Arizona 2020: Sedona

On Friday, March 6th the boys and I flew down to Phoenix after school/work (we had to leave a little early) to meet up with my parents for our annual Arizona trip.  This year, instead of continuing on to Tucson, we decided to stay in Phoenix overnight and head north to Sedona and eventually, the Grand Canyon National Park.  We landed a half hour early at 6pm, grabbed our checked bag, and anxiously went outside to feel the warm air.  It was a short ride to the hotel where my parents had already checked in, so we were able to head straight to our room and get our bathing suits on to check out the pool and hot tub.  78 degrees felt amazing!

My mom made the boys and me a baby Yoda as a surprise and they were stoked to have a buddy to sleep with.  Evan was coming down with a cold so he was exhausted and ready for bed (especially with a two hour time change!).  He slept on the pull-out bed, while Sean and I slept together on one of the beds. 

The next morning Evan was up at 5am....brutal.  We laid around for a bit before getting ready and going down to the breakfast.  We hit the road around 8:30 or so with a quick stop at Walmart (I forgot sunglasses!) and the gas station.  The drive to Sedona was about 1.5 hours and it was very beautiful!  Lots of changes in elevation and plenty of things to look at out the windows. 

We decided to do Devil's Bridge hike today since the weather was great and sunny.  We got a little turned around at the start, but luckily a guide was taking a group on the hike and got us in the right direction.  The hike lasted about 3 hours and was about 4 miles, but had lots of scrambling for the last mile.  The boys did so great!  And my mom...she's afraid of heights and this one was not an easy hike for her. 

The hike wiped us out and we were more than ready for a late lunch a beer!  We went to Oak Creek Canyon Brewery where there was a short wait, but we loved our table with a view!  Lunch was delicious.  The boys insisted we hit up a few gift shops on the main drag before heading to our hotel and checking in.  We went to a cute cowboy gift shop where Evan picked a cap gun and another store where Sean picked out a snow globe, but instead of water it was filled with sand and a rattlesnake. 

Our hotel in Sedona was amazing!  We stayed at Arabella that had a beautiful pool and hot tub over looking the red rocks, fire pits and a sunset lookout point, live music in the evening, and a nice room!  The boys loved it and truly, so did I.  We checked in, swam in the hot tub in low 60's weather, and listened to an older gentleman performing Frank Sinatra music.  My dad and I went out to see if there would be a sunset and we enjoyed a drink or two by the bonfire.  It was a nice evening!

The next morning we ate the hotel breakfast before packing up and doing one last hike in Sedona.  We opted for Bell Rock with a stop at the Chapel of the Holy Cross right when it opened at 9am.  Evan had another 5am wake-up so everybody was functioning on little sleep, colds, and some soreness from our big hike the day before.  We'll just say everyone's fuse was a little short on Sunday.  The hike was decent, but we opted to turn around and head back before finishing it.  We were ready to head on to the Grand Canyon!