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We landed in Phoenix at 10am local time, meaning we had almost a full day ahead of us to enjoy Sedona and Oak Creek. Hertz surprised us with a red mustang convertible – perfect for an Arizona vacation! We loaded up our gear and were on our way north.

The Penrose B&B turned out to be an even better choice than we expected. It is set right into one of the red rocks, with big windows that allowed us to enjoy the views.

Whitney the innkeeper was thorough and friendly in orienting us to the area. After we unpacked a bit, enjoyed the cinnamon peanut brittle snack, and filled up with water, we headed out to Cathedral Rock for a short hike to stretch our legs.

For dinner we decided to try Cucina Rustica, another fortuitious choice for a delicious dinner. I tried a local Arizona wine, the Pillsbury Rhone style, which was delicious. From the bread with olive oil infused with cerrano chilies to our appetizer of radiccio, prosciutto, fig and cheese to the organic greens in the house salad with a light nutty dressing to the main dishes, Brian’s veal saltimbocca and my osso bucco, everything was delicious. We were just sorry to be so tired that we opted not to try dessert. After all, it had been almost 20 hours since we had woken up to start our day, so we headed back to the B&B to get some much needed sleep.