Let's get out of the Vermont snow for the holidays, shall we?

For a few years now, we've talked about doing something out of the ordinary for Christmas. This turns out to be the the year. Our destination: Sedona. Kevin visited several years ago; I'd never been. 

We used frequent flier miles and consequently found our only option was to fly in and out of...well, see if you can guess.

Las Vegas, baby.

A place that leaves me feeling bewildered. We stayed a night at the Luxor, a gigantic pyramid-shaped hotel with this guy out front:

 Is it magical?

Sort of. 

We went for a late-night walk in search of...

...the whimsical...

and some real beauty.

My favorite spot, along the strip, was this wonderful undulating set of lit-up riverstone walls sheeted in falling water.

But the rest of Las Vegas for me, can best be summed up thusly:

After a night at the Luxor, we headed out toward Sedona. 

It started snowing partway there. They closed the last bit of I-40 just shy of Flagstaff, so we took the long way around, arriving well past dark on Christmas Eve. We found our hotel, found a pizza place that was still open, and fetched up some supplies at the Safeway  just before it closed.

This tree in the Safeway parking lot has all of Las Vegas beat, in my book.

Our hotel is up on top of Airport Mesa, and allegedly has fantastic views, but when we woke up this morning, things were more-or-less socked in still. 

After a delicious Christmas morning repast of the best Safeway has to offer we headed out toward Cathedral Rock for a look around.

Snow-covered cactus + red rock.  I can see why you'd be tempted to site a place of worship around here...

The cathedral itself is just out of frame, to the left.

...but isn't the whole landscape kind of enough? 

Yeah, ultimately, I didn't see the point of the cathedral itself, given the setting. 

We wandered around downtown a bit, eventually finding an open diner with only-in-Sedona decor:

A spaceship above our table...

and a mural of an alien city above the bar...

Then we headed back up toward our hotel for a hike. Check out the scenic vista behind Kevin:

Maybe there will be said vista tomorrow, when it's supposed to be sunny.

6/10 of a mile away, however, and in the other direction, things opened up.

And then it started hailing. 

Merry Christmas...Happy Hannukah...Blessed Solstice...