Scottsdale, March 23-26

Grand Canyon - March 21, 2012

Allan and I arrived at Grand Canyon at about 8:00pm. The sun was down so we ate some of our snacks and went to bed. I had booked us in the Yavapai Lodge which was 1/2 mile from the rim of the canyon. It was worth it to be in the park and within walking distance to the rim, but the room was very bare bones and not the cleanest. Pretty much what I expected after reading reviews on line.

We slept well and headed out fairly early to walk the "trail of time" and have breakfast/lunch in the resturant. We had a slight marital meltdown on the way to the rim but managed to get back on track and in there in one piece (and still married). As much as I have travelled, I have never been to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful. Honestly, you need to see it to believe it.

We walked along the rim with the stroller to the Bright Angel Lodge where we had breakfast. We both ate well since we were getting ready for our hike. I was sad that we could not stay at Bright Angel or El Tovar - but was happy to be in the Grand Canyon with my boys!:) After lunch we headed back to the room and pack up before our check out time. We (I) had decided to hike the South Kaibab Trail because someone had told me it was prettier than the Bright Angel Trail. We had also seen the Bright Angel trailhead, and it was pretty much solid ice. I hoped that the Kaibab trail was less icy.

Yes, the first part of the trail was solid ice.....it was slow going (it was much icier than this picture shows). I had Henry in the bjorn for the trip down so I was super slow and careful on the ice. I wish we had brought our yak-trax! After we got out of the icy parts, it was MUDDY! The good news was that there were no mules and there was not dust.

We hiked down to ooh-aah point where we had lunch and took a break. At that point, Allan took over Henry in the bjorn and we started hiking out of the canyon!

The hike out was just as beautiful. It was shocking how fast the mud was drying. It was actually easier going back up since the mud was almost gone and the ice was melting. (I was also 16lbs lighter). At the top of the trail and on our way out of the park, I was so sad. I wanted to stay and hike more. Allan and I both agreed that we want to go back again and spend more time in the park.

Sedona - March 20, 2012

We woke up on Tuesday morning to SUN! No more snow with fast melting snow as well. That was the good news...the bad news was that my Pink Jeep Tour for 10:00 was cancelled because it was going to be too icy/muddy. I had booked myself on the 10:00am tour and Allan on the noon tour. Luckily, I was able to rebook on the 2:00pm tour. Multiple people had told me that Pink Jeep Tours are a Sedona "must".

We headed back to Red Rock State Park for another hike since we had the pass from the night before. After consulting with the friendly rangers, we decided to hike the Eagle Nest trail. This trail was 1.9 miles and we figured we could easily hike it in 2 hours (which would then give us time to get back into town for Allan's tour).

The hike was beautiful. Henry seemed to like being in the Bjorn again, but fussed after an hour till we stopped and fed him a bottle. He fussed some more afterwards but we kept walking. He finally passed out and we realized back at the center, he had a major poop. I felt bad that we had not checked (we did when he ate).

We headed back into town so Allan could take is Pink Jeep Tour (Broken Arrow). I wandered around town for an hour and then found a nice sunny place to sit and enjoy a coffee for an hour. Sedona is beautiful, but the town is pretty much your standard tourist trap town with tee shirt shops, vortex shops, and LOTS of stairs (not easy to navigate around with a stroller).

Finally it was MY turn for the Pink Jeep Tour. It was fabulous and I would highly recommend it! I was placed with a really fun family that was celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary. I had already met some of the women in the bathroom, while I was changing Henry. Wear sunblock and your seatbelt though.....


I was hungry after the tour but Allan had had some bad food experiences while he was walking around town with Henry so we set off for the Grand Canyon! There was a Dairy Queen stop along the way outside of Sedona......