Decided to take it a little easy today and not torture the old fogeys by going back to the Grand Canyon again this morning. Instead we headed south to
Sedona, where there are beautiful red rock formations all around town. It was a destination that none of us have ever been, so everyone was looking forward to it.
Once we went through Sedona going south on 89A and veered onto 179, the rock formations were all around us. First and foremost among the sights would be
Cathedral Rock, and we went onto the Back O Beyond Road and parked at the trailhead. I spent a little time snapping pictures here, as it was a magnificent sight.
Going further down Highway 179 not only afford us a view of the other major rocks in the area, but actually allowed us to see that Cathedral Rock was not simply one large piece of rock, but a collection of 4 different rocks.
The other major landmarks included the
Twin Buttes, along with the
Nuns (two of them) nearby...
...as well as the
Bell Rock and the
Courthouse, shown here from the back because the lighting sucked shooting from the front... This was from Yavapai Point.
There were a number of trails in the area, each with a parking lot which afforded magnificent views. We spent a little bit of time here taking in the scenery and getting baked.
I kinda wish we could have spent some time in the town itself, maybe hitting up a restaurant for lunch, but the old fogeys had other ideas. We still had a ton of food in the cooler, so the decision was made to go back to Williams and have a picnic lunch in the same spot where we did it yesterday.
My lunch today? Slices of honey ham, chunks of Ganma's braised pork shoulder in soy sauce and five spice, arugula, and tomato in a bagel. Needless to say, the pork shoulder half of my sandwich tasted better...
There was a long and uneventful drive back to Vegas after lunch, and we got back just around dinner time. I had told the old fogeys that I was gonna get my General Tso's chicken fix no matter what, and Ganba was very helpful in accommodating my wishes. After passing by
Panda Express countless times during this trip, I finally stopped in at an outlet in North Las Vegas...
...only to find that General Tso's chicken wasn't on the menu! I thought for sure this was the place for me to get it! Disappointed, I resorted to searching the internet for it, and fortunately found a place nearby my godparents' for it.
New China Cuisine to the rescue!
General Tso's chicken - it's been decades since I last had this on American soil, and it wasn't bad. I was a little surprised at the thin batter, and though it was crispy it didn't give me that deeply satisfying crunch that I was hoping for. Love that sweet, brown sauce, though!
Beef and broccoli - not happy with this. The beef has clearly been marinated in baking soda to the point where the texture just became too tender and soft, and there was too much soy sauce here.
I opened up another bottle to share with Ganba...
2006 BOND Matriarch - nice and sweet nose, a little oaky, plenty of cassis, smoky, cedar. Still a little too tannic.
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