March 11, 2018
Things to do in Sedona
Hello Fellow Travelers:
We are officially inside a month until our trip to Sedona. It is probably time to start thinking a little bit about what we want to do while we are there. The good news is that there is no end of stuff to keep us busy…plus we can just kick back and relax as well.
Lynn and I have been to Sedona several times, so we know a little bit about the area, but there are still trails we have not hiked and places we have not visited in the area. Our last trip was Thanksgiving 2016 and prior to that we were there in October 2015 for our annual meet-up with friends we met through Trip Advisor then in October 2013 as part of a road-trip through Utah and Arizona (also part of a Trip Advisor meet-up). During those trips we focused on hiking but also did a few other activities, like a ducky (inflatable kayak) trip down the Verde River and a hot air balloon ride. In case you are interested, here are the links to the travel journals I compiled for each of these trips. If you look through these you might get some ideas of places that you will want to see and things to do while we are in Red Rock Country:
November 2016 - http://ohiohickpresents.weebly.com/tr---sedona-2016.html
October 2015 - http://ohiohickpresents.weebly.com/tr---sedona-2015.html
October 2013 - http://ohiohickpresents.weebly.com/tr---arizona-2013.html
Since there are so many options for things to see and do in Sedona, my suggestion is that we play this sort of loose rather than try to come up with a tight schedule of what we want to do each day. Besides, with 8 folks we'll probably not always want to do the same thing on any given day. No worries there; we can split up into smaller groups as needed. I'm sure there will be times when all of us will pile into the vehicles and do things together, but other times the guys might go one direction and the gals another (that will certainly happen when we play golf), or two couples might go one direction and the other two will go somewhere else…you get the idea. We'll figure it out as we go. What the Trip Advisor group does is to come up with a list of possible activities then each evening during or after dinner we'll have a skull session to finalize plans for the following day; who is going where, what time are we leaving, where will be meet, who is driving, etc. That process works very well particularly considering that the group is 25 folks and we're not all staying in the same place. I think that will work for us as well (and since we're staying right next door to each other, it will be even easier to make adjustments on the fly).
So back to things to do. Here's a starting list:
Plenty of things to do. Way more than we'll be able to do in a week! The best advice is come up with the 2 or 3 things that you are really interested then see what the rest of the gang is interested in as well. But also remember that to have some time to chill each day; time to relax on the back patio of the houses. This is vacation after all.
Speaking of the houses, I do not have the access information yet. I'll get that in the next week or so. Once I have it, I will forward the information to all y'all.
BTW, Lynn and I have some friends in Sedona who might join us an excursion or two or for dinner. Nice folks; they're crazy like us.
Lynn and I are flying into Phoenix on Friday and staying near the airport. We'll probably try to have lunch with Swan on Saturday before driving up to Sedona. Then we'll hit a beer distributer in Phoenix (or maybe drive up to Flagstaff and hit the craft beer place we found last year) to get some good beer for the week (there are some decent breweries in Sedona as well…something to keep in mind).
OK, share this with the women folk and start thinking of the things that y'all want to do.
See you in Sedona!
Allen
Things to do in Sedona
Hello Fellow Travelers:
We are officially inside a month until our trip to Sedona. It is probably time to start thinking a little bit about what we want to do while we are there. The good news is that there is no end of stuff to keep us busy…plus we can just kick back and relax as well.
Lynn and I have been to Sedona several times, so we know a little bit about the area, but there are still trails we have not hiked and places we have not visited in the area. Our last trip was Thanksgiving 2016 and prior to that we were there in October 2015 for our annual meet-up with friends we met through Trip Advisor then in October 2013 as part of a road-trip through Utah and Arizona (also part of a Trip Advisor meet-up). During those trips we focused on hiking but also did a few other activities, like a ducky (inflatable kayak) trip down the Verde River and a hot air balloon ride. In case you are interested, here are the links to the travel journals I compiled for each of these trips. If you look through these you might get some ideas of places that you will want to see and things to do while we are in Red Rock Country:
November 2016 - http://ohiohickpresents.weebly.com/tr---sedona-2016.html
October 2015 - http://ohiohickpresents.weebly.com/tr---sedona-2015.html
October 2013 - http://ohiohickpresents.weebly.com/tr---arizona-2013.html
Since there are so many options for things to see and do in Sedona, my suggestion is that we play this sort of loose rather than try to come up with a tight schedule of what we want to do each day. Besides, with 8 folks we'll probably not always want to do the same thing on any given day. No worries there; we can split up into smaller groups as needed. I'm sure there will be times when all of us will pile into the vehicles and do things together, but other times the guys might go one direction and the gals another (that will certainly happen when we play golf), or two couples might go one direction and the other two will go somewhere else…you get the idea. We'll figure it out as we go. What the Trip Advisor group does is to come up with a list of possible activities then each evening during or after dinner we'll have a skull session to finalize plans for the following day; who is going where, what time are we leaving, where will be meet, who is driving, etc. That process works very well particularly considering that the group is 25 folks and we're not all staying in the same place. I think that will work for us as well (and since we're staying right next door to each other, it will be even easier to make adjustments on the fly).
