Arizona/Utah Trip Report - Part 1
Jun 3rd, 2007 | 06:34 AM
#1
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Arizona/Utah Trip Report - Part 1
First - THANK YOU to my fellow Fodorites who enabled me to plan a wonderful trip!!! Here are the details of our 10 day excursion which included the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley.
Day 1/Flew into Phoenix on a late evening nonstop from Nashville. This was the most empty Southwest Airlines flight I have been on in a long time. Only 26 passengers so everyone could have a row (plus some!) of their own if desired. Arrived at Phoenix