Sedona and the Grand Canyon

I finally made it to the Grand Canyon! But first a day in Sedona, AZ. Sedona is about a two hour drive from Phoenix depending on where you’re coming from, and definitely worth a day or more. Famous for the beautiful red rock formations and the vortexes, it’s changed a lot since I lived there for 6 months 30 years ago, especially in terms of traffic. The Grand Canyon is about a 4 hour drive from Phoenix so the plan was to drive to Sedona and do a little hiking, and then drive up through Oak Creek Canyon and stay the night in Flagstaff. Get up and make the little over an hour drive to the Grand Canyon and then back to Phoenix. This worked perfectly for us! My brother Dave had never been to Sedona and he loved it. He’s already making plans to come back with his wife and spend a few days exploring more. Next time I’m wearing my hiking boots and bringing poles!

Hiking Cathedral Rock, just one of the many options in Sedona.

We grabbed lunch at a good pizza place and then headed through town to Oak Creek Canyon. This is a beautiful road through the canyon that climbs an elevation with lots of switchbacks to about 6700 feet. My ears were popping! Starts in Sedona and ends in Flagstaff. There are a couple of places to pull over along the way and enjoy the view and the best one is right at the top.

The view from the top of Oak Creek Canyon.

Flagstaff is a college town. Northern Arizona University - the Lumberjacks is there. We didn’t get to explore the town other then getting a bite to eat, but it seemed like a fun place. The downtown was cute and there were quite a few local breweries. Our main focus was getting a decent nights sleep and heading out fairly early to get to Grand Canyon. I was so excited to finally get to see it, and it definitely did not disappoint. It was chilly but a beautiful sunny day. I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as number of people but we were happy to find it wasn’t crowded at all. We had no trouble parking at any of the main points we stopped at for views. Only the South Rim is open during the winter so that made where we were heading easy - less to choose from!

My fun traveling companions - brother Dave and niece Angela!

I really don’t have the words to describe how breathtaking the Grand Canyon is. We went to at least 10 different vantage points and while you’re seeing the same basic site, it looks different from every angle. The shadows from the clouds, the angles of the rocks, the view of the Colorado River cutting through - it makes every view different.

We saw the elk! There are signs warning you and sure enough they just started crossing the road. Bottom right is as close as I could get of the Colorado River.

My favorite view - Powell Point. Named after Major John Wesley Powell, leader of the first documented expedition through the Grand Canyon via the river.

Maybe some day I will return in warmer weather and hike down into the canyon. For now I was thrilled just to be able to see it. Not a lot of food to write about - until today! Back in Phoenix I introduced my brother Dave to a Chicago favorite that due to the large amount of Chicagoans that have relocated here has expanded to lots of locations - Portillo’s Italian Beef sandwiches!

Beef with sweet peppers - Yumm! Dave loved it! Said he might go back tomorrow😊

Thanks for coming along - check back soon!