Arizona, Day 3:

SLIDE ROCK SWIMMING ...

We thought the house in Sedona had a pool but it ended up just having a hot tub.  It was advertised that there was a community pool near by and there was but because of COVID, it was closed.  There was one place that I had on our list of "to do's" in Sedona and it was called Slide Rock Swimming.  The day before, we drove to Slide Rock but the parking lot was full.  Because of COVID, they were limiting the amount of people going in.  We really wanted to do this and were told to come back at 7 AM the next morning to be sure to get in.

We did just that!  Remember, the time zone was different than what we were used to and it was actually 10 AM in our minds.  We loaded up our water bottles once again, grabbed some towels and sunblock and off we went!

When we walked into this valley of huge red mountains all around us and a rushing, gushing stream of water running through the middle, we were in awe!!!!  It was so beautiful!!!!

My computer is not letting me post pictures in the order I download them, so here goes for a scattered  blog with photos.


We arrived with being one of the first ones there!  It was breath taking!!!!  The view was just so gorgeous!  As time went by, more people joined the fun and when we saw the first cliff jump, I did actually say to myself that I'm going to do that!  Then an older lady (she looked like in her upper 60s) jumped off and then I was convinced I would jump.

This was near the top of the rocks where the water was rushing and the reason the place is called Slid Rock Swimming is because that's exactly what you do.  You slide down the rocks and then swim and then slide down more rocks and you finally get to the finishing area.

We were surrounded by huge rocks and the kids were all about climbing them of course.

When Ashlyn went down the first part of the swimming area, she needed help getting to the side.

 See how tiny they are compared to them rocks!!!!!

I just stood at this spot and looked for awhile!  It was so beautiful!

 Mike and I walked hand in hand to the cliff and I was really gonna do this!  I was gonna jump.  Mike wanted to jump together but I said for him to go first.

And there I stood.  The longer I stood there, the more my knees started to shake.  Mike was already out of the water and cheering me to jump.

Mike and Austin went down the slide rock and they were woashing right along.  It was almost scary because of the swift water.  And the rocks hurt your butt!!!!!

We had such a good day here and this was at 7:30 AM before the sun was up over the mountains.

Ashlyn was all about the jump too until she looked down the 10-12 foot jump.

And I was still freaking out.  I just couldn't take the plunge.

Instead, I sat with the littles and watched everyone else jump.

Then I decided to go down to the next lower level.  Do you see it?  I didn't either really so I backed up.

 Mike jumped.  Hadassah jumped.  Matthew jumped.

 The water was really, really cold but the weather was really, really hot so it was such a fun treat to be in the water.  The rocks were super slippery and I said that they could have also named it "Slippery Rock Swimming".  You had to watch your step or you would wipe out.  We know because we did!!!!

 I spy Mike!!!!

I did not jump the cliff jump but I did slide the rocks.  That was changeling but fun.  Our butts got so sore and Ashlyn actually had a bruise from all the rock slideing.

 She focused and then jumped!

Austin didn't really like the rushing water and the rocks were way too slippery for him to walk along by himself but he did love the rocks and high dry cliffs.

I now spy Austin!

She jumped!!!!!

She's brave.  Braver than me.

Matthew helped Austin swim in the freezing water.

We totally loved this activity in Sedona!!!!

It was 10 AM and we were already hungry for lunch and tired.  We felt like we had a day of play already done.  (Time change)

We left at lunch time and grabbed Chiptole on the way back to the house.  Showers and relaxation was great in the hottest part of the day!

We ended up going back to town later that night and getting more ice cream.

We love Sedona!!!!