Get your kicks on Route 66! With some Grand Canyon and other adventures

But of course we got ensnared by the biggest tourist trap in the area, the Meteor Crater!

Come on guys, it has it's own radio station! We had to stop!

It has it's own exit off the highway and it was another 5 or so miles to the Crater. They had some weird signs by the road that said to be careful for baby cows...which I thought was odd. While driving, I am probably going to be careful of the baby and the full size cows. Probably more careful of the full sized. As much as I (and everyone alive) loves baby animals, I am more cautious of hitting a full sized cow. Anyway, we tried to snap a picture but missed it.

I won't lie, this place is outrageously expensive to get into. I think it is $15 per adult.

We didn't really mind paying because we knew going into it that it was probably going to be expensive.

It was actually a better value than I thought. There was a sizable museum beside the Crater that had a lot of exhibits on meteors and other space junk hitting the earth.

There was a bunch of interactive stuff and I thought it was a well put together museum.

They also had the biggest chunk of the meteor that had made this crater:



It wasn't that shabby, so we had fun taking a half hour to explore the museum.

And there were photo opportunities to take embarrassing photos of yourself:





Outside the museum they also had the Apollo Test Capsule, which the astronauts used to train (and they did do some training at this Crater).



We saved the actual Crater for last:





There were telescopes that you could use to look into the bottom of the crater to see the astronaut training area:





The Crater was super windy!

We made a quick stop at the gift shop where I purchased my favorite tshirt of the trip. It looks pretty retro and says 'I survived the wind at the Meteor Crater'.

Once in the car it was time to do our 24 hour advance check in to Southwest.

We were running a bit behind schedule, so Brian told me to go ahead and start to drive and he could do it while we drove.

Of course this didn't work out at all, he could only find his reservation so he went ahead and checked in, then couldn't find mine at all and had me convinced that I never scheduled a flight for myself. This went on for a panicked 10 minutes until he finally found my reservation, right where I said it was in my email, and got me checked in as well.

The rest of the drive was really not fun. I was the only driver listed on the car so I had to drive the whole 2ish or so hour trip. I was annoyed at the whole Southwest check in fiasco and I was also annoyed that the vacation was almost over cause I'd really been enjoying it.

So anyway we'll just speed right by most of the drive and pick up the story where we begin to enter Sedona.

Except for this picture of a giant cow on a building in Flagstaff:



OK now we are on to our entrance to Sedona.



It was really a spectacular drive, we headed down and down and down these really steep roads and there were tons of gorgeous trees and drop offs and vistas. There were also a lot of real nice houses and vacation homes along a river that we were super jealous of.















The whole area was so artsy and woodsy and interesting.

We finally arrived at our hotel, the Sky View Ranch around 5:30. Brian got us checked in and we found our room and were able to just relax! Which was amazing. We started to look up somewhere to go eat and then we decided we really weren't up to it and we just had some leftovers while in the room.

The room did have a kitchen:





Most of my room pictures turned out blurry, but it was a really big, nice room.

We had a little patio and here was our view:



The grounds were really beautifully landscaped.

The front desk worker had informed us that sunset would be promptly at 7:30, and since our hotel was up on the top of a very high hill we decided that it might be worth seeing.

We made it right in time, and once again, these pictures don't do the sunset justice. It was pretty amazing.







Next up: Stargazing Tour and the beginning of our last day :sad1:
 


So......if you had your time over again, would you stop at Meteor Crater? I was looking it up the other day and have come to the conclusion that it is not worth the 2 hour detour (driving plus stopping time) between Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

The view from Sky View Ranch looks great and is that Snoopy rock in one of your pictures?
 
It sounds like you came into Sedona via the Oak Creek Canyon. It is a very pretty drive.

We got stuck at Meteor Crater during a thunderstorm. They last power and everything. It was cool to see once, and my DD was into meteors and space at the time we went, but I wouldn't go again. The Lowell Observatory is a better deal if you're going to be in Flagstaff.

We have stayed at the Sky Lodge and it was very nice. The views were awesome!

