Sedona has been incredible.  We left LA at 8:30 AM and were hiking a peak called “Bell Tower” by 5:00 PM. The drive was a piece of cake.  Something came over us though!!!  We have been on the road for 13 days.  

We started off the morning with Starbucks frappacinos. I must admit, we were a little sad to leave, so maybe that is what caused our irresponsible behavior, but about 3 hours into the road trip we went into the gas station and bought Gas station FUUUUNNK.  Flaming hot Cheetos,

jalapeño Pringles, cheeze-it’s, Take 5 Bar, kit Kat Bar, bubiliscious. Diet Coke.  We just bought it all and got back in the car and chowed.  It was so GROOOOOOOSSSSSS but GOOOOOOOODDDDDDD at the same time.

The air conditioner was acting up again. It was seriously hotter than Haiti.  Another thing that was annoying was with all the fluid intake we kept having to stop. The ladies bathroom always has the longest line. I told Iz I thought we should get some depends so we could skip the bathroom stops.  She thought that was crazy and disgusting.  I thought it was GENIUS. She has refused this idea, but I’m seriously considering this option.  I just can’t stand wasting time in bathroom lines when we have mountains to climb and vistas to take in.

We came upon a storm that was beautiful.  I was so confused because I thought it did not rain in the

desert, but sure enough their was a serious storm hovering over Sedona upon our arival.  We checked into our hotel and headed straight to “Bell Tower.”

When we got to the hike destination we started up the incline.  This is serious rock climbing.  SCAAAAARY!!!  Anyways, my daughter SCREAMS. I get to her and am greeted by a beautiful snake.  We continue the incline

to a new path.  I am then greeted with a large black crow feather.  Many of you might recal my black crow experience on the path to where I wrote songs in a prior blog.  I got the goose bumps.  I was going to take the feather with me but Iz was concerned it was unsanitary.

We hiked to the top. I felt scared for my life many times, but man am I glad we kept climbing. We continued to experience HEAVEN to the EYES!!!  The natural wonders of this tiny part of the world Iz and I are exploring is just mind boggling.  It seems impossible that such perfection exists.  The land, the

creatures, the soaring birds….. Just all these gifts provided to us for free from the Universe.  It is hard to understand how these gifts are not always cherished.

We made it to the top.  The decline was terrifying.  I wore a dress on the hike.  MISTAKE!!!  I was having serious problems.  My back pack was giant. and kept hitting things and throughing me forward then backwards on to my seat if you know what I mean. When I would fall on my seat, the gravel cut me up.  I slid many times but fortunately I did not get cut up too badly, but a lesson ladies…  NEVER EVER wear a DRESS hiking. I did take a selfie, as I could not believe what we had just accomplished.

Famished, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant on the way home.  Even after all that gas station funk, we were still starved. We had an AWESOME dinner.  Came back to our room and passed out.

Sedona is definitely at the top of our favorite destinations on this trip!!!  I would love to make a music video on one of these peaks!!!

 

Tomorrow we will hike again, and head back to Santa Fe for a day. Then we have a 12 hour drive to Little

Rock Arkansas, then to our final destination called “MEMPHIS”.  I am so excited to take Iz to Sun Studios and Graceland.

Day 9 was thrilling.  The drive to LA was so much fun.  We were just so darn excited.  Half way to LA, Iz took the wheel.  It was nice to have her drive.  About an hour out of LA, the traffic became insane.  I offered to take over but she said she wanted to finish the job.  My 17 year old daughter escorted us into the amazing “City Of Angels.”  I was just so darn proud of her!!!

We arrived at a wonderful hotel Elizabeth had told us about called The Beverly Laurel.  It was in a terrific location.  After we got unpacked we headed over to the Farmer’s Market and The Grove to meet my cousin and her daughter whom we hadn’t seen in 15 years.

Both my cousins daughter and my daughter are named after the same great great grandma and great aunt.  My great aunt “Isabelle” was a character.  She would come to visit and we would eat artichokes with hollandaise sauce. While at the dinner table she would say “Alexis, Alexis strong and able, keep your elbows off the table’. She also loved my mom so much.  It would make me so happy to see this woman look at my mom with such love.  She was pretty proper and serious but she had a twinkle in her eye every time she looked at my mom.

It was amazing to see the two young Isabella’s sitting beside each other.  They both chewed there food the same and expressed themselves with there hands in similar ways.  It was a trip!!! Considering we have had no interaction since my cousin’s baby was less than a year old, it seems kind of magical that the two have these similarities. I just sat there in awe of the Isabella’s, hoping that their great great aunt Isabelle’s SPIRIT and LOVE would continued to be honored for years to come by the newly introduced cousins!!!

Day 10 was a blast!!!  We visited the Grammy Museum. It was truly incredible. I am so proud and honored to be a voting member of the Grammy’s and Narras.  They had a whole section dedicated to Tupac. It was AMAZING. I got REAL goosebumps!!! I wanted to read every single one of his note books they had on display. I could have stayed there the whole day. Unfortunately we had to leave, but I can’t wait to go back!!!  TUPAC has a hold of my curiosity and heart.

