The Spectacular Sedona Mini Reunion

October 7-10, 2017

Attendees included:

Regrettably, there was not one good group picture that included everyone attending. Here is the best and most complete one.

L to R: Peggy Harrington & Tom Norris, John Davis, Joe Schluchter, Margarida & Penn Williamson, Cathy & Lou Desenberg, Brad Laycock, Bob & Nannie Sue Sindelar, Dee Gleason Stinson & Bill Evans (mostly hidden), Vicki & Neil Crist, Rocky & Twink Wayburn, Phil & Carol Wright (Missing: Betsy Davis, the Kennedys, the Bridges, and Rick & Diane)

Our Headquarters Hotel for the Mini was the Sedona Summit, a time-share operation, conveniently located very near the center of the places we were to visit during the Mini.

Craig did a masterful job of negotiating room rates that were significantly below rack rates. His efforts were particularly impressive considering our Mini was scheduled for high season in the area.

Saturday, October 7th

The Mini kicked off on Saturday evening with a Welcome Gathering at the Kennedy's magnificent Smoke Trail Ranch home.

The gathering featured all the adult beverages one could handle plus what was advertised as "light" hors d'oeuvres. Let's just say no one went away hungry for dinner!

L to R: Tom Norris, Rocky Wayburn, Twink Wayburn talking to Joe Schluchter, and Brad Laycock (back to camera).

Sunday, October 8th

For breakfast, we were all on our own, with many heading to the Courtyard by Marriott across the street or the local icon, The Coffee Pot, back up Highway 89A.

Then at 9 AM, we were picked up at the Sedona Summit for our Pink Jeep Broken Arrow Tour

L to R: Nannie Sue & Bob Sindelar, Tom Norris, Joe Schluchter, Vicki Crist (background), Phil Wright, Brad Laycock, Peggy Harrinton, Bill Evans (background), Rocky Wayburn, Neil Crist

L to R: Rocky Wayburn, Phil Wright, Penn Williamson, Carol Wright, Margarida Williamson, Twink Wayburn, Pink Jeep, Twink Wayburn, Margarida Williamson, Carol Wright, Penn Williamson, Phil Wright, Rocky Wayburn

Yep, that's right. The string of people pulling the Jeep is the mirror image of those pushing (thanks to some choreography and photographic trickery as orchestrated by one of our talented driver/tour-guides).

Lunch at the Segner Estate

Following the tour, we all caravanned to the oasis-like estate of Connie and Steve Segner (Connie is a horse riding buddy of Karen's). When Karen was having difficulty finding a location for Sunday lunch, Connie graciously offered their place as site for a picnic lunch. What an outstanding location! The private road from Highway 89A to the Segners was incredibly scenic ...

... however, it was a rocky road and a bit treacherous on suspension systems, but ... hey ... most of us had rental cars.

And how often is it that you have a chance to get up-close-and-personal with a somewhat friendly, hand-raised emu who actually seemed to like being petted.

Following our lunch, the Segners gave us a personalized tour of their very unique home. It was absolutely fascinating to learn about their backgrounds and their penchant for collecting and trading 20th century "artifacts". However, their current "real job" is owning and running a fascinating boutique hotel (12 suites) in Sedona: The El Portal.

The rest of the afternoon was scheduled as free time to explore ... but most of us old fogies chose to explore the backside of our eyelids laying on our backs on our bed.

Dinner at Up the Creek Restaurant

Next on the agenda was dinner at a classic roadhouse called Up the Creek.

Our private room with big glass windows provided a tranquil view of Oak Creek.

Carol Wright, Twink & Rocky Wayburn, Cathy & Lou Desenberg (Hidden), Karen & Craig Kennedy, Howie & Mary Bridges, Peggy Harrington, Diane Smith, Rick Carpenter, Mr. Incognito (Joe Schluchter)

Monday, October 9th

As on Sunday morning, we were all on our own for breakfast -- some again heading to the Courtyard by Marriott or The Coffee Pot ... or eating whatever they had brought back to their rooms.

Our Monday adventures began with a road trip to the former mining and ghost town of Jerome, advertised as "America's Most Vertical City" and "Largest Ghost Town in America". The town's history was fully laid out in a fascinating downtown museum. (Senior admission was only one buck!)

Today, Jerome is the home of a range of shops, restaurants, and magnificent views that will keep most any tourist entertained for many hours.

Perhaps, one of the most unique shops was Nellie Bly's Kaleidoscopes (just off the left edge of the picture above) ... where "unique" = "expensive". Pictures not allowed inside the shop, but here is one cribbed from the web.

Lunch at the Asylum Restaurant

After finding ourselves quite exhausted and winded from walking around Jerome (its altitude is literally a mile high), we headed to The Asylum Restaurant located inside the Jerome Grand Hotel for lunch.

Again, scenic views that just don't quit.

Palatki Heritage Site

Following lunch, about half of the group headed for the Palatki Heritage Site (a/k/a Palatki Ruins). The sparingly marked dirt roads leading to the site were a bit challenging, but it was worth the trip.

The Palatki site has a set of ancient cliff dwellings in the red sandstone cliffs, built from 1100 to 1400 by the Sinagua people of the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. (Trivia from Wikipedia: The name Sinagua was coined in 1939 by archaeologist Harold S. Colton from the Spanish words sin meaning "without" and agua meaning "water", referring to the name originally given by Spanish explorers to the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, the "Sierra Sin Agua". The name reflects the surprise the Spanish felt that such large mountains did not have perennial rivers flowing from them, as is common in Spain.)

Dinner at Smoke Trail Ranch

After scraping off all the red clay collected during our dirt road driving to and from the Palatki Ruins ... and resting a bit, we all headed back to the Kennedy's Smoke Trail Ranch for cocktails followed by an superbly catered dinner.

The Social Hour

The Dinner

Tuesday, October 10th

The plan was to have a 9 AM Farewell Breakfast at the Courtyard by Marriott across the street from our HQ lodging (Sedona Summit). However, based on everyone's divergent schedules, some folks arrived early, some late, and some had to skip it to get to their next adventure.

Bottom Line: Hearty thanks again to Craig and Karen Kennedy for their stupendous efforts resulting in yet another truly great mini reunion filled with sights, foods, and camaraderie to keep us all supremely satiated ... at least until the next Mini.

Happy (Smoke) Trails to you ... until we meet again!

Addendum

Among those arriving early for the Mini were the Davis's, Wright's, and Brad Laycock. After over-spending a local art fair, the group stopped by the Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village

and guess who we met there???

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Webmaster's Note: Apologies to those attendees who feel they were under (or over) represented in the above collection of images. Although I had 575+ images to chose from, I had too few images of some attendees ... and too many of others. And some images were just too under exposed ... or over exposed. Anyway, I hope the images chosen do convey how delighted we were to spend a few days together at the Spectacular Sedona Mini Reunion!

Thanks one more time to Craig & Karen Kennedy.

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