No, Snoopy Rock is in the other direction. (I would post a picture but I don't want to take away from Ohio's report). ;)
 
OK, maybe I remember being on the rim of Meteor Crater, not Sunset Crater? Or maybe both, who knows? :confused3 I'd have to drag out the ol' scrapbook at my parents' house. But Meteor Crater still looks fun!

There is nothing quite like an AZ sunset. We are blessed with a higher-than-average number of pretty, unique sunsets per year. :artist:

PHXscuba
 


So......if you had your time over again, would you stop at Meteor Crater? I was looking it up the other day and have come to the conclusion that it is not worth the 2 hour detour (driving plus stopping time) between Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

The view from Sky View Ranch looks great and is that Snoopy rock in one of your pictures?

Not sure what Snoopy rock is so I am glad someone else answered :goodvibes

I would stop there, but only cause I'd never been, I wouldn't do it again probably. But hey, if you do drive all the way out there you may as well stop in Holbrook and see some of the Route 66 stuff. Or do a quick drive through Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.

It sounds like you came into Sedona via the Oak Creek Canyon. It is a very pretty drive.

We got stuck at Meteor Crater during a thunderstorm. They last power and everything. It was cool to see once, and my DD was into meteors and space at the time we went, but I wouldn't go again. The Lowell Observatory is a better deal if you're going to be in Flagstaff.

We have stayed at the Sky Lodge and it was very nice. The views were awesome!

No, Snoopy Rock is in the other direction. (I would post a picture but I don't want to take away from Ohio's report). ;)

Of course you can post a picture!

I actually think it'd be sweet to be stuck at the Crater during a storm. That place is windy enough on a good day, musta been crazy! But then again, I love storms.

I've never heard of the Lowell Observatory, looks like my trip researching skills are fallible.

OK, maybe I remember being on the rim of Meteor Crater, not Sunset Crater? Or maybe both, who knows? :confused3 I'd have to drag out the ol' scrapbook at my parents' house. But Meteor Crater still looks fun!

There is nothing quite like an AZ sunset. We are blessed with a higher-than-average number of pretty, unique sunsets per year. :artist:

PHXscuba

I am considering this trip report as my scrapbook of sorts lol.

I reeeeeally enjoyed Arizona. The sunsets and everything else. I would go back in a heartbeat. :thumbsup2
 
Not sure what Snoopy rock is so I am glad someone else answered :goodvibes

Of course you can post a picture!

Okay. If you look carefully you can see Snoopy laying on his dog house with his nose and feet pointing towards the sky. If you really want to be fanciful, Woodstock is sitting on his nose.

OZ - There is a great view of Snoopy Rock from the food court in downtown Sedona.



I've never heard of the Lowell Observatory, looks like my trip researching skills are fallible.

It's where the planet Pluto pluto:(yes, I still consider it a planet!;))was discovered! They also do stargazing at night.

I reeeeeally enjoyed Arizona. The sunsets and everything else. I would go back in a heartbeat. :thumbsup2

So glad to hear you enjoyed our state, there is so much more to discover. Hopefully you can come back. :goodvibes
 
Thanks Wendy. I can't wait to get there again. I'll be in Arizona in less than a month!
 
We went back to the hotel for a bit more relaxing until it was time to leave around 8:20 for our 9 pm stargazing tour. We were meeting at a soccer field in the middle of nowhere, so it took a bit of time to get there.

I am going to pause here and say a bit about Sedona's traffic control...there are roundabouts everywhere. I am not one to be afraid of roundabouts, I think it is loads of fun to go around in a circle.

We were right on time for our tour and met our guides and other visitors in a parking lot. The whole area was pitch dark, and only our two guides had flashlights so we followed them out to the field.

There were chairs set up and blankets were also available.

We had a father and son guide pair. They each had a telescope so that we could all see things twice as fast. I think there were about 15 or so people there.

It was weird, they used a green laser pointer which was actually excellent for traveling a long distance and they used this to point out constellations and stars to us.

We were able to pick out satellites traveling across the sky, and I even saw a shooting star!

The big attraction of the night was Saturn, and we could easily see all it's rings through the telescopes, it was very neat.

