Sedona, Arizona (& Beyond)

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Pink Jeep Tours

From all my research, you can’t say you’ve been to Sedona unless you’ve taken a Pink Jeep Tour with the original company that started it all in the 1950’s. One of the big selling points for me were their numerous high reviews (I am a CrAzY researcher!) and the fact that they are the only tour group that is allowed on some protected land. The Broken Arrow tour is an exciting trail winds through Coconino National Forest. Here, a panorama of towering rock spires and unique geological formations can be explored. I simply couldn’t miss this experience and felt like it would be a great “first look” for the family of all that Sedona had to offer us. Check out these smiling faces and let me know if you think I was right?! The views and experience were amazing!

Pink Jeep has a small office on the main stip.
I’d say the view from their office is better than mine…
They look cute…too bad they are so SCARY! Pink ones get a thumbs up though!
Already loving his outdoor adventure!
Even Teen couldn’t help but smile.
Anytime I hear, “Mom! Get my picture!” I swing into action!
Yes! I am here!
Wait for this set up…We really had NO idea what he was doing posing Lil Miss.
Now he told her to smile
We were all enthralled with this because it really does look like she’s hanging off the side of a cliff!
Teen’s is even better because he had awkward feet that made it more realistic!
The view from the top!
No kidding, these dots and some other markings are physical evidence of the fault lines beneath. Very cool discussion from our guide! You can see the whole fam is into it!
Behind us is the tour’s grand finale: The Road of No Return.
What a jeep can do is INSANE. (qualified driver’s only, please!)
Pink Jeep was a MUST do and a GREAT way to start our Sedona adventure!

Hiking

One of the reasons we decided to head west was to explore the landscape that is so unique to the area. The best way to do that is EXPLORE. Sedona is known for it’s hiking, so we enjoyed a few! Each brought a new adventure. First up: Cathedral Rock!

We made it…eventually!
Water shoes took the place of our tennis shoes pretty quickly on this hike!
We really could have made this an all-day adventure. ProTip: Wear Swimwear under your hiking clothes and bring water shoes! We were so grateful to have known that ahead of time and had such a fun time!

Antelope Canyon

NEVER have I EVER!!! After a multitude of research in this area, we decided to hit up a true wonder a short drive away and right in the heart of Navajo Nation, Antelope Canyon. It. blew. Us. Away!!! Everyone in our family agrees that THIS was the highlight of our vacation. You have your choice of upper or lower canyon (reservations REQUIRED) and most tours are done in groups of 10-20. We opted for the private tour with just our family and it was 110% worth every penny. I can’t imagine having been going through that wonder like a herd of cattle. Instead our amazing guide, Po, not only had one on one time with just the four of us to share his knowledge of the canyon, but also shared so much of his culture with us. We left knowing Navajo then and Navajo now. Take that history books! He also blessed us with some iPhone camera tricks to capture some of the most amazing photographs we’ve ever taken.

This crack in the ground is where we came up out of the canyon!
So the steps in which they speak, are more ladders. I was really afraid of this with my vertigo, however it was VERY safe and having someone both in front of and behind me was VERY helpful. I can’t imagine having missed this! Just look at this marvel!
Some of the neat iPone tricks Dr. D learned. Impressive, yes?
Some of the fun comes from your imagination, using light and shadows to experience the wonder. Here is Little Miss…fire or feather? You decide!
The layers upon layers blending with the light and shadows was something to behold around every bend.

When In Sedona BALLOON

I’m not certain what has me pushing my limits so much these last few years, but I have to say that going outside of my box has given me some of my BEST ADVENTURES yet! Case in point, hot air ballooning in Sedona.

Sadly we missed our first opportunity at the beginning of our vacation because the wind was not cooperating and however much it was a pain to have everyone up and dressed before getting that call, I was grateful for the safety precautions. Nobody needs to smack into a red rock at 3:30am. So round 2 commenced and it was worth the wait. At 3:30am (again), we met the crew whom took us to the ballooning site, right behind where we were staying. It was pretty otherworldly to watch these giant balloons fill and then to hop in not knowing what we would experience.

Magic. Magic is what we experienced. I had NO IDEA that it would be SO CALM. It was nothing like an airplane or helicopter. I never felt a bump or a breeze carry us along, nothing. It was simply peace. No other word to describe it.

And the beauty of watching the sun rise above the red rocks? It was simply perfect.

Happy exhaustion in these eyes.
Little Miss was determined to “wear a rainbow” while in the sky. Little does she know, she’s ALWAYS our rainbow.
Our landing site was other worldly.
There is a beautiful tradition our ballooners have. They share a ballooning poem with their guests while drinking Mimosa’s or juices (real glassware and all!) and eating a small breakfast of pastries and fruit. It was a very nice followup to a beautiful morning.

Devil’s Bridge

After our Hot Air Balloon ride, we had some cool morning hours left, so we decided to get in a “quick” hike. Since I showed him some photos, Dr. D. had been dreaming of visiting one spot in particular. Who am I to say no to that man? All I can say is that the Devil’s Bridge hike is aptly named. Why on earth didn’t anyone warn me that “hike” meant scaling a mountain?! (Yes, I’m aware that technically these are “Red Rocks” and not classified as mountains, but tomato, tomato.)

You will see from the photos that it started out rather well with some beautiful scenery. Truly, we couldn’t have found a more beautiful spot.

Little Miss of course was miserable even on flat land as heat and the outdoors in general don’t agree with her.

Little did I know it would soon be ME that was the complaining one. I scaled rocks people. Scaredy cat, bordering on vertigo me. The one thing I’m really working on is pushing my limits and showing my kids that it’s important to push through things that are frightening. So I did it. We really don’t need to discuss that I went back down on my backside. Yeah, impressive, I literally slid down on my behind. Wouldn’t that have been a great photo (or video) to share? Lordy.

He is seriously obsessed with this plant, the Century Plant! It blooms only once in it’s lifetime and will die right afterwards. They only live 25 years on average. The central stem can grow up to 20′ tall. It’s a pretty cool plant to obsess over.
Yep that’s Teen. He walked the foot wide path (no exaggeration) to get to the 4′ wide bridge and then (gasp) JUMPED. I have a video of it that I refuse to watch because no mother should live through that more than once.
Dr. D is a pro too. I may or may not be horribly jealous.
I know I scream FEAR here, but dang it, I did it!!

Slide Rock State Park

Is there anything more fun than jumping into water in the middle of nowhere? You and 1 million strangers whom are about to become some of your closest friends?! That’s Slide Rock State Park in a nutshell. With it’s cascading waterfalls and natural stream amidst the beautiful red rocks, this stop is a little slice of kid heaven.

Teen still loves to climb and spent the better part of the day doing so!
This one is to give you an idea of what the area looks like. It really is nature’s gift.
Little Miss swears she broke her bottom, but that it was FuN!

Dining Sedona Style

If there is one other note to be made about Sedona, it’s that the food and ambiance of it’s dining establishments is bar none fabulous! It’s artsy with a view. If any of y’all know me, you will know that I research dining almost as hard as I do the rest of the vacation. It really can “make” an experience. I think we did pretty well!

Creekside bruch.

Stay Tuned For Part 2: Grand Canyon Adventure

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Hi friends! I’m Erica, a travel obsessed, lover of reading, laughter, “Dining” and an enthusiast of adventures of any kind. I am so thrilled you stopped by my little blog to share life‘s little adventures with me!

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