Blogs from Sedona, Arizona, United States, North America - page 13

The next day, we took a tour of the red rock country, driving along the Oak creek trail and Desert canyon scenic loop. We didn't rent a jeep but there are plenty of rental jeeps available which would be essential to complete the Desert canyon trail via NF 698 north since it's an unpaved road. But there in also lies the beauty of renting a new Malibu for your road trip, you can drive it where and how you like, provided you have insurance ofcourse. It was fun for a while driving on gravel, but my fellow passengers grew acrimonious and better sense unfortunately prevailed. Sticking to paved roads we went south on I-17 taking an exit for the Montezuma well national monument. Montezuma castle, incorrectly believed to have been built by Montezuma, Aztec emperor, was ... read more

Today we started out having breakfast at the famous "Coffee Pot" Restaurant....I say it's famous because the parking lot is always overflowing with cars AND there are tons of autographed pictures from celebrities that have eaten there. Some of the celebrities include Elvis, Matt LaBlanc and Melissa Etheridge. There are 101 omelette varieties on the menu. Kim had a #3 (3 cheeses) and I had a #10 (ham, cheese, green peppers and onions). I wonder what Elvis ate? Hmmm....they DID have a peanut butter, jelly and banana omelette on the menu....coincidence???? We then drove about 25-30 miles to Jerome, AZ which is a national historic landmark....a very famous "ghost town". It was known for it's copper mining operations and it's said that over 1 billion dollars of ore was mined in just over 70 years. The ... read more

Today Kim and I drove from Las Vegas, NV to Sedona, AZ to begin our 2007 Fall vacation. As we drove over Hoover Dam we noticed that the Hoover Dam bypass has made some progress. The new route will be quite a distance above the Hoover Dam as you can see by the pictures Kim took as we drove over Hoover Dam. The drive from Las Vegas to Flagstaff was pretty uneventful. Not too much traffic and great weather. The route to Sedona (SR 89A) is a beautiful drive. Many pine trees, lots of grass, wildflowers and shady areas on the road. After living in Las Vegas so long....it was weird to see so much greenery, weeds and trees. As you descend into the beautiful canyon....the next thing you know....there are red rocks and mountains everywhere. ... read more

The drive to Flagstaff, AZ was relatively uneventful until signs for Meteor Crater caught my eye! Despite the fact that the crater was only 6 miles off the highway, it looked as if we were driving towards absolutely nothing for awhile and when we arrived, we were shocked by the number of tourists there! I mean…this crater is literally in the middle of nowhere! It was a little bizarre. Unfortunately our story ends here because we decided it wasn’t worth paying $15 each to see a huge hole in the ground! (That’s what we’re going to the Grand Canyon for right?!) However, we do know some fun facts about what we missed out on: 1) Meteor Crater is a saucer-shaped hole 4000 ft in diameter and 600 ft deep and 2) the destructive energy of ... read more

kevin's thoughts:We saw some beautiful views. In the Petrafied Forest we looked at rocks and minerals in logs. We're having a BLAST at the campground.We went fishin. But there was no fish.Next we're going Slide Rock Park. I hope we have fun.... read more