Sedona is a scenic two-hour drive from North Scottsdale. One of the prettiest towns in Northern Arizona and home to the famous red rock mountains, some named according to the image they conjure up such as Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock.

Visitors to Sedona are sure to leave better than when they arrived, if not on account of it's healing powers from the Vortex it is said to be - a swirling center of energy conducive to healing, meditation and inspiration. If the Vortex doesn't uplift or recharge your spirit, the sheer beauty, clean fresh air, good food and hospitality of the locals will not disappoint. 

Here's how Sedona provided everything two shopaholic, hiking diva, food junkie midlife women could possibly want in 24 hours... minus anything Gucci! 

First stop, check in at our hotel, the Best Western PLUS Arroyo Roble in the heart of uptown Sedona with magnificent views of the red rocks on one side and the main thoroughfare of shops and restaurants on the other. We needed to work up an appetite and what better way than to go shop!

We walked along the main shopping street to the arts and shopping village of ​Tlaquepaque nestled beneath the shade of the sycamores on the banks of Oak Creek. The atmosphere is reminiscent of Europe although it's fashioned after a traditional Mexican village, with cobbled walkways, fountains and flower beds, Spanish style buildings with wrought iron gates and tiled stairways.  We went in every single shop, we don't discriminate! There's high-end art and sculptures, jewelry, sensible walking shoes and candles that smell of everything known to man. Curiously these candles held our attention for a very long time, try as we might to find one that didn't smell as it was intended. Every candle nailed it, from the roasted coffee to gasoline! 

There's shopping and then there's shopping. Sedona didn't get the Gucci memo... be warned! A $300 Salomon Trail Runner is Sedona's equivalent to Jimmy Choo... and a wax candle doesn't go amiss! 

All this candle sniffing works up quite an appetite! We continued our walk further out of town to a Mexican restaurant called Elote Cafe which has quite the reputation... it is VERY popular! I have never seen a queue this long for Mexican food which was almost to the street. When we finally reached the hostess, there was still a wait of more than an hour for a table, so we decided to try it next time!

We went instead to The Hudson, an American eatery with a chic atmosphere, a large central bar, great wine and very good food. We were not disappointed, our change of dining venue may have been a blessing of the Vortex! 

Yes, sorry for the half-eaten dessert photo, when this dreamy delight arrived, we became all unnecessary and had to dive right in! Or was it the extremely handsome young man that took up residence next to me that made us go unnecessary... either way, it was all good! 

Glad of the long walk back to the hotel to work off some of the scrumptious dinner and prepare us for an early night before the hikeathon the next morning! We battened down the hatches and spent the rest of the evening binge watching The Real Housewives of New York, I had a lot of catching up to do!
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After a delicious buffet breakfast included in the hotel rate, we were packed up and on our way to the first trail head at 8.30 am. 

​A Red Rock Pass must be displayed in your car windshield in order to park at any of the trail heads. These can be purchased in the town at various stores, tourist information office, or via vending machine at the more popular trail heads. It's just $5 a day or $20 for an annual pass.  It's a small price to pay for washroom facilities and well-kept trails.  

There's a hike for every palate in Sedona, from wooded trails along Oak Creek Canyon running alongside the creek itself to more advanced levels involving steep and arduous rock climbing for those seeking more thrill and adventure.

We planned on two hikes, first the short but challenging Cathedral Rock. The stunning beauty of this rugged red (more like orange) country can be seen for miles throughout the ascend to the top. It will take your breath away if not from the climb itself, but the magnificence of the surrounding country. ​

The rock is smooth hardened sandstone built up in layers.  Cathedral Rock is a 1.2 mile hike out and back but rated as difficult due to some steep areas that for me, required climbing on all fours!

​I highly recommend gloves for the climb, my wedding ring took quite the beating! Also recommended, wear your least favorite pants because there's a number of areas where slithering down on one's butt is the safest option, and red rock dirt doesn't come out of clothes easily! 

