Sunrise, Sedonuts, and Javalinas: Our Sedona Wake-Up Call

It all started at 5:30 a.m.—the fire alarm decided to “gently” wake us up with that classic low-battery chirp. Nothing like being roused by a dying smoke detector to jumpstart your day, right? After some hazy searching we found a spare battery in the closet (points to our rental host), fixed the issue, and tried to catch a few more Zs. That lasted about sixty seconds. I rolled over and said to Katie, “Hey, want to just get up and catch the sunrise?” Because apparently, we’re those people now. She agreed, and off we went to hike up Sugarloaf Mountain, conveniently just up the street.

Best part? We’d rolled into Sedona in the dark, so this sunrise hike was like unwrapping a surprise gift—except the gift was Sedona’s absurdly gorgeous red rocks. 10/10 on the dramatic reveal. As a reward for our effort (and lack of sleep), we hit up Sedonuts. Turns out donuts after sunrise hiking are not only deserved, but mandatory.

That was just day one. In a week we managed to squeeze in 5 bike rides, 3 hikes, 1 women’s MTB clinic (Katie’s a boss), 2 sessions of live music, and multiple nights sampling Sedona’s restaurant scene.

And before the question comes up—yes, we actually worked every day. But let’s be real: when you don’t have a lawn to mow, kids to chase, or a mountain of errands, your evenings are suddenly wide open. Sedona makes you want to get out and roam the second your laptop closes.

So, are we digging it? Absolutely. New trails every day, jaw-dropping rock formations, and enough food adventures to keep things interesting.

What’s not to love? Well…our people. It’s still tough missing Friday afternoon gravel adventures with the crew, not being just down the street from Kira, or Katie not being able to call up a friend for a quick neighborhood lap. We knew the people would be hard to leave, and that’s the tradeoff.

Sedona’s also got that tourist town vibe, so sometimes “finding community” is code for “who wants to pay for this event?” But we found a brewery and a distillery that serve up live music almost every night, and the talent is…well, let’s say it keeps things interesting. This week we’re trying a full moon hike (fingers crossed for zero werewolf action), a stop at the local Wolf Sanctuary, and we found the local Wednesday night bike group, because you know we can’t not ride bikes.

Oh, and wildlife report: this week, coyotes walked through our backyard like they owned the place (honestly, maybe they do), and we met some javelinas—those odd, pig-like locals with terrible eyesight and a suspiciously nosey interest in Katie on our hikes. Frankly, we’ve never felt more popular.