Then they put a special filter on one of the telescopes and we were shown the light spectrum of a star which was cool.

We got to see some double stars and they pointed out loads of constellations and gave some history behind constellation names and lots of other things. The 2 guides were very knowledgeable and made sure to ask for questions all the time.


I cannot recommend this experience enough! After it ended we were quick to head back to the hotel and went right to sleep.

I liked the hotel lobby all lit up at night:



The next morning was our last day :(

we had wanted to get up kind of early because we had a lot left on our list, but we let ourselves sleep in and then it took longer than we thought to get everything organized and packed so we were behind schedule.

If we had got up earlier, we were going to go on a hike around Sedona because there are many awesome looking ones but we slept in so we missed out. Maybe next time.

This was the view as we drove down our hotel road:



We wanted to find somewhere awesome to eat around Sedona so Brian searched urbanspoon while I drove.



we never ended up finding somewhere, so we just looked at all the artsy stops and finally picked a gift shop to stop and check out.

It had a giant chicken. How could you not stop?!







Husky! Like our Husky back home.







It was way past time to start heading back to Phoenix for our flights, so we left Sedona.



It might not have been the best idea, but we decided we just had to do one more stop...



Montezuma's Castle!

I am so glad we stopped this place was crazy amazing. I wish I lived on the side of a cliff.





And a little diorama of what it would look like inside the rooms:



We couldn't really stay long as we had flights to catch. On the way out we stopped at Sonic to grab some food to eat in the car. We really didn't do a lot of eating this trip...it was more like lets skip a meal so we can make it to one more stop. It is like the direct opposite of Disney, where we are constantly eating.

Right before we made a gas stop outside of Phoenix we discovered that we'd been charged for the pre-paid gas, so we ended up coasting into the rental station on fumes. Which actually brought us out ahead on the pre-paid gas option that we hadn't even wanted, so I guess that worked out ok.

I liked all the big cactuses along the road back:



We were at the airport at 2:40 and our plane left at 4:40. It was a good thing Brian had checked himself in earlier than he'd found my reservation, the plane was completely full and he was about ten spots ahead of me and he ended up getting the last empty row and saved me the window seat. I really don't like not being able to sit together, so this was really lucky.



Also luckily, our flight was non-stop, even so with the time change we didn't end up landing until 11:15, so once again we ended another amazing trip by arriving home super late and I had to work the next morning. Oh well, I always like to get every minute I can out of my trips so it was well worth it.
 
Hope you got your passport stamped! ;)

Sorry you didn't get to see more of Sedona, it is beautiful! Montezuma's Castle is one of our favorites as well. Kind of like high rise living for the pueblo Indians!

What a great trip! Thanks for sharing! :) I look forward to seeing a lot of it for myself in a couple of months. Who knows, maybe I'll write a report too.
 
What a whirlwind visit through Sedona. And I agree with Wendy....it really is such a pretty place to visit.

Glad you found some time and thanks for the write-up about the Stargazer's tour. I had wondered it about and have decided to give it a miss this time round.
 
So any more wrap-up or are you declaring it done? I know you have another Disney trip coming up soon, right?

Best of luck,
PHXscuba
 
Hope you got your passport stamped! ;)

Sorry you didn't get to see more of Sedona, it is beautiful! Montezuma's Castle is one of our favorites as well. Kind of like high rise living for the pueblo Indians!

What a great trip! Thanks for sharing! :) I look forward to seeing a lot of it for myself in a couple of months. Who knows, maybe I'll write a report too.

Of course I got my passport stamped!!

I think we need a redo on Sedona. We really had no idea it even existed until I found the stargazing tour and we were both sad that we didn't get to do any hikes.

Even if you don't do a TR you should come back on here and let me know how the trip went :goodvibes

What a whirlwind visit through Sedona. And I agree with Wendy....it really is such a pretty place to visit.

Glad you found some time and thanks for the write-up about the Stargazer's tour. I had wondered it about and have decided to give it a miss this time round.

:thumbsup2

So any more wrap-up or are you declaring it done? I know you have another Disney trip coming up soon, right?

