I'm starting to loose track of which day of the week it is, but I'm fairly certain it was on Saturday we drove from Scottsdale to the Grand Canyon via Sedona. I'm reminded it was Saturday by the huge crowds descending on Sedona for the day: loads more picnic-ers and sightseers than have bothered us at any other time this week.

I'd planned a nice quiet and reflective trip up to the peaceful Chapel of the Holy Cross which nestles up on a hill, set into the rock, overlooking the town of Sedona. However, when we arrived there were multiple parking attendants and porta-loos for the Saturday masses. It's all very nice, in a wonderful setting, but we didn't spend long, took a couple of pictures and went on our way to the second stop on our days pilgrimage: the handmade fudge shop!

Of course it wasn't just fudge: chocolate strawberries, chocolate pineapple, pretzels dipped in chocolate, lemon brittle (thin lemon chocolate). You could get as many free samplers as you liked, and we eventually chose a slice of amaretto fudge, and a slice of dark chocolate orange fudge. Unfortunately they go off in a little while so they'll have to be eaten before we return home. Shame, we so looked forward to sharing them with everyone.

After the fudge shop we headed for a place called Indian Gardens for a picnic lunch. It is situated right down on the waters edge of Oak Creek Canyon which Sedona sits in the middle of. Unfortunately when we got there the area had been taken over for a wedding (another reminder it was Saturday and these pesky locals were getting in our way!). So we took evasive action and headed to another recreation area a few miles down the creek. I say 'recreation area' because we've learned there are these designated areas of beauty that the government have clearly thought: "You know what, we can make some money off this!" You are not allowed to stop and eat food, or do anything in fact, unless you have previously paid money at some regional state office for the pleasure. The place was barren, which demonstrates people are happy to find an alternative and they can't be making much money off it, so we snuck in and enjoyed our lunch in peace and tranquility away from the Saturday tourists. We decided if anyone turned up we'd play the dumb foreigner card anyway.

After a late lunch we headed off on our journey towards our accommodation at Grand Canyon, which involved a 6000ft climb (for the car I might add) from the canyon floor by the creek, to a scenic viewing point overlooking the canyon we had just driven through. From here we could also see an approaching thunderstorm and Ailsa spotted some major flashes of lightning. Nothing for it but to get back in the car and hit the road!