Spring Break Day 1 Video

There's something new we learned about having a GoPro over vacation: While the half-hour long video of us driving may have seemed cool at the time, it ends up to be a pain to upload, edit, and store. And before you know it, you've uploaded 10 days of footage and there's no room left on your computer! This has put us into action: operation "make all the movies fast so that my computer will run normally again!" So here you go, Day 1 of our adventure summed up into less than 2 minutes of video footage. Enjoy!

By the way, I completely stand by my decision to use the clown car song. No offense Ghillie.

Gorgeous Gorges Trip, Day 1

Spring Break 2015, Day 1!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Driving from Tucson, AZ to Kanab, UT

We are back from our Spring Break vacation and I'm so excited to share about all our adventures! I'm pretty sure we started planning this vacation right after last year's spring break. After doing a lot of research, asking friends for advice, deciding what interested us the most, planning a very detailed itinerary, and the hardest part - waiting for the day to finally come! - we were ready to go!

This year's theme was "Gorgeous Gorges," and the destination was all 5 National Parks in Southern Utah! With limited time left in the great Southwest region, this was just something we knew we needed to do. Our goal was to visit all 5 and do a big hike, a scenic drive; anything to make us feel like we experienced it to the fullest in a day or two. 

Obviously, they are all large parks and there was no way we could enjoy every part of them in one week. If we ever do get a chance to go back, we have some ideas of different things to do. Most importantly, we are satisfied with what we were able to do and all that we got to experience over the past week. 

With that, let's begin: the story of our spring break!

Break came a day early, thanks to Curtis not having classes on Friday. We loaded up the car and took Charlotte to her home for the week. (We used Kennel Nirvana in Northwest Tucson, and now can highly recommend them - I was so thankful to find a place where Charlotte wouldn't be cooped up all day in a kennel. At Kennel Nirvana, she got to spend the majority of the day playing outside and socializing with other animals and people, which is perfect for my little social butterfly!) And then we were off!

We made it through traffic in Phoenix and rewarded ourselves with In-N-Out. When thinking about what I'll miss most about living in the Southwest, In-N-Out is in the top 5 of the list. Sigh...

We drove North on the 17, but then took a detour through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon on highway 89. All for the sake of highlighting new roads on our atlas...yes, we have a problem. 

We went to Sedona last November and loved hiking with the gorgeous red rocks and fall colors. However, as it turns out, it's quite busy in the spring with people who drive very slow. In the above picture, you can see that the limit is 45, but we were definitely going 25 at this point. It's not like there are scenic view areas every mile where you can pull off and enjoy the beauty without interfering with traffic...

We were using our GoPro through a lot of this drive, so you can look forward to enjoying the beauty of highway 89!

After driving up Oak Creek Canyon, we stopped at a scenic view to enjoy the beauty. This was only the first of many "Gorgeous Gorges" to be seen on vacation!

Oh yeah, we were also here for a letterbox...but unfortunately, the box was placed around a tree, and a rock climber happened to be attached to that exact tree! We decided to not wait around for him to finish his climb, and continued on to Flagstaff.

Taken with the GoPro

We LOVED getting to see the snow capped San Francisco Mountains! While we really enjoyed all the hikes we did over this trip, another common sight was having snow capped mountains somewhere  on the horizon, and sometimes those mountains would be the highlight. We'd start dreaming about hiking those mountains...but then I'd think about how cold that would actually be, and I was perfectly content with where we were. ;)

After driving through Flagstaff, we got back on highway 89, and then alternate 89, through the Marble Canyon in Glen Canyon NRA & the Navajo Reservation. Another very scenic drive...and another long road to highlight on our atlas! Maybe when we move away from AZ I'll post a picture of our very highlighted Arizona map. ;)

Those purplish cliffs in the distance are on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon! While this part of the Grand Canyon may not be the most impressive, it's still a cool feeling to be so close to it and know how huge this canyon is.

