sedona weekend

We went to Sedona for the weekend. It is quite pretty up there any time of the year, but with a few fall colors and the crisp blue sky, it was really beautiful. The days were warm and the evenings got cool enough for a jacket. Perfect fall weather. We were planning to do a photo session with the youngest girl. Her senior pictures. So, we found this great marketplace. It was absolutely beautiful. It was filled with great buildings, interesting architecture,wooden doors, ironwork, old tile and gorgeous greenery. Exactly what I was looking for. It was decorated with gourds, pumpkins and other fall goodness. 

There were colorful flag banners being put up for an event that we learned would be Saturday night.

All of the fountains, archways and small niches were filled with autumn decorations.

So very colorful.

They had fresh flowers and fruit that they were adding to the fall pumpkins and gourds, preparing for the  event.

We soon learned that it was to be a  Day of the Dead celebration.

We were there in the morning on saturday taking pictures as more and more decorations were added for the celebration that night. 

We decided we would go back that evening to see how it all looked at night and to watch some of the festivities. We got there later, after all the alters had been lit, but it was still a sight to see. 

There was a flamenco guitarist playing while a couple of dancers, with their faces painted, swirled around in front of him.

There were candles everywhere that people had lit earlier, honoring friends and family members that had passed.

Later, while walking around, we found these fire performers. There was one guy keeping rhythm with his hands on a drum of some kind.

And several people dancing with fire. A belly dancer and a young boy dancing with his mother. They all had their faces painted.

 It was interesting to see them spin and swirl and perform with fire. One of the guys juggled a small ball that was on fire too. Leah thought it would be fun to get her picture with them, but it just didn't seem like a good opportunity. We were hungry so we found a place for dinner.

Later, as we were leaving the restaurant , we noticed the troupe of fire dancers were loading up their

car. A very nice vintage Mercedes. Not the kind of car we would have expected to see these fire dancers loading their stuff into. I said, "Hey Leah, still want to get your picture with a fire dancer?"

And so she did. His name is Julian and guess what? He was from here originally, but had been living in Colorado for the past several years. Coincidental. The car was his and he said "it still knew how to shine". I agree, it was a great car. Leah was excited that she got her picture with a fire dancer.

The senior photo session turned out very nicely.
The fall weekend in Sedona was great.
It was a surprise to stumble on a Day of the Dead celebration.
Something we have never experienced before.
A couple of hikes were made.
Pictures will come later.

Happy Halloween!