Day 4 - Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has always been with friends and always been in Chattanooga for 15+ years, so when everyone's plans changed this year, we thought maybe we'd be solo for Turkey Day. We even floated the idea of driving to Sedona to see the Weltys, but that would be 4 days of driving for 2 days in town. So we were pumped when the cheap flights appeared and could still have Thanksgiving with close friends, just in an entirely different locale.

Our Thanksgiving Day festivities started with an outing to nearby Raven Caves, only 10 minutes down the road. Holden had been keen to see a keyhole cave, which Sedona is famous for. Thankfully we found a small one close by and it was such a fun way to start the day. It was next to a creek lined with Aspen, golden in this late fall. We ventured through this very small cave system where I could always see some bits of light, which is the only kind of cave I want to crawl into.

After we finished exploring the caves, we swung by Bell Rock, a huge formation near the main road. Katie and Kyle said it was definitely worth checking out, so we were eager to scramble around and see what we could get into. We nearly bit off more than we could chew.

We all had fun climbing around the various ledges and worked ourselves up higher and higher, in part to get away from the crowds. At some point, we assumed we could find a way back down to the main trail on the back side of the rock, so we continued scurrying our way up, over and through places where it seemed not many had ventured. We followed a few promising paths down very sketchy slabs & ravines that all turned out to just get us further away from any sensible route.

We were very truly in a place that seemed really not great. Nate again ventured out further to investigate while I made the boys drink some water in the shade. I was very glad we had enough sense to bring a bag with the two most important supplies: water & Nerds Gummy Clusters. At this point Holden was starting to get anxious about our predicament. I told him, "It's gonna be fine. Worse case scenario, we have to call 911 and they send a helicopter to get us off of this thing." To which he responded, "THAT'S THE VERY BEST CASE SCENARIO!!"

After Nate's last recon mission failed to find a safe way forward, we begrudgingly turned around and made our way back to the sketchy ravines and crumbling pathways. Needless to say, we were all relieved when we finally arrived back on safer ground. Shout-out to our level-headed boys and the makers of Nerds Gummy Clusters for getting us back safely.

After that prolonged adventure, we made it back to our Airbnb for a quick rest and shower, then headed to the Weltys for Thanksgiving lunch. While the adventures and new scenery were fantastic, getting to spend time with these friends in their new home really was the highlight of the trip. We all ate too much turkey and all the favorite sides.

Before we sliced up the pies, Kyle and his boys took us up to Cow Pie Hill so we could watch the sunset light up Cathedral and Seven Warriors monuments. Golden hour really is something else in these parts.

We made our way back down, ate too much pie and spent more time outside by the fire with Kyle and Katie while the boys all played more video games. Everyone was very content.

Eventually we said our goodbyes and traded hugs then made our way back to the Airbnb for our last sleep before heading out.

Tomorrow: Grand Canyon & VegasLes mer