Best of luck,
PHXscuba

Hmm I really should do a wrap up, thanks for reminding me.

And yes, I have a 12 day trip to Disney World coming up on October 2!!!! :hyper:

We are doing 2 MNSSHPs, the Tower of Terror 10 mile (I've been training every other day and ugh, I just don't feel ready) and we are taking Brian's younger sister and his mom. This will be his younger sister's second trip, but her first she was so young she doesn't remember. His mom hasn't been since her honeymoon. So it should be a very exciting trip.


So anyway, this trip was weird in the fact that it didn't involve Disney World or Disneyland in any way. Now that it is over, I am very surprised at just how much I enjoyed my non-Disney vacation.

Don't get me wrong, we did manage to sneak in some Disney references, mostly related to the movie Cars.

There was really so much to explore and see in Arizona. And we only briefly touched on the northern part of the state!

I'm not sure why I'm so surprised about so much to see in one state, when I was little my family went on a road trip in our home state of Pennsylvania. We spent a week and still didn't see everything.

I bet that would actually be a very interesting blog. Spending a week in each state and discovering all the different sites.

We really should go back. I am thinking that one day I might like to drive the old Route 66, which would involve some stops in Arizona. We were also thinking of maybe a New Mexico trip sometime soon.

If anything, the only bad part of the trip was the exhaustion that eventually settled in. I just can't slow down on vacation though...there is sooo much to do and see and who knows if I will ever be back.

I really do miss Arizona. If Brian or I were to find a job there one day, I would be pretty excited I think.

And this might sound weird, but I am having trouble picking out my favorite part of the trip. I want to say the Grand Canyon and either our hike into it or the mule ride, but I also seriously enjoyed discovering all the old Route 66 stuff.

Oh well, its my trip report and I'm allowed to have more than one favorite :thumbsup2

Thank you all for reading!

I hope I was able to entertain and help out!
 
I've really enjoyed reading your TR :thumbsup2 I'm slightly obsessed with the US desert and am hoping to enjoy some more of it on my next trip. I also love all the old Route 66 stuff, and thought all your stops looked awesome :goodvibes I'm not at all surprised that you were exhausted at the end though!

DH and I did the overnight mule ride a couple of years ago, and you're pretty spot on with your description :thumbsup2 It was a pretty overwhelming experience heading straight out of the corral and on to the icy track heading down the cliff (no time to get used to being on a mule first!). We did actually have an incident on the way back where one of the mules slipped on the ice and the rider fell off - luckily she fell towards the cliff not canyon :scared1: She had to get back on the mule to finish the ride though, or else be evacuated in a helicopter at her own cost - the mule riders are not allowed to walk any section of the track.

I was very surprised to hear that you weren't allowed to take photos on your ride. Between us, we took about 1000 photos along the way! We stopped at that natural ampitheatre on the way back up to sing 'happy birthday' to one of the riders on our tour. I think there were about 10 of us, but only one guide. I think during peak times they accept up to 20 or so, with several guides. It was much nicer with a smaller group though.

I also had to laugh when you mentioned the 'mule motivators'. My mule, Cracker, was very lazy going back up the canyon (not that I can blame him :rotfl:) and my mule motivator got a very good workout! I have a very high respect for anyone hiking out of the canyon - it was hard enough work doing it on a mule!
 
We had some extra time so we looked around the gift shop and spotted this:



People, this is a big book. It was like over 300 pages. Watch yourself and your kids around the edge. It is not a time to test your bravado.

Anyway, I am about out of space for pictures, so the next update will cover our Sunset Bus Tour and the rest of the evening.

We are planning a trip, a quick trip, on the train to see the Grand Canyon, I just showed my husband your pictures and said how are we going to stop Ariana falling over the edge going to have to strap the kid to me.

Kirsten
 
This is such a cool trip report! We are planning a southwest Carsland-ish style road trip for next October. I thought of staying at the Wigwam Motel but I think we'll try the Globetrotter Lodge instead! You take awesome photos!
 
Just read your trip report and I loved it! I can't wait to take the kids to Arizona.
 

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