Our Trip to Sedona, Arizona
October 7 through October 12, 2011

There were six of us: George Brennan (Our Illustrious Trip Organizer from Austin, TX), myself (Vin Forte from Tewksbury, MA), Jeff Lavigne (from San Juan Capistrano, CA), Frank Taylor (from Asheville, NC), Jeff Williamson (from, San Juan Capistrano, CA), and Jim Whitmer (from Long Beach, CA). George should be commended for the great way he organized the trip.

I must first comment on flying from Manchester, NH to Phoenix, AZ via Southwest Airlines. It was my first time flying Southwest Airlines. I have to admit that I was concerned about its policy of no pre-boarding seat selection. However, if your ticket is an “A” ticket, as was mine, then you should get a good seat selection when the “A” group boards the plane. There was also plenty of leg room in front of me, more so than other airlines that I have recently flown. The flight crew was very pleasant and quite entertaining. At the end of one of the connecting flights, one of the flight crew thanked us for flying Southwest and said she hoped that we enjoyed the flight and that if we didn’t then “fly Northwest next time”. We all laughed.

Five of us met up in Phoenix at its Sky Harbor Airport. Our flights were timed to arrive at about the same time. We picked up rented two large SUVs. We needed two of them to accommodate six sets of golf clubs, as well as, our luggage. We then hit road to pick up the sixth member of our group who had come in earlier to see his mother and sisters who live in the area. Three of us were in one SUV and the other three in the other SUV.

We then proceeded to the resort house owned by Todd Shreve. Todd was originally from New Jersey and lived in the Boston area where some of our group is from originally. George had contacted Todd and telling him that we had planned a trip to the Sedona area and got an invite to stay at his place. We had a two hour drive from Phoenix to our destination. The house was actually just outside Sedona in Cottonwood. We drove to Sedona finally turning onto route 89A before exiting onto what is the road sign described as a “Primitive Road”. After a 30 minute drive along the “primitive road” we arrived at the resort house.

WOW! It is a mini-mansion! Of course, the outside has a southwest or Mexican style entrance with a columned front door. The door looks like it is from a medieval villa. One enters into a large living room with a cathedral ceiling with a functional fireplace off to the left. The living room leads into a large kitchen with two ovens, a huge refrigerator, and two dishwashers. The kitchen is loaded with enough cookware and utensils to prepare any meal one may to make. To the right of the kitchen is the “media room” that has three wall mounted flat screen televisions. The house is equipped with Direct-TV. Todd was there to meet us and described the whole layout of the house. The heating system is set up to pass radiant heat along the ceramic tile floors. There are five bedrooms – some on the first floor and some on the second floor. 

The kitchen looks out to the patio where there is a large reflecting wading pool with a Jacuzzi next to it. There are four large sliding glass doors that open onto the patio from the kitchen. When the doors open and we stepped out onto the patio were amazed at the view that was before us. The house is situated on a mesa which overlooks a typical Arizona desert scene. The view is expansive and breathtaking. The moon always seemed to be reflecting off the pool – I guess this is why it is called a “reflecting pool”.

The first night we were there, Todd, who is an executive chef by trade, prepared a meal for us. It included barbequed rib eye steaks, tamales, chicken bits wrapped in bacon, and salad. Todd is a great host and socializing with him is fun.

The next day, Saturday, we were off to play golf at the Sedona Golf Resort. All our tee times were set for late morning to accommodate the late risers; the distances to the golf courses; consider the antics of the night before; and the late start golf rates. The views along the Sedona Golf Resort were spectacular.

After golf we had an early dinner at the Barking Frog Grille. I picked up on an appetizer, the Cactus Fries. Yes they are made from cactus and come with a sweet sauce to cut the bitterness. I loved them. I suspect that my cohorts were not as fond of them as I was. Some of the guys ordered other appetizers (Sorry, I don’t recall what they were). For the main course, as I recall, the others in the group had seafood, I went for the Pork Belly Carnitas. I had a carnitas back home and loved it. I do not know what the “pork belly” refers to – I did not ask. However, it was loaded with very tender pork which I love. This dish was great. We all seemed to agree that this was a very good restaurant.

On Sunday, we golfed at Seven Canyons in Sedona. The views at this course were spectacular. It seems (to me anyways) the course is carved out of the canyons. We ate in that night. Frank prepared a great barbequed chicken dish for us. The hit of the evening was a special guest that George had invited for dinner. George had done his homework. It seems that the Sedona, AZ area is a big UFO sighting area. One of the experts in this area is Tom Dongo. Tom brought a scrapbook of photos that he had taken and others that had been sent him. Tom has been in the Sedona area for decades. The photos were quite amazing. Tom explained the concept of orb sightings to us. An orb is a light that is usually seen at night but not by the naked eye. It requires a flash photo to capture it on camera. He said that the spot where Todd’s house is built is ideally suited for UFO and orb observations. The orbs and UFOs are best seen in the early evening. On the last day of our trip Jeff Williamson and I would capture images of orbs on our cameras at the same spot during late afternoon on route 89A outside of Sedona. Tom captured what appeared to be orbs on his camera but our group did not.

Monday was a day of rest for us. That evening Todd came by and cooked another meal for us. It included pasta with a cheese sauce that included truffles. It was very good.

On Tuesday we golfed at another beautiful course in Sedona, Oakcreek Country Club. The golf courses were in great condition. It appeared that all three courses that we played were well maintained when we were there. There seemed to be plenty of irrigation and all three courses were in great condition.

After golf we went to the Cowboy Club in Sedona. We sat outside and imbibed in a few adult beverages before having dinner inside. I tried a Kentucky whiskey, Willett single malt rye whiskey. It tasted like a brandy or cognac. Frank is familiar with this whiskey and commented that it is quite expensive. I again, ordered the cactus fries which meant I got to eat most of them. The secret when dining out with others is to find something that you like and that for the others may not like. It seems I succeeded with the cactus fries. I ordered the flank steak and, as I recall, some of the others did also. I enjoyed it very much. We found out that both of the restaurants we ate at in Sedona are owned by the same group. We were unaware of this at the time. I highly recommend both.

This is where I parted company from the group early Tuesday evening. I stayed at the Super 8 Motel in Sedona. I took the Sedona Phoenix Shuttle early Wednesday morning to be sure that I would be at Sky harbor Airport early enough to get my flight back home.  

I was picked up by the Sedona Phoenix Shuttle in front of the motel. I noticed that the shuttle driver’s name that was prominently displayed on his AZ license identified him as Richard Shreve. I asked if he knew Todd Shreve. He replied asking if Todd lived in Cottonwood. I told him that he does live there. He then told me that he did not know Todd personally but his parents had met Todd’s parents many years ago. I told him that Todd was originally from NJ. He told me that his family was originally from NJ.

A rather attractive 40-ish woman got on the shuttle. We began to chat and she told me that she was returning to Oklahoma to remarry her ex-husband whom she had just divorced in August.

When I arrived at the airport to my surprise, the Southwest reservation area was not crowded at all. My flight home first went to Chicago and then on to Manchester, NH. On the flight a young mother and her young children including an infant sat behind me. Towards the end of the flight the infant began to wail. The kid went on for 40 minutes (no exaggeration) almost without let up. The mother tried to coax the kid into quieting down but the kid would not relent. One of the passengers next to me was putting his fingers into his ears avoid listening to the screeching.

When we landed in Manchester one of the flight attendants said, “We’re here.” The kid stopped wailing.