Nothing out of the ordinary here, well except the blizzard.

The planning for this weekend started out searching for some place warm: a cold front was moving across the southwest (and I guess we're over winter sports for the year). Searching down south in NM didn't seem great, highs in the low 30s. It looked like Sedona was supposed to be warm except for maybe a chance of light snow on Thursday night, warming to mid-60s on Sunday. So we headed out, not checking weather along the route. I knew there was a good chance Flagstaff would be getting snow, being the high point on the journey. What I didn't expect was that we'd hit blizzard conditions starting near Grants. It was on and off, climaxing near Winslow where we saw a recently-overturned trailer. I wish we'd taken pictures; the whole front of the van was encased in slush, so much that sensors were malfunctioning.

Flagstaff was actually calm. Hits of snow, but nothing near as bad as the plains leading up to it. Finally we reached Sedona. Jack and Caroline (leaving Albuquerque shortly after us) declared the weather an unnecessary risk and took shelter in a hotel before meeting us the next day.

We went on a short hike before Jack and I convinced the girls we needed a bike ride.

None of us had biked this area before. While nothing was especially technical, Jack and I agreed it had "great flow". The trails seemed to reward speed. Between the hard-pack, small features of rock gardens and slabs, everyone seemed to happy which is hard to do with our group's wide range of riding experience.

Robbie and Laurel met up with us that evening and we all camped south of the city.

Saturday stated fairly relaxed. We planned to check out a trail system recommended by Braden as "flow tech". Unfortunately it was steeper than the less experienced riders were comfortable with. Although, before the turn-around we found some epic rocks (as one does near Sedona).

It ended with us getting lost trying to navigate around people's back yards and eventually having to climb out on a paved road. We agreed ice cream was in order and tried out the "Black Cow", advertising homemade delights. It hit the spot.

Jack's bike was having some mechanical issues and so the last day we decided to do a hike. "Devil's Bridge" is a doozie, and extremely popular: giving me flashbacks of hiking near city-centers in California. Outdoor activities are getting so popular though and this might just be the norm from now on.