 

We got in the car and headed to USC for a tour. I had to make a quick stop when we arrived at the conference room. I told Iz I would meet her in the lecture hall.  When I returned and opened the door to the lecture hall I found a room FILLED with SERIOUS faces.  I scanned the room, found IZ and made eye contact.  Her eyes popped open and I could feel her telepathically telling me to not embarrass her which made me LOOSE it. If you know me well, you know that I am a nervous wreck in these kinds of “Eyes on Me SERIOUS  situations”.  It was horrible. I got the giggles and it was so bad, actually terrifying. I kept my head down and walked right past Iz. I headed up two rows behind her because I knew if I sat next to her it was going to become a traumatic scene for both of us and we would be history at USC.  As hard as I tried to stop, she could still hear me, and I could see her shoulders bouncing from holding back her laugh. The lecturer even started to laugh. At one point I was SOOOO close to SNORTING. I buried my face in my hands and had tears running down my face. I just begged god in my mind to help me stop laughing.  I then pictured my dogs face (she passed away last year) and that seemed to help finally break the inappropriate hysterics. This laughter problem I have is a real “CONDITION”, and has caused me TREMENDOUS embarrassment in this life. The tour was about 2 hours and Iz and I had to combat the giggles the entire time. She LOVED USC.  We will ALWAYS remember this visit!!!

Iz also loves thrift stores so we left USC and went to a store called it’s a wrap where they sell used close from movies and TV shows. She got a super cool top that Queen Latiffa wore on her show.  It was real fun.

We then went to an awesome Ethiopian restaurant called Industry Cafe and Jazz. My cousin and her daughter met us there.  My cousin had heard it was an incredible venue. I had the BEST dinner!!!

I actually got up and performed. I was told I performed with some Jazz and Blues legends.  I believe it too because they were seriously tight and talented!!!  I loved the way BB King sang “Sweet Angel” so

I decided to sing that song.  The band was AMAZING!!!  Then their lead singer named Hollywood Charles invited me to sing “Moondance” with him.  I was ill prepared, but gave it a shot.  So so much fun!!! A man gave me his number and said they were in talks of doing a Jazz Idol and he would like to have me on the show.   I was honored.  Such an incredibly fun night and the owner of the restaurant was super cool!!!  Several people took video so maybe one day you can watch the performance.

Day 11 Iz and I took it easy and then had lunch at the Ivy.  The atmosphere was fun.  Someone famous was sitting alone next to us but I’m not sure who he was because I’m not good at that stuff.  He did have remarkable energy. He had an aura.  I’m being serious too. After lunch we hit more thrift stores and Iz found a sweater that she had dreamed about for years.  It was a sweater that retails for about $300 and she got it for $40 so it was a jackpot

day for her.  That evening we went to Venice and walked the canal.  The Venice Canals are just so beautiful at night!!!

Day 12 we met my cousin and biked from Venice to Santa Monica and Back!!!  Such an awesome bike ride. We returned to our Hotel at the Beverly Hilton and relaxed by the pool. The Beverly Hilton is known for it’s pool. It was really peaceful. We had been given points to stay at this incredible Hotel so it was a giant treat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few hours later we hit the town and went to Griffith Observatory.  WOOOOOOOWWWW!!! So beautiful. There are a million things I’de like to do up there. Watch the sunrise, watch

the sunset, have a dinner party.  it is like a fairytale up there. I just can’t even wait to go back. Afterwards we drove by the walk of fame and then went to a comedy club…..  Then back to the hotel for a little shut eye.

Day 12 We were suppose drive to Sadona but decided to wait a day so we could see Malibu and watch my

cousins daughter perform bass at an Irish Pub in evening.  The drive to Malibu was wonderful. When we drove through on 1 North I was kind of confused.  I have heard my whole life about how beautiful Malibu was but I wasn’t feeling it. It was very cloudy and cold out and it just did not look like the beautiful Malibu I’ve read about my whole life.  We got to this place called “Paradise Cove”, but the parking was crazy so we turned around and headed to a restaurant for lunch called “Dukes”.  Low and behold Malibu became BEAUTIFUL.  Heading South

on 1 is INCREDIBLE.  It must be how the light reflects on the water and mountains.  I seriously would never believe you if you told me I drove down the same highway minutes earlier, if I hadn’t been behind the wheel myself!!!  Just amazing.  In life we can always see the bright side of things or the dark side and MALIBU is just like that!!!  Haaaaaa.  I also popped in an art gallery where they where having a show of a pop artist.  It was really fun and made me smile.  Iz and I sat inside at Dukes and I had the best salad. We looked out over the ocean and counted our blessings.  Talked about life and college.  She said she was interested in Seattle.  Minutes later a boy walked over from across the room and started talking to us. I asked him where he was from and he aid Seattle. I got a real kick out of that!!!

After lunch we headed to my cousins and hung out until we went to the Irish Pub where my cousin daughter was sitting in on bass.  She played bass on a Stone Temple Pilot song and she was AWESOME!!! She is only 15 and is incredibly talented.  My cousin has really been such a nurturing mother to her daughter and her talents. It made me so happy to see her being a beautiful, loving, protective mom!!!  She was so gracious and wonderful. We spent the night at their house and I just kept thinking about how cool my great aunt Isabelle was and how thankful
I was she brought us together for this amazing unexpected visit.

Tomorrow is Sadona and We’ll be on a mission!!!😊

After a wonderful visit in Santa Fe we left for a night at The Grand Canyon. It was only a 6.5 hour drive. We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 4.

Increeeeeeeeedible!!!  Nobody can prepare you for the site of the Grand Canyon.  How this giant hole in the earth filled with mountains and peaks was created is beyond my comprehension.  We walked around the south rim and then climbed out on this rock and watched the sunset. My daughter made me climb out on some serious ledges.

Her fearlessness is inspiring. A perfect accompanyment to the daily messages in my book I am reading. Such an unbelievable day and evening.

I want to write more but I don’t have words to describe what my eyes have seen.  I will just post several of the pictures, knowing that they

can not capture the beauty and magnificence of this natural wonder, but it is the best I can do!!!.  I can’t wait to return and camp here someday.

We definitely have some material to paint!!!

In the morning we leave for LA. We are so excited we can hardly stand it!!!