Contiki US West Travelogue (08) - Sedona Jeep Tour

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In Sedona, we opted for the Jeep desert tour.
The basic tour fee is already quite expensive, and the optional tour fee is no joke either.
With the exchange rate being such a mess lately, even going on a trip feels scary.
Anyway, choosing an option like this is better for seeing around in a short amount of time.

Red Jeeps are lined up to carry the nearly 50 Contiki members.
But I don't see Maria anywhere...
"Maria hasn't arrived yet, so we shouldn't leave yet!"
Sorry... this is the level of humor from the "Humor No. 1" generation.

The drivers conducting the Jeep tour are all dressed as cowboys. They say in America, cowboys are the true men or something...
Since I just heard it somewhere, I searched on Gemini for reliability,
and it explained that cowboys are the pinnacle of macho masculinity. That's quite grand.

The red Jeeps leave the town and head toward the outskirts.
The magnificent scenery created by the red rocks and blue sky, along with the cool breeze, really lifts the mood of the Jeep tour.

Rosaria from Italy, Maria from Brazil (who is practically the heroine of my US travelogue), Stephanie from Germany, Takahiro from Japan, and Candice from the UK.
A truly diverse group of friends from various nationalities has gathered.
As expected, Maria follows me whenever I am around. Hahaha.

After leaving the town, the Jeep soon enters an off-road path.
It's quite a rough road, so the vehicle shakes violently.

Even though the ride quality is terrible, the scenery in view is truly wonderful.
The cowboy driver tells us that the soil in Sedona contains a lot of iron, which is why it has this red color.
He also says the groundwater from Sedona has a unique taste because of that iron; I wonder if it's that metallic mineral water taste I had at Odaesan or Seoraksan mountains.
Fifty Fifty should pick a song with a metallic taste as their title track and really make a splash....

As expected of the Arizona desert, I saw some very American-looking cacti, but they weren't captured well because of the wide-angle lens.
It's a place with very low annual rainfall, but the trees are growing vigorously.
I heard there is a special shampoo made from ingredients extracted from cacti growing in Sedona, and it is produced only in the state of Arizona.

When a rough road appears, the cowboy driver intentionally steps on the accelerator to liven up the atmosphere.
The jolting is so intense that my butt hurts, but that time is actually more enjoyable.
I am feeling Sedona through my butt.

After driving for about 30 minutes, the Jeeps stop at a place with a great view.
The surrounding area is like a basin, with rocks surrounding it like a folding screen.

I took a photo with Maria for the first time, but...
I don't think we should take one together again.
Height, proportions.... I should have edited it with AI before posting.

While I am busy playing with Maria, Stephanie jumps up several times, asking me to take her jump shots.
Until she gets a photo she likes.
Her energy is amazing.

Catherine and Alicia.

Karen from Australia is taking commemorative photos using the driver's prop pistol (it might be real since it's America).
She is so massive and her voice is so loud and powerful that at first, I didn't think she was a woman...
But after watching her for a few days, she turned out to be a girl.
I thought she was some kind of martial artist.

We also take a group photo with the friends participating in the trip.
When the friends place their cameras in front, the cowboy drivers take turns taking the photos.
I told them to come closer because my camera has a wide-angle lens attached, but...
They just take the photo like this.
Since they are cowboys from a rural Arizona town, it's certain they couldn't understand my fluent English pronunciation.

After having plenty of fun taking photos, it's time to go back.
Why do good times pass so quickly....


Do you see the red dust stuck on the dashboard?
They say the dust in Sedona is so fine that it seeps into almost any crack. When I went to shower after returning to the accommodation, I found huge amounts of dust coming out from everywhere, including my nostrils and ear canals.
But... a bigger problem occurs three days later...
The strobe (flash) was strangely weak and didn't work well during continuous shooting, so I checked it... and well... iron dust had seeped into the battery pack and corroded all the batteries. They were brand new Eneloop batteries...
Because of this, it was total chaos in the hotel room as I had to disassemble and clean the strobe.

The Jeep tour ends as we return to town.
The refreshing feeling on the way back was unforgettable. I should harness the vortex energy I received so beautifully in Sedona and
buy a lottery ticket on my way home from work today.