Road Trip: Day 2 (still in Sedona)

I spent the better part of the afternoon looking for an unpeopled swimming hole.

Four hours, three U-turns and two bottles of Smart Water later, I'm still in my car.

I drag my red-faced, sun-soaked, soggy self into Enlightenment, a tiny book store on the side of Highway 179. I ask the middle-aged sprite behind the counter if she can recommend a scenic chill spot off the tourist-y Teva-trodden path.

"You should check out some of the vortexes. They're very healing."

She hands me a a Sedona vortex guide book. I point to an overstuffed chair next to a display of Dreamcatchers in the corner, and ask if I can take five and skim through it. She snatches the book out of my hand and sends me down the road to Circle K for directions.

The Circle K is like 7-11, only the cashier is white and chipper. A giant crystal dangles from her neck(s).

"She probably sent you here because she knows a lot of us that work here are psychic."

Probably.

She directs me to a nearby vortex, which looks a lot like a hill - rocky, red and cactus-strewn - but a hill, just the same.

It's pretty. It's hot. It's crowded.

I think I hear Santa Fe calling my name...

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