So back to things to do. Here's a starting list:
- Golf - Hey, this was originally a golf trip, so we'll have to play at least a couple times. The Golf Resort of Sedona (the course we usually play) and Oak Creek Country Club (open to the public) are both very close to where we are staying. I figure we can play both courses. I'm thinking morning tee-times then we can catch up with the women in the afternoon. Who knows, we might also squeezed in 9 holes a twilight one day. Just an FYI, I'm not going to drag my clubs along on the trip; I'll just rent clubs wherever we play.
- Jerome - This is a cool little town with an interesting history that is now sort of a funky art community. Definitely worth spending a day there. The museum is interesting and there are several cool shops and some good places to eat.
- Cottonwood - another little town close to Sedona (we'll drive through on the way to Jerome). It is an old Route 66 town. Lynn and I have driven trough but never spent any time in Cottonwood, so I have no idea what all there is to see and do.
- Montezuma Castle National Monument - Native American cliff dwelling site. Sort of cool place. No access to the ruins, however, you just get to see them from a distance.
- Tuzigoot National Monument - Another Native American community ruin site. We have not been here yet, Lynn and I will probably visit here just to check it off the list.
- Vistas - there are many great places to view the red rocks of Sedona; sunrise and sunset are prime times but the rocks are beautiful any time. Airport Mesa, Red Rock Crossing and the view points along route 179 between Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek (where we are staying) are some of the best.
- Tours - there are a lot of options for tours. Jeep tours out in the desert (Lynn and I did one of these years ago; fun, and you see a lot but I found it very jarring on my back, so I probably won't try that again). The hot air balloon ride was really great, but expensive and it requires a very early start. There are star gazing events (but then we can always just step out in the back yard of the rental houses and look up to see the stars!).
- Hiking - too many options to list! If you look at the my travel journals you will see a good cross section of the hiking options, from short and simple, to long and difficult…basically something for everyone. I'm up for any hike that you all might want to try. One that I would be interested in, if anyone else wants to go, is the Hiline-Baldwin trial, which is a point-to-point hike, so we would drop cars at the end point then drive back to trailhead to start the hike.
- Dining - There are so many great places to eat in and around Sedona. Harry's Hideaway is a favorite. Again, too many to list. I think we'll have grills at the rental houses, in case we want to try a cook out one night. And we know that Miley's is a great choice for breakfast.
- Uptown Sedona - this is where the shops are that the ladies might want to hit. I usually like people watching here.
Plenty of things to do. Way more than we'll be able to do in a week! The best advice is come up with the 2 or 3 things that you are really interested then see what the rest of the gang is interested in as well. But also remember that to have some time to chill each day; time to relax on the back patio of the houses. This is vacation after all.
Speaking of the houses, I do not have the access information yet. I'll get that in the next week or so. Once I have it, I will forward the information to all y'all.
BTW, Lynn and I have some friends in Sedona who might join us an excursion or two or for dinner. Nice folks; they're crazy like us.
Lynn and I are flying into Phoenix on Friday and staying near the airport. We'll probably try to have lunch with Swan on Saturday before driving up to Sedona. Then we'll hit a beer distributer in Phoenix (or maybe drive up to Flagstaff and hit the craft beer place we found last year) to get some good beer for the week (there are some decent breweries in Sedona as well…something to keep in mind).
OK, share this with the women folk and start thinking of the things that y'all want to do.
See you in Sedona!
Allen