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The Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Santa Fe - whew!

The Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Santa Fe - whew!

Old Feb 25th, 2015, 02:40 PM
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The Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Santa Fe - whew!

During February this year, I have been one busy girl, entertaining visitors from London at the Grand Canyon and Sedona, and visiting Santa Fe with family and friends. Rather than a detailed trip report, I thought I would share some basic thoughts and recommendations and share our experiences.

First, Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon

We drove from the L.A. area via hwy 40 to Flagstaff – a long drive and I think also a boring one. However, my visitors from London, J & J, were fascinated by the desert scenery. Thank goodness because it is one long drive.

I decided to stay in Flagstaff because of the greater variety of food and lodging, and it turned out to be a good choice for us. We stayed in old town Flagstaff at the Hotel Monte Vista http://www.hotelmontevista.com/

This hotel is very reasonably priced but it is old. For me, that is appealing, but I realize it may not be for everyone. I had a double room by myself, ($65.00/night), which meant a very small room with a double bed. Fine for one person, but it would be crowded for two. Bathroom had a shower only. I had booked a queen room for J & J ($75.00/night) but they were upgraded to a king, which was much larger, and they were very pleased. Their bathroom had a bathtub/shower. As I said, the old-time ambiance appealed to us but some carpets were quite threadbare. However, it was clean and perfectly located in the middle of old town Flagstaff. It also has a beautiful old bar.

Our first night, the receptionist recommended a restaurant a few doors from the hotel, Criollo Latin Kitchen http://criollolatinkitchen.com/ It was superb – locally sourced meats, veg and wine. We had the Criollo Tamal appetizer and J and I had the pork belly tacos entrée. The other J had the pan roasted chicken breast. Our wine was a red from Chateau Tumbleweed in Sedona and was very good. Nice, relaxed dining, excellent food and wine – the wine was so good in fact that we walked a block to a wine tasting room to purchase a bottle. I wish I could tell you the name of the tasting room but I have forgotten it. But it is right downtown, a block away from the hotel.

The next morning, we rose early for our drive to the Grand Canyon. Hotel Monte Vista does not have a restaurant but does have a coffee bar, so we got large lattes and bagels and hit the road. It was a bit over an hour drive to the GC.

One of the J’s had told me that his life dream was to see the Grand Canyon, and he was not disappointed – quite the opposite. We spent the entire day, taking the tram from one viewpoint to another, taking the time to really see the Canyon – and it was spectacular! The weather was cool but clear – perfect for February.

One of the tram drivers said that the average GC visit lasts 45 minutes. What a shame!
He also gave us this description of a mule ride to the bottom of the canyon: Go into a sauna and turn the temperature to 120 degrees. Then put a heating pad between your legs and set it to 100 degrees. Then have your friend kick you in the butt for 4 hours and that’s what a mule ride to the bottom of the canyon is like.

El Tovar was undergoing extensive renovations so we lunched at the Bright Angel lodge restaurant. Good food, but they had the heat turned up way too high for two post-menopausal women.

Winter schedule for the tram is quite limited – info is here: http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/directions.htm I had not been there since 1972, so I was as amazed as J & J were.

Back in Flagstaff, we had dinner at Diablo Burger – again at the recommendation of the hotel receptionist. It was a small, funky kind of burger bar with excellent burgers – again locally sourced beef.

We all wished we had more time to explore Flagstaff, but we would be on our way to Sedona the next morning.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 03:31 PM
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The grand Canyon never fails to amaze me. Thanks for the report.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 08:29 PM
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Yes, emalloy, it really defies description, which is why I didn't say a lot about it.

Suffice to say, we were in awe the entire day.

I hope to continue this trip report tomorrow.
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Old Feb 26th, 2015, 06:13 AM
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Obviously the tram driver has never ridden the mules to Phantom Ranch.
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