Heights affect me differently depending upon where I am in relation to said height. Reactions run the gamete from stomach drop pains to full on hyper-ventilating... I'm not overly keen! So, this hike was a challenge, especially as there is no trail per say rather, rock climb after rock climb!

There were a couple of borderline terror moments... specifically a part of the climb where I'd managed to get part way up a slope several feet high, only to find myself clinging on paralyzed with fear. A gentleman on his way down asked if I needed help. Frozen in position I responded with "I'm scared". He said that was okay and it was better to be scared than to be foolish. Somehow, this gave me the confidence to propel myself up bringing me to the safety of the next flat surface. I was decidedly worried about how I was going to get down, but quickly discarded those concerns as I had no idea what still lay ahead! 

A jutting boulder narrows the pathway to this ledge and must be negotiated in order to enjoy the exhilarating photo opportunity! People wait in turn to risk life and limb. I made it; I am now officially a rock hugger! 

​My friend and I were up at the trail's end for some time as we became surrogate photographers for all the Billy-no-mates (British term meaning person with no friends, in this case solo hikers)! Sound travels well between the spires of the Cathedral Rock. One lady took advantage and was doing all kinds of yoga poses whilst her photog snapped away mindlessly. I think she heard us when we said, "Enough already, there's a time limit!" Well, we needed Billy on the ledge so we could finish our work and begin the downward journey! 

​I was surprisingly deft on the way down, perhaps due to having faced my fears head on and lived to tell the tale! My butt served as an additional stabilizer on more than one occasion, but once at the bottom, I brushed myself off, and in true British pompous style said, "Piece of cake, where next?"

We went on to do Bell Rock, getting our fill of those Vortex vibes in the 24 hours! We were expecting an easy trail, but lost the pathway and began the ascent to the top... again. Bell Rock is more of a free for all, no markers to show the best route and it becomes more difficult and dangerous the higher up we went. We called it a day... a grand day! ​

I hope you enjoyed this short travel and hiking blog. Feel free to leave a message if you have any recommendations in Sedona or other parts of Arizona. I would love to hear from your experiences. 

You can shop my hiking outfit below via the thumbnail links.
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​There are affiliate links in this post which means I may receive a small percentage of sales made.  This does not affect the price you pay. 

Thank you to two of my blogging friends Hilda Smith and Robin Lamonte who both nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Hilda and Robin are loyal insta-friends who I very much look forward to meeting one day.  We've followed each other on social media for a while as women of a certain age with something to say… which we do via our blogs! I’m greatly chuffed that fellow bloggers like my work, the nomination is a lovely surprise. 

Is it necessary to know our roots for a sense of belonging? We're here already, whatever our ancestral origins are, life goes on and we're part of it! Of course, I'm proud to be British born and bred, and despite living in America and loving it here, I feel my roots lie in the mother land of England.  If any other heritage exists besides my obvious British genes, then hopefully the addition of some good old "Heinz 57" variety has benefited me in some way.

It seems being married brings on additional symptoms of midlife, in that husbands become less adventurous. Wives on the other hand tend to kick things up a notch during their midlife, am I right?

As was the case this particular Sunday for us three girl friends.  A spur of the moment idea, a day trip to Flagstaff for a hike, a brewery tour and a visit to Camp Verde.  Granted, my first reaction was "What time are you setting off?", and my second reaction, irrespective of the early start time, a resounding "Yes!"

My husband didn't want to get up early and had a ton of work to do, another wanted to stay home and watch the baseball and the third wanted to take his new car for a spin... yawn! Midlife man symptoms, this is why you need girl friends ladies!

The recent frenzy toward the smartwatch in the western world has reached epidemic proportions. Most adults don about their wrist a watch with a blacked-out face or a rubber tube with seemingly no face. We're walking around as though in a science fiction movie under surveillance by this tracking and communication device. The problem is, the average smartwatch is anything but smart! It lacks style and is far from down to earth, looking somewhat sinister by it's dark secrecy and monitoring of our every waking and sleeping moment!

