still checking for new posts?

Life has been tres crazy as usual so I apologize to my loyal reader(s) for the lack of interesting and, more importantly, current posts. I'll tell a short tale from last weekend.

Zack and I, always ready for adventure and exploration, headed up to Sedona for a day of hiking. We planned to hike Boynton Canyon a well-known Vortex spot. For those of you who don't know about the Sedona Vortexes, they are places of high energy. Some say these sacred places are good for healing, meditation and spirituality. They certainly are filled with beauty. Zack and I actually climbed right into a vortex and spent some time sitting, listening experiencing the place. I can't say that I felt any change in my energy level and I don't think I had any epiphanies while sitting in the Vortex, but I did experience a sense of calm and serenity that I often feel while hiking in AZ.

I think I might have jinxed our experience at the Vortex though. On the way up we stopped at what we thought was a tourist information station to get a National Forest Pass. When we went in to inquire about trail maps and a pass, we were accosted by a salesman. He offered us $100 and 2 nights/3 days stay at a beautiful resort in Sedona. All we had to do was sit through a 90 minute presentation about time shares and we would reap these rewards.

Now, attending the session meant cutting short our hike. We didn't get to do the all out, all day hike we had planned because we needed to be at the resort by 4:00. We justified this because Zack was recovering from a cold and when we returned for our 2 night stay, we could hike all over the place. The presentation was fine and the whole deal sounded kind of interesting. However, when the presentation was over we were accosted by a rude and flighty sales person who tried to get us to purchase a $28,000 package at 17.8% interest, payable over the next 10 years. Now, we would get a 'deed' which would give us enough 'points' to take a one week vacation anywhere in the world (not including airfare, food, or entertainment) for the rest of our lives. Yikes! Needless to say we spent the next hour arguing with this dude and his buddies about why we couldn't purchase this insane package right then and there.

All in all, we ended up coming out with a real check for $100 and some bs mail-in certificate to claim our 2-nights mid-week at their choice of date mini-vacation. I can't help but wonder if our succumbing to corporate temptation and monetary reward might have jinxed our Vortex experience. We did get a really nice, free dinner out of it. Next time, though, I think I'll chill on the freebies and focus my attention fully to the majesty of the Red Rocks.