2007-04 Arizona Vacation

During the kid’s spring break, we went down to visit LeAnn’s mom in Apache Junction Arizona. Apache Junction is just east of Phoenix. LeAnn’s mom has been spending the winters there for over 20 years. Mariah did not join us this year as she was supposed to be on a trip to Brazil with her high school band, but due to an air traffic controllers strike which occurred in Brazil as the kids were en route, the trip was cancelled. You can read all about it in the previous blog.

We got in late on Sunday evening, and went to pick up our rental car. When we got to the desk, they did not have any minivans available like we had reserved, so they transferred us to another agency which was able to rent us a van.

On Monday, we went swimming at the community pool in grandma’s park, trimmed up her cactus (and only got a few cactus needles embedded in our skin from the prickly pear despite wearing gloves and using tongs) and drove around the park with the kids in grandma’s golf cart. They really have a good time driving this around. We enjoyed relaxing as we prepared for our two day trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon on Tuesday.

We made it up to Sedona in the late morning and stopped at the information center for some information on tours. The volunteer there was very helpful and mapped out a self-guided tour that would allow us to see the highlights of the Red Rock region. Our first stop was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is built on an outcropping and a beautiful view of the valley. Parking is very limited and you have to wait in line for someone to leave before you can pull in, but fortunately, most stays are pretty brief and they have guides controlling the flow.




Our next stop was the airport mesa overlook where we could see north and westward. Sedona strings out through the valley from east to west. We stopped at a pull-off and parked for a quick hike. We went over the rise and then could see back east and south. Although we couldn't see the Chapel again, we could see the fancy house situated just below the chapel.




We drove north from the airport lookout and into the canyon valley, before heading down to the red rock loop and Crescent Moon Ranch state park. Crescent Moon Ranch state park had a nice hiking trail that went down to the base of the cathedral rock formation. At the end of the trail was a swimming hole, but no one was swimming at the time. A bunch of people had piled rocks up to form pyramid type structures. There were hundreds of these in a large rock bed which was full of flat rocks. The trail continued on the other side of the creek, but you had to wade across the water to get too it, so we just headed back.

As our day was ending, we headed up to Midgley Bridge which crosses Oak Creek. As with the entire area, there are plenty of hiking trails emanating out from this point. We walked down a little ways and took some pictures of the canyon back towards Sedona. There were a group of people who had hiked down to the river and were picnicking and playing Frisbee.

We then headed to the downtown area to stroll around and check out the gift shops and have a treat. The evening was quieting down and some of the stores were starting to close as we headed out of town for our overnight accommodations in Williams. When we arrived in Williams, we went downtown to find a place to eat and stumbled across the Pine Country Restaurant which provided large portions and good food.

Wednesday brought us to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in Tusayan just outside the gate and watched the IMAX film on the grand canyon, picked up our day pass, and headed in. The crowds were large since it is a holiday week and lot of people are on vacation. We parked our car near Mather overlook and started off on the Rim Trail. The views are just spectacular from any place along the canyon. Rather than moving our vehicle from place to place, we just used the shuttle service provided. They were convenient and could get you closer to the places you wanted to be than you could drive and park. Some of the roads that used to be open to traffic are now just used by the shuttle buses.

We had wanted to hike a short way down into the canyon with the kids to give them the interior view, so we headed to the south Kaibab trail head. We loaded with water as the trail is almost 100% in the sun, except the first section which is up against the canyon walls and fully shaded. That felt really good on the way back. We hiked down to Ooh-Ahh point, which is aptly named as you can see out in many directions from there along with the spectacular views looking back up to the top of the rim. The total trip is listed as 1.5 miles, but seems longer. We were amazed at how many people we saw that had no water, no backpack (supplies), or inappropriate footwear (sandals) that were taking the hike. We saw people of all ages from 2 to 60+ taking on the hike. It is quite a draw for all who come.


We made it safely down and back and then headed off to lunch at the Canyon Cafe. A little souvenir shopping and then a couple of last looks at the canyon from this main area before we headed off to watch the sunset from the Desert View lookout. This was one of the first tourist sites with a watchtower built out of the native stones to allow enclosed viewing in 360˚ so you can see both the canyon to the north, east and west along with the desert to the south. This is also one of the best sites for actually viewing Colorado River as it comes in from the east. We then loaded up and headed back to Phoenix.

Thursday was spent relaxing at the pool and then dinner at the Organ Stop pizzeria. This pizzeria has an original full size theatre organ which was used in the 20’s and 30’s to provide music and sound effects for silent films. The largest pipe is 33’ tall and it requires 4 giant turbines to provide enough air for the pipes. The organ and the organist are raised out of the floor and then plays for about 45 minutes doing favorites and requests. Various sound effects and instruments are also played from the organ keyboard. Instruments range from xylophones, drums, piano, and brass. The 4 organists who play there are great musicians and who put together their sets on the fly. We sat through 2 sets as we ate and relaxed.

Friday morning we got up and went golfing on the sand green course next to the park appropriately called Sandy Greens Golf Course. The fairways are bare desert without grass and the ball bounces every which way if it hits a stone or pebble on the way to the green. The ball is teed up for every shot on a rubber tee like those used in the mats at the driving range. The “greens” are compacted sand and are dragged with a carpet after each group to keep them smooth. You can see bird tracks along with our tracks from being on the green. Golfing on the desert course requires a different set of skills especially around the green.

After golfing we headed to the local flee market to look for bargains. The flea market consists of 4 aisles that are each about ½ mile in length. The whole market is under a roof to protect the vendors and shoppers from the sun and rain. The variety of merchandise ranges from cheap knock-offs to fine handicrafts. The aisles are wide and it is easy to get around. It opens early in the morning and starts to get quiet shortly after noon as the heat drives people home.





In the afternoon, we drove up to Tortilla Flat, a small town along the Apache Trail on the way to Roosevelt Dam. It has a restaurant, gift shop and ice cream parlor with some very good prickly pear ice cream. It has been a tradition to sign and leave dollar bills which are then stapled on the walls. They have estimated they have over $80,000 stapled to the walls. The place burned down in 1987 and all the money stapled to the walls was lost too. We passed Canyon Lake on the way to Tortilla Flat and it was crowded with boats and swimmers. We all felt it would be quite a trek to trailer your boat in and out of the lake going back and forth on the narrow, winding road.

On the way home, we went to dinner at the Mining Camp Restaurant. It is a restaurant at the base of the Superstition Mountains built in 1961. They serve all you can eat ribs, chicken and ham family style (large serving platters from which you dish your own helpings). All the place settings are tin and laid out on large wooden picnic tables as you walk into the mess hall. The food was terrific, and we were stuffed by the end of the evening. Usually, it is very crowded, but since it was Good Friday and the menu only includes meat, it was not busy.

We had Easter dinner on Saturday at LeAnn’s mom’s along with LeAnn’s nieces Beth and Laura, who live down here now. We were glad they were able to come over for a visit and dinner. We cooked ham on the grill and ate outside, which is a treat for us Minnesotan’s at Easter time. We started to wind down and get packed up and ready to go as we had an overnight flight back to Minnesota leaving at midnight.