ardamar: The Zone

Once upon a time, my family and Alec went to Sedona...

We went in two cars, because the dogs came too. Sarah, Alec and i drove in mine. During the car ride we listened to music (ther new Air album and the new Arcade Fire album, for example), conversed, and played the Ukelele...

We also saw some really pretty clouds...

At sunset we stopped to get gas...it was amazing...

It was also very windy.

In Kingman, we met some friends for dinner.

As we sat and ate Italian food, we were entertained by the gregarious and uninhibited owner, Carlo Lucio (i think) who told us all about their aging process for the steaks. And about his 18 heart attacks. And about how his son died of a drug overdose. Good dinner conversation.
Sarah Alec and i were quite amused by Charlie and Hailey, the two children of the couple we rondez-vous'ed with. I couldn't get a picture of them because they moved around too much. Charlie wore Pirates of the Carribbean sunglasses almost the entire way through dinner while Hailey consumed an inordinate amount of water for a 2-year old. It was pretty sweet. Then Carlo gave us free cheesecake and tiramisu that we couldn't eat more than 2 bites of.
Then we were back on the road again...
After about an hour of driving the highway came to a dead halt. We all climbed out of our cars and amused ourselves. I was the only one who didn't pee in the bushes. Alec, Sarah and i sat in mom and dad's car and played mom a song we had all made over the weekend. There is something almost magical about being stuck on a dark highway late at night surrounded by huge trucks and cars all waiting for the cue to move. Suddenly after about 20 minutes, the Big Rigs started roaring to life and we all scrambled back into the cars and were off again!

The three of us realised almost immediately that we had left the tape adapter that lets me play ipods in the car in Mom and Dad's car...so we had to figure out a different way to entertain ourselves. So we decided to record a song on my laptop. We chose a Half-Handed Cloud tune called "Buffet" to cover and went to it...and that occupied us until we got to the house just around midnight...

The next day we went hiking.

This picture makes me really happy...

Story Time...

Toward the end of the hike, as they were heading back to the car, Sarah and Alec came across a bridge. It was a lovely bridge. Quite sturdy, so they weren't nervous or anything, despite the roaring rapids rushing by beneath them.
As they crossed it there was a deafening clap, like the sound of a thousand thunders! They began to run like they had never run before!

Suddeny Sarah began to slow down...she was so scared she was laughing uncontrollably! The bridge began to shake...so Alec tried to keep her from tumbling off the bridge...breaking his left ankle in the process!
But his heroic resolve did not falter...and as the thunderous sound became louder...

He picked her up to carry her the rest of the way! Suddenly there came the blinding flash of a nuclear blast!! The Earth raged beneath them! The wind howled! The sky seemed to split in two! What in heaven's name would they do now???

Was this the end of our two heroes?

But wait...

...the blinding light subsided...and they were alright! The flowers were even still on the trees. The birds sang. This made Sarah laugh even more. What was this mysterious occurrence? They had no answer...so they continued on their way.

The End.

Okay, now. Back to the real world...
look...it's a Feather Cloud...

A Monster cloud...

Mom and Dad and Maela...

The drive home...it was AMAZING...

A camera can't even remotely capture how intense these colors were. It was incredible.
I love what the sky looks like after it rains. Especially in Sedona...it's like a fantasy world or something.

Did i mention i like clouds?

The next morning Sarah Alec and i decided to walk to breakfast. I found a place in the sidewalk where my name was written in the cement. Then it began to rain. So we waited for mom and dad to come and pick us up and drive us the rest of the way

We had breakfast at the Wildflower Bakery. Alec took a nap.

That evening, we drove to Flagstaff to visit some family. We ate Mexican food, showed them some of our songs, and Dad and Tiffin (his cousin) watched the NCAA tournament. I made guacamole.

They have a fish named Carl. This is Carl...

He likes posing for photos. He's quite vain...

I like this picture just because it's kind of creepy...the more you look at it...

Our last day in Sedona. Sarah got really sick in the morning and Alec and i tragically injured ourselves. So we did some major relaxing and Sarah ate a sandwich (once she felt better).

And of course we got in some good-old-fashioned Trampoline jumping time!

It had been a while, but it's like riding a bike.

Alec, like he AAAAAAALLLLLWWWWWWAYS does (jk) took off his shirt and, being the artist am, i had to get some pictures. I took a gazillion of them...but i'll just post a few. I think they're pretty awesome...