into Sedona.

One last quick story. Lee seems most at home here in Sedona, the mood and lifestyle of the area meshes well with her own sensibilities. She convinced Kathy to join her in the resort’s yoga class this morning, she enjoys organic gardening, and she has a soft heart for all forms of life. She’s become so all-natural that her aunt Sherrie said she was going to start calling her ‘Crunch’ (as in all-natural oat bran cereal), which turned out to be prophetic. We arrived at L’Auberge in the early evening, just after a summer shower had passed through. Walking to our cabin on the resort’s narrow sidewalks, Lee noticed that the local snails were out in force. They were picture perfect, little antennae swishing back and forth, perfectly round nautilus houses balanced on their backs. Lee expressed concern for their safety, as they were small and hard to see on the darkening sidewalks. She decided to help one out and get it back in the grass, when ‘Crunch!’, she inadvertently helped another one become a grease spot. Poor Lee felt just terrible, and she took our many ribbings in great stride.

Tomorrow, we at last make the turn and start back towards home. We are all beginning to dread the return to reality, even though we still have a good five days left. This also marks the end of all pre-trip reservations. Cindy and Mike are still expecting us in Austin on the way back, but we have no set timetable other than when we are due back at work. Roughly, it should be two days to Austin, one day there, and two more days to get back to Atlanta. Kate, Scott, Lee and Kristen will have one final day of driving and rejoicing once they are finally able to cut me loose there.

Hang tough, Aunt Mary. We’re with you in spirit.