Never fear, there is a hybrid here! Say hello to the Misfit Path, a smartwatch with more style than a rubber wrist tube can only dream about.

Every now and then I have a moment of madness! One of these days that moment may be considered pure genius, but for now they've mostly been considered worthy dinner party stories! My last moment of madness was just that, with a bonus... a return letter from Kensington Palace!

​Using tennis as an excuse for a girl's trip to Las Vegas is a sobering thought. What could possibly go wrong? But it's as good an excuse as any given that these six ladies in their midlife have friendship in common because of tennis. 

The trip had been in the pipeline for months until one evening at the bar during a happy hour gathering, and far from sober, dates were secured, and flights were booked right there on cell phones. A mere $45 each way from Phoenix to Las Vegas... cheers to Southwest Airlines!

As Valentine's Day approaches romance is in the air and spring tickles our senses with the melting of snow, peep shows of sunlight and flowering buds

Only recently did bike-sharing make its debut in Scottsdale AZ, although the program has been active in Phoenix (on a much smaller scale) and elsewhere within the US for several years.

They appeared like magic out of nowhere. Abracadabra... suddenly there were lime green and bright yellow bicycles left randomly on street corners, at bus stops or lined up in neat rows like soldiers.

Bicycles were multiplying across the city faster than you could say "on your bike mate"!  We are being invaded by aliens disguised as neon colored bicycles!  

​In case you're unfamiliar with the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auctions, they are the car lover's dream and for those who can afford to bid, and win - perhaps a dream come true!
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With high street shops and mall store favorites closing down on a weekly basis, we better get our heads around this online shopping malarkey. It's here to stay and millions of online vendors selling everything from cat litter to cat walk designer clothes are magically opening their virtual doors for business out there in the ether of internet land. So too are the plethora of  "influencers" jumping on the band wagon from here to Timbuktu persuading their followers that this, that or the other product is the best.  But it's not all bad... let me explain! 
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Ready for Christmas, I wish! It's a rare occurrence for me to be fully prepared for Christmas in advance of the actual due date, in particular the buying of gifts. Even less likely to be gift ready for those I know who celebrate Hanukkah since the due date for that is even earlier! You probably think I have a fear of deadlines... perhaps so!

At least I have the decorations up! Last year the hubby didn't erect the tree until it was so late I didn't have time to hang the baubles on it! We had a naked tree all through the holidays with the only consolation being that it's pre-lit so it sort of had it's underwear on!

Keeping up with the fast pace of fashion on a modest budget is a challenge to say the least. Just when you think you're covered with an outfit for every occasion, at the sight of an invitation to something you suddenly find yourself  with nothing to wear! Have you ever pondered your closet and wondered if you hadn't bought so many clothes you could have purchased the Louis Vuitton purse or the Gucci shoes, probably yes! Well you still can, at a fraction of the cost. With a few extra pennies from heaven to help keep your closet current, consignment may keep the fashionista in you afloat!

Beside the obvious things like cleaning the house from top to bottom, the patio furniture, manicuring the garden, there are a host of other things you can do to make your guests feel loved and welcome.  I moved to Arizona  from England in 1999, so I've had more than my fair share of guests come off an eleven hour flight to visit me and inevitably stay at least two weeks to make the long journey worth their while! The truth is I love it, so I do everything I can to make them a return visitor - having a background in the hotel industry helps!
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On a recent business trip to Houston staying two nights and two days, I was advised to take carry on luggage and dress comfortably as the days would be long and action packed. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect so I wanted to cover all my options and ensure I would feel confident and comfortable. Somewhat nervous that I wouldn't fit everything I might need in a carry on suitcase, I knew I had to be strategic in this effort.  I'm happy to say I pulled it off with room to spare and an outfit for every occasion.  Here are my tips on how to pack your carry on luggage to get the most into it, and ultimately the most out of it at your destination!