I had never been to Sedona before I met John (or at least I can't remember ever being there), so John decided that it would be a nice idea to take me there on our first Sunday day-trip.

We had been spending the weekend in Eloy, where John was training with his skydiving team, Arizona Fast Track; and I had spent most of Saturday in Tucson to attend the University of Arizona's graduation ceremony (my friend Robin was graduating). After the day was over, we had a few drinks at the Bent Prop - the bar at the Drop Zone - then turned in for the night to get an early start in the morning.

Sunday morning, we began our journey to Sedona, stopping first at home in Phoenix to shower and to buy some bagels for breakfast (luxuries we didn't have in Eloy). By nine o'clock, we reached the Village of Oak Creek, outside of which is the famous Bell Rock. We parked the car by the barbed wire fence and took pictures of each other in front of the giant rock. (Later we laughed at these pictures because we looked like tiny specks standing in front of a huge red hill. Our pictures would get better with time.)

After several photo-op stops along the highway, we finally arrived at Call of the Canyon: the trailhead for the West Fork of Oak Creek Trail. Though the parking lot was full, the attendant let us park there anyway, which was lucky for us because Oak Creek Canyon was packed with tourists that afternoon and we would have had to leave without hiking.

Wicker picnic basket in hand, John and I started our two-mile hike into Oak Creek Canyon - a scenic, level hike upstream with several creek crossings. Along the way, we took pictures of the creek and of the walls of the canyon; we also searched for the perfect spot to have our picnic.

About two miles into the trail, we found it: a huge, flat boulder in the middle of Oak Creek - a picture perfect spot for a romantic picnic. That was where we spread out our checkered tablecloth and served our lunch, which consisted of sandwiches, macaroni salad, white zinfandel wine (served in big, green wine glasses that held a half of a bottle of wine each), and a chocolate rose for dessert. After lunch, John carved our initials into the rock to try to immortalize the moment. I could already tell that he was a fool in love.

Before packing up our picnic, John asked a couple nearby the take some pictures of us; these would be our first pictures together.

And I almost destroyed these pictures on the way back to the car when, during a creek crossing, I fell and dropped the camera. Fortunately, the camera survived the fall; the film jammed, but our first picture together turned out. John and I each framed a copy of this picture and took it to work.

The day wasn't over after we returned to the car. We decided not to return to Phoenix the way we had come; instead, we took the scenic route through Cottonwood to Jerome. While in Jerome, we window-shopped at the bookstores and ate ice cream. After that, we continued down the winding highway, through Prescott, and finally back home to Phoenix, just in time for The Simpsons.

Return to Naked in the Woods.