Marvin says, "Our second honeymoon was spent camping in Sedona Arizona. I had been there the year before I met Raven and climbed to the top of Bell Rock, where I had a life-changing mystical experience. I was made aware, for one thing, that Raven would soon come into my life, and I'd better get ready!"
This is Bell Rock
"This picture was taken about half way up our climb to the ledge Bell Rock. The out-cropping you see near the top left of the picture was our distination. The area of Sedona is world famous for its "Energy Vortexes", which are junctions of the earth's meridian energy lines. Few places on earth have as many such junctions in one area. People report many interesting phenomena and personal experiences near these vortexes. As with many people, one such area made me irritable and upset.... I really did not want to be there! Others were neutral. Bell Rock was life changing. That out-cropping at the upper left is geographically directly over the cross hairs of the vortex, though it is said that the effects of the vortex should radiate outward and extend far from the actual vortex itself. My first trip there had brought about a 180 degree shift in my life. I ended a relationship, changed the focus of my career, discovered my true self and went home to prepare to meet the love of my life. Not bad for an afternoon's work!
This is Raven on the ledge atop Bell Rock
"It felt like I was presenting her to the very spirit force of my life
that had directed me to her, as if to say 'See, here we are, as we should be, and will
be for all time."
Key West
Since we made this trip to Key West for a Java Monkey gig at Sloppy Joe's, we can hardly call it a honeymoon, but it sure felt like one to me! Must have been the company I was keeping!
The sign on the curb says "90 MILES TO CUBA"
The marker says "Southernmost Point of the Continental United States"
"We love the 'walk up and wake up'coffee shops. The Cuban version of
expresso with steamed milk is so-o-o good. Raven's shirt says Just say NO to
decaf! And they don't call our band Java Monkey for nothing!"
"Our next official honeymoon/camping trip was to visit our friends on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. In the summer he is a guide for some of the ancient Anasazi ruins, while she is a nurse practioner for Hopi women. In the winter they run a pre-school for Navajo kids."
This campsite is directly over an ancient cliff dwelling known as Betatekin. A
few of the original Anasazi migrated here and built the first shelters, then more
followed.
From the campsite it is a five hour zig-zag hike down the canyon wall to the ruins.
The ruins are amazing. Until a rock-slide damaged them a few years back, most
of the roof timbers were even in place. The dry heat doesn't cause rot. This
is holy land for the Hopi. It is said to be the birthplace of what later became the
Hopi Nation. The story we heard most often was that during the times of the strange
"land divisions" that the white government came up with, (mostly to maneuver
mineral rights to cooperative parties) this became Navajo land. But the Navajo don't
hang out here because they don't know where the dead are buried, and the Hopi can visit,
which is all they would do anyway. I'm sure there are other versions of the story.
The vistas were incredible in every direction from camp. This is looking out
toward the north-west. Our camp was on the highest ground around, though it
is
more like you are looking across valleys and canyons as opposed to looking down a
mountain.
This is Raven returning to camp from the south. ("No she was not alone...
I had just gone ahead to take this picture!")
"Due west of camp, the sun sets on the horizon many many miles away. I
wish I had a picture of this vista from earlier in the day so you could see how far this
is. We actually watched a fairly large thunder storm pass by thirty miles away one
afternoon, but only observed it from the distance. We did not get a drop of
rain. We are used to such dense trees and hills in Georgia that it is unusual to see
so far, unless of course you climb to the top of Stone Mountain."
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