Arizona’s Finest – Sedona & the Grand Canyon

After leaving Petrified Forest, we continued west on Interstate 40 until we arrived in Flagstaff. We’ll be staying in Flagstaff for two nights!

We all enjoy keeping track of how many different state license plates we see while on these road trips. We’re going one week at a time and then starting fresh. Here’s how we did on the 1st week of this trip. The states that show the license plate are the ones we found!

We were excited for the boys to see the amazing scenery on the way to Sedona. It did not disappoint!!

We had a few nervous moments when we saw signs that the road to Sedona was closed. Thankfully it was just a one lane closure.

We spent time walking the streets and visiting some of the shops. The views of the red rocks around town are breathtaking!

Shannon and I took a picture from the same spot we did during our last visit here 14 years ago. See if you can figure out which picture is older. Haha!!

After grabbing a bite to eat at Chipotle, we made the drive north back to Flagstaff for the night. Those views get you every time!

The Grand Canyon awaits tomorrow!

Grand Canyon National Park

I had looked at the weather for our day at the Grand Canyon and immediately got concerned. The forecast was calling for 100-degree temperatures. That would make for a miserable day. However, I was relieved to find out the 100-degree temperatures were for the canyon floor. Temperatures at the south rim were supposed to be in the low 80’s.

We entered the park through the eastern entrance via Desert View Drive, as we had heard it was not as crowded. We also arrived a little before 9am, and at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves!

Watching the boys’ reaction to seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time was something Shannon and I were super excited about! They were blown away and their reactions were priceless!!

All three boys said the Grand Canyon was way bigger than they were thinking it was going to be!

We stopped at the majority of the viewpoints along Desert View Drive including Lipan Point, Moran Point, Grandview Point, & Yaki Point. Each stop provided a unique view of the canyon!

We visited the gift shops and ate lunch at the Maswik Food Court.

After lunch, we all wanted to see the Grand Canyon one last time, so we walked to Mather Point! We saw a few elk while driving around the park, but our closest encounter with one was walking to Mather Point.

We spent about 6 and a half hours at the park and enjoyed every minute of it!!!

We chose a different route back to Flagstaff and we were glad we did. It afforded us up-close views of Humphreys Peak. Standing at 12,637 feet, it is the tallest mountain in Arizona!

Monument Valley, Utah – Here We Come!!