The Breakfast
Club
An Affiliate of the
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits Old
Favorite, Sedona
14 July 2007
by Warren McIlvoy
The July Breakfast Club
event returned the vast majority of us to a place often referred to as a true
"paradise in the desert". Sedona is quite often the first
place that a newly minted private pilot goes to with their favorite
"squeeze", or best friend, or maybe a family member. The shear scenic
beauty of the area is all the more alluring from the air and the airport
restaurant is a "hundred dollar hamburger" favorite amongst the pilot
community. The flight is only about 30-40 minutes depending on whether you are
flying your Cherokee or the proverbial "belchfire".
Another nice thing is that you do not have to get up at "O dark thirty"
to get there by our usual rendevous time of 0900 and
the short ride is dearly appreciated for the late morning return trip back to
the valley.
For the folks who may not have had the pleasure of visiting Sedona (can't
imagine who that might be), I have included the following information regarding
Sedona:
"Politically, Uptown
Sedona (the part in
Sedona is named
after Sedona Miller Schnebly (1877-1950), the wife of
the city's first postmaster, who was celebrated for her hospitality and
industriousness.
Sedona's
main attraction is its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red
Rocks of Sedona. The
formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the
rising or setting sun. The Red Rocks form a breathtaking backdrop for
everything from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain
biking trails. Among the rock formations is one that closely resembles the
character "Snoopy" (from the popularPeanuts
cartoon) lying on top of his doghouse. Another nearby rock is said to resemble
"Lucy", also from Peanuts. Other landmark rock formations include
Coffeepot Rock,
The McDonald's in
The city is known regionally for its unique subculture of artists, musicians,
transients and locally-known minor celebrities, some of whom display odd
behavior, such as "the Samurai," Benito, who was often seen standing
along the highway posing with a katana; "The Waver," who formerly
waved at traffic from early morning until sunset; and last but not least, Mary,
"the Flipper", who walked the streets and gave the one fingered
salute - or flipped the bird to passers-by; Max Ernst (1881-1976), the German
Dadaist and surrealist artist, lived in Sedona from 1948 to 1953 with his
fourth wife, the artist Dorothea Tanning. Israel Regardie,
former secretary and friend of Aleister Crowley and
member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn died in Sedona in 1985.
There is a
specialized New Age tourist industry in Sedona, where the "Harmonic
Convergence" was organized by Jose Arguelles in 1987. Some purported
"spiritual vortices" are said to be concentrated in the Sedona area
at
After every one of the Breakfast Club folks
had arrived, I was able to get some group photos before we reconvened our
get-together at the Sedona Airport Restaurant. We were fortunate enough
to get the majority of the patio seating that is sprawled under two large pine
trees. The weather and setting was just perfect and most of us just lolled
around talking and just enjoying the scene following a delightful breakfast.
About a year ago, the City of
My return trip was slightly indirect as I was going to Wickenburg to get
some of their cheaper fuel. Fuel there was .75 cheaper than at Deer Valley
and it is not much out of the way. The only down side was that we had to
tolerate the "bumps" for just a tad bit longer.
The Sedona Crew
What's Next?
The August Breakfast Club event
will see us return to an old favorite and close by,
Click on the Sedona link to view the photos of this fly-in event.