“There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“True. Too bad I’m in the freakin’ desert.”

;)

HAPPY BELATED VALENTINE’S DAY! I hope you felt some love :) I got the most adorable care-package from home with a new stuffed elephant (& an elephant book mark which is currently placed in the novel Paper Towns.)

Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday which also happened to be the best weather we’ve seen all year. My best friend and I are both *happily* single. (Apparently we suck at fishing.) Meaning our Friday was wide open for a day trip down to my latest obsession: Sedona.

First stop: Sprout’s. Apples, Bananas, Protein Bars, Pistachios. Check!

Down the mountain we goooooo!

Second Stop: Sedona Chamber of Commerce for my parking pass. $5 for the day or $20 for the year? Seeing as how I’ve been here 3 times in the past 12 days, I got the 12-month pass.

Third Stop: Bell Rock.

Kerri and I rode along highway 179 just appreciating the red rock mountains and gorgeous views. It was a beautiful day. One of the things I love about my best friend is the fact that we can spend a solid 48 hours together and never run out of things to talk about or get sick of each other. We both are equally in love with health & fitness, couldn’t have asked for a better hiking buddy :)

You can’t understand how thrilled we were just to be in 75 degree sunshine. February in Flagstaff is typically freezing. But today, the sun shined its little rays on top of our mountain and we stripped off the winter coats for t-shirts and shorts. HALLELUJAH! My legs can see the light again!

The base of Bell Rock had a dirt trail clearly marked. However as we reached a few forks in the road, several trail markers distinguished separate trails. We followed “Bell Rock Pathway.” I can’t complain because it was a pretty route. But we never actually ascended Bell Rock, just basically walked the perimeter. We were expecting to climb to the TOP of Bell Rock. That didn’t happen. We noticed one of the trail markers on the way back pointing to “Bell Rock Climb.“

-_- Well good thing I have a year pass and so we can try, try again! Still, it was just under 4.5 miles and full of awe-inspiring views.

***Yes we had to settle for a lot of SELFIES to document our hike…. surprisingly not a whole lot of fellow hikers out for a Valentine’s adventure. (Kerri & I both agreed that an outdoor adventure date would be preferable to a romantic dinner date any day.)***

We <3 Exploring.

We got back into my car and headed straight over to

Fourth Stop: Cathedral Rock.

When we asked for a steeper hike, WE GOT IT. Cathedral Rock is one of the most photographed mountains in the Sedona Area, understandably so. It’s incredibly impressive. The word “trail” is loosely interpreted in this sense, because the hike is basically a 45 degree traverse straight up the side of the rock. No dirt/paved trail. We were literally on our hands and knees.

Kerri’s hands were red from the dirt and I joked, “Stop playing in the sand!” She quickly corrected me. THEY’RE MINERALS. ;) *Breaking Bad reference* Seriously though, there could be a market for Sedona Sand “All Natural” Tanning solution….look at Kerri’s calves.

We stood on top of Cathedral Rock and pictures really cannot do the view justice. You can see miles out to other red peaks and thousands of trees. The hike is worth the view, I promise! We definitely want to go back and hike it again. We were on a bit of a time crunch because we wanted to get back to Flagstaff before dark. But we were also stalling because we weren’t entirely sure how we would get back down…

It was a treacherous descent!

Kerri was literally hugging the side of the mountain at one point. 22 minutes later we made it down without any twisted ankles!

Fifth Stop: Pink Java Cafe. The day would not be complete without coffee. A Valentine’s Special “Honey Latte” for the road!

I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day no matter what you did. It’s up to us to make the most of our days :) Until my Mr. Fish comes along, I’m glad I had my best friend to spend this LOVEly day with!