Bisbee to Sedona.
Now, it’s time for a last walk around Bisbee before heading to Sedona. As I’m sitting outdoors writing this, in a local small park, a guy came by with sandwiches, both meat and veggie, and drinks for local folks in need, offering me food as well. This seems right in line with the kind of town Bisbee seems to be. Special.
And then onto state route 80 west, leading to interstate 10 back through Tombstone and Tucson, before veering north toward Phoenix and Sedona, some 322 miles north-west of Bisbee (Bisbee is just 11 miles north of the Mexican border).
Another hot day as I headed back across the desert, with temperatures hovering around 104 degrees, and as I drive much of the way with the windows down and the sunroof open, I can feel the sweat on my back and in my shorts. Feels kinda good, though.
It was another long day of driving, and I’d initially hoped to avoid these long drives, but now I’m used to it. 300 or so miles doesn’t feel like too much. After a while on the road, the changing and often dramatic landscape starts to show increasingly red cliffs and mesas, a sure sign that the red rocks of Sedona are drawing near.
The first time I came to Sedona, in 2000, it was only by luck, as I was aiming for the Grand Canyon but didn’t have enough time to get there, so I pulled into Sedona instead, and found it to be incredible. Those red cliffs! It’s the iron oxide, or rust, that makes them that color.
The changing afternoon light accents and highlights the color of the cliffs even more, as they loom up over and to the sides of the highway.
I wanted to Bev to also see and enjoy Sedona, and we were here twice, in 2019 and again in 2021. During that first trip, as we strolled back to our hotel after dinner, Bev talked about how much she loved being here (although, as I pointed out to her at the time, she was just a little tipsy from the wine she drank at dinner 😊). Still, she meant it, and that’s why we came back in 2021, this time with Kaye.
Sadly, there was a noticeable decline in Bev’s ability over that two-year period. When we were first here, we took some substantial and moderately stressful hikes daily, but by 2021 that had changed, and Bev’s abilities were far diminished. We couldn’t really hike too much, and even then those hikes were very basic. This was really Bev’s last trip away, so has even more special meaning for me
I arrived at my hotel in Sedona, the Los Abrigados Resort and Spa, a hotel normally way above my pay scale, which I booked by luck. I used a different online booking site, and got a super inexpensive price for a two-night stay, probably because it was so last minute and the hotel wants to book its rooms.
This place is really a swanky resort, and a little village unto itself. It’s sort of like the Disneyland of hotels. I have a large lounge and dining area, kitchenette, large bedroom, and rear patio, with a fountain and pond just outside the patio. Yes, I’ve finally reached success. This ain’t your average Motel 6 or Super 8. It’s the opposite of the Holly Suites Inn in Holly, Colorado.
If only I cared. I’m just staying at these places because I need somewhere to stay while visiting and exploring the area. I’m really just sleeping here, and will be out and about all day.
As I walked around this resort, though, checking things out, and as I saw the many couples, young and old, walking around, I was reminded of last night in Bisbee, similarly seeing many couples walking together, and one in particular, about my age or maybe a little older, walking together while holding hands. Holding hands seemed to be a thing that they just did, naturally and without thought, just part of being at one with each another, and a show of affection, unity, and togetherness. Just a natural reaction, joined with one another by their hands. It’s a lovely and loving thing to see.
Bev and I always held hands when we walked, later because I needed to help steady Bev and help guide her, but always because we loved holding hands. Like that couple last night in Bisbee, it was a reflection of love and being with one another in all the things we did together. One time, when we were walking along the bike path back home, a guy coming the other way jokingly referred to us as newly weds as we were holding hands.
I deeply miss being part of a couple, and felt that acutely last night in Bisbee and this evening in Sedona. I very much miss holding hands with Bev, the person I love and who loved me. Everyone, I’m sure, who becomes widowed goes through the same, but last night in Bisbee and tonight in Sedona, hit home. I’m really aware of now being a single person. I should be here, holding hands, with Bev, but never will again. These thoughts of Bev, which come and go every day, throughout the day, and Bev and me together, are painful, and sad reminders of what we had together. I’m so grateful for what we had, and for so long, but I wanted, needed, another 20 years of that.