We stopped at the scenic view on the South Rim to take pictures and walk across the Navajo Bridge. In the above picture, the bridge on the left is the highway, and the one on the right is for pedestrians. 

Our first sighting of the Colorado River for this vacation!

Our shadows on the South Rim as we crossed the bridge

That black dot is a California Condor! This was the best picture I could get of him.

Let the vacation selfies commence!

We walked from the South Rim to the North Rim, then back again...on the Navajo Bridge that is!

After driving across the bridge, we enjoyed seeing the Vermillion Cliffs as the sun was setting. It's fun to think about all the different views we'd seen as we drove across the state - Arizona is such a beautifully diverse state, and the scenic drives never disappoint!

Yet another scenic view!

Soon after that scenic view, we entered this forest...and there was snow!

We wanted to try to get some letterboxes for day 1, so we stopped somewhere around Jacob's Lake, AZ for a short hike. As it turns out, we may not have been prepared for this attempt...

I gave up long before Curtis did. We really don't have much experience in boxing in the snow, so we had to give this one up for today. Maybe next time...

We reached the crest of this hill looking down at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument at just the right time. With the sun setting, the colors were gorgeous and we were able to make out all the "steps" to the staircase.

One last scenic view stop for today!

And one last selfie. ;)

After that, we finished up the last leg of our drive through Fredonia, AZ, across the Utah border and into Kanab, UT. It was a great first day of vacation, and the best part was that this would be the longest drive we would have for the entire trip!

Day 1 Wrap Up: Drove 460 miles. Highlight: Crossing the Navajo Bridge.

Sedona

Sedona - home of the beautiful red rocks in Arizona. Even if you've never heard of it, you've probably seen pictures of the quintessential red rock formations. I remember hearing about it for the first time from a teacher at my massage school, as she spoke about her travels there and the beauty and serenity all around. While Curtis and I have traveled all around Arizona together, we had never even driven through Sedona before this weekend, though I would always put it on the top of the list of places to visit while we are in Arizona.

When my mom started planning her vacation to come see us, we immediately thought of taking her to Sedona. While Tucson's mountains have their own distinct beauty, we wanted to show off more of Arizona and still have a new adventure ourselves. We knew that it didn't matter how long or short, easy or hard a trail was, we would definitely have great views that you can't find anywhere else. Also, my mom was coming down for 6 days - that meant we could still show her around our home, and fit in a little weekend adventure!

The highway to Sedona

We drove up on a Friday afternoon, all piled into Yeti. I found a hotel called Beaver Creek Inn in Lake Montezuma, AZ, which is about a half hour away from Sedona itself. It ended up being a great find - off of the I-17, away from the tourists in a small quiet town, inexpensive, and very neat and cozy. Oh, and dog friendly too! Even Charlie approved. :)

Montezuma Well at 8:15am

On Friday night, we enjoyed dinner at the Vintage Grill. We chose it because it was likely the only spot open in town, but it turned out to be delicious - especially the bread basket. :) The next morning, we went up the road a bit to visit the Montezuma Well. It was early in the morning and chilly, but such a beautiful, peaceful spot. When we started the short loop trail, there was no one else around, but by the time we returned to the parking lot several more people had arrived. 

My beautiful mother and I!

We loved the reflections in the water, the morning sun highlighting some areas, and the small pops of fall colors around the well - just beautiful!

Charlie couldn't even look away from the well for a picture! ;)

Down by the side of the Well

Charlie leads the way!

This weekend, we were thankful for dog friendly trails and a dog who loves adventures. Charlie was thankful for completely new smells to follow and many new people to love. This was her first long road trip and vacation, and she did so well with it!

Cliff dwellings

View at the Visitor's Center

After visiting the well, we continued on the highway to Sedona. Almost right after driving West of I-17, the red rocks started appearing! We stopped at the visitor's center and learned about the best trails to do that day. Charlie gladly welcomed all the other tourists to the building, and got many belly rubs in return. :)

The sun shining on the Courthouse Butte

Bell Rock on the left, Courthouse Butte on the right.

