Pet rock escapes; takes dip in Sedona Spa

Talk to any Sedona Jeep tour driver and you’ll learn that kids don’t own the market for saying the darndest things.

Drivers put a lot of effort into spinning interesting and compelling yarns about the geography and history of places they take city folk and international visitors; especially those who drive for companies that have to go a little farther into the outback to get to the good trails.

Sedona has spectacular scenery and wildlife you won’t see elsewhere. Sometimes that prompts guests to ask questions only a mother would love. Your tour guide is apt to have a little fun with them.

Guest: How high up the mountain do you have to go before the deer turn into elk?
Driver: Um, deer don’t ‘turn into’ elk.

Guest: Why are the rocks redder at lower elevations than higher up on the mountain?
Driver: That’s as high as the painters’ ladders reach.

Montezuma’s Castle is a 1,000-year-old Sinagua Indian dwelling that’s basically a 20 room high-rise apartment built into the hillside. It’s definitely off the beaten path of modern civilization.



Guest: Why didn’t they build it closer to the highway?
Driver: …

My personal favorite is the one where a guest asked why some large boulders were wrapped in wire cages. The straight answer is that the wire prevents them from slipping from erosion.

Driver: Remember when pet rocks were all the rage in the 1970s? Well, some people just couldn’t take care of them and dumped them off in the desert. We had to cage them to keep ‘em under control.

Seems one got away and took a dip in a hot tub.

No joke. Read more!

You go, Caleb!

In response to this article ...

It’s a sad thing that our profession was once important enough to be written into the law of the land; and now it is relegated to the law of supply and demand.

I feel your enthusiasm and your pain, Caleb. I was often targeted by a special interest group in Sedona, Ariz. for shining light on its clandestine political operations. The difference was that Arizona state laws make it much easier to obtain public documents that what I’ve encountered in Utah.

If your assumption that the Cedar Hills council conferred – in person, through emails, phone calls or any other means – such actions would go to the front of the Attorney General’s to-do list in Arizona.

You’d be able to walk into the city clerk’s office and demand, within a reasonable time, access to emails, phone logs, daily planners and sticky notes. And they’d better have them because Arizona’s AG is serious about the public’s right to access the records it owns.

That has not been my experience in Utah County – where I’ve been run around in circles, been delayed, and been denied access to council member’s contact information.

Journalists here – who have the same access as residents – often can’t even obtain an agenda until 24 hours before a meeting. The law allows that, however, it doesn’t do much to facilitate earnest public review so that people – including journalists – can be prepared for an action meeting.

On top of that, some unscrupulous journalists and their publishers have made decisions that have devalued our profession to the point that the public no longer trusts us.

In my recent experience, the time it would take you to properly investigate this particular situation is not cost-effective for what you’d be paid.

You did a good job, Caleb. Hold them to the fire. If it doesn’t work out for you at least you were true to yourself and to our profession. Read more!