Ma-ma-ma-my Sedona!

Howdy everyone! I'm back. For those of you who don't know, I recently uprooted myself from Northern California to Northern Arizona. It's been a long and sometimes tough road but things are settling in now. I purchased my first REAL house (along with my sister who moved here with me). I'm absolutely thrilled! Most of the search was done on-line. We flew out at the end of July...arrived about 9am on a Friday, looked at about 4 homes...fell in love with one, put an offer in and by noon Saturday, the offer was accepted. WOW. I left my job of 6 years, packed my things (all those dolls...yikes!), the 5 cats and left in mid-September. The area is great! A smaller town with all the modern conveniences. Now, instead of being an hour's drive from San Francisco, we are now an hour's drive from Sedona. Which is where we spent the day today! I've never seen rocks and dirt so red! Blew my mind! The scenery was gorgeous. Here's the beef though...(OK, you knew you wouldn't escape this)...here's this gorgeous, almost serene place and what are they doing????? Construction!!!!!!!!!!! OMG. Who in their right minds could let this happen??? I'm not talking about the widening of the highway but who the hell let the mini-malls in??? It was nest to impossible to take a decent photo without having some building in the way. Even the amazing Church that is built into the red rock mountains can't escape the huge monstrosity that is being built across the street below. At first we thought it was a hotel going in but no, it's a HOUSE. A huge 4-car garage house...all gated in...complete with massive fountain in front. Yes, you're rich...we get it! Couldn't you flaunt it somewhere else? I just hope they're happy in the summer during the peak tourist season, when traffic is so heavy, they can't get out of their driveway. What am I saying?? They probably have a helicopter pad on the property somewhere. Most of the area around us is protected...there are forests after forests...and yet someone allowed Sedona to pass through the cracks. Anyway..I'm back to my dolls now and seeking employment. Hopefully, I will be back more often with updates (and gripes). Until then...I leave you with one of the attractive pics from Sedona. Adios!