Looking back at the parking lot full of selfie-takers!

We started with hiking about 2 miles on a loop trail that takes you up close to Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. The parking lot was filled with tourists and selfie-takers, but once we started on the  actual trail, it was a mostly quiet walk. While you can see the rocks and mountains from the parking lot, getting the up-close perspective and walking through the red dirt is so worth it. Take a hike, people! ;)

As the day progressed, Charlie's fur turned more and more into the color of the red dirt. 

Panorama with Bell Rock in the spotlight

Family picture in front of Bell Rock!

The 3 girls :)

We hiked up closer to Bell Rock, then followed the trail along the side of Courthouse Butte before taking another trail back to the parking lot. It was all mostly flat and a very easy and enjoyable hike. There were some areas in the trail where the red dirt was more sandy, and whenever Charlie came to it she would take off running through it - I think she liked the way the sand felt when she dashed through it. It was adorable!

We were probably out here enjoying the hike for almost 2 hours. After this, we decided the lunch cookies we had with us were enough to tide us over, so we continued driving through until we were on the Northwest side of Sedona, and ready to take on another hike. 

Highway 89, heading West into Sedona

Beginning Briggs Mesa trail

From 89A we took Jordan Road to a parking lot where there are several trailheads. We decided to go up the Briggs Mesa trail and come back down Soldier Pass Trail, making a 5 mile loop. This parking lot was also full, but the hike was still quiet and very pleasant. 

For the first mile or so, the trail was mostly flat and we walked along the trail, up and down through washes. The trail then started ascending over the next mile to the Mesa. Having Charlie provided us with many opportunities to stop and say hello to other hikers. Besides being her poky little self, she really did great with the whole hike and walked most of the way.

The beginning of the trail had us walking through the "forest," with views of the other  rocks  peeking through the trees.

I love how the green trees contrasted with the red rocks!

It was cloudy, but we enjoyed seeing the sun highlight different parts of the mountains around us.

We made it to the Mesa! The views got better and better as we got higher, and the steeper hiking at the end paid off with a great look at Sedona from up above.

All of us - including Charlie - enjoyed some peanut butter cookies before moving on. We walked across the Mesa to the other side and began our descent. 

Seven Sacred Pools

For part of the way down, we walked along a forest road until we came to 7 Pools. I didn't get a great picture, but I would assume that it looks pretty impressive during monsoon season. There were several places where I can imagine have cool waterfalls throughout the summer, but this wasn't the season for that! There were lots of people around that area, but once we started on Soldier Pass Trail back to the parking lot we were the only ones out there.

Charlie - who is as red as Sedona's dirt and has a belly full of cookies!

Another impressive sight along the way was Devil's Kitchen. It's a sinkhole, and you can walk up to the edge and see the ground that caved in.

Devil's Kitchen

The Sphinx Rock Formation

Pretty sure we tried to get Charlie in on this one, but she was just done with pictures. :)

We didn't end up doing anything in the main area of Sedona itself. It's very artsy and would be fun to walk through, but Curtis and I much prefer being in nature than around other tourists. However, at the end of our hike, it was around 4:30 and we still hadn't had a real meal for the day. We hadn't researched places to eat in Sedona, but knew our options would be limited with Charlie. We ended up driving to Cottonwood and eating at a Sonic. We called it a day and went back to the hotel to relax.

Sycamore trees

The next morning, we packed up and left early, but stopped to see Montezuma Castle before driving home. Curtis and I had visited last June, but it's such a interesting and fun stop along I-17 that it was worth showing my mom. We also enjoyed seeing the colorful Sycamores all around the area - it was much warmer last time we were there!

Montezuma Castle

And that was our weekend adventure! Check back later to see what else my mom and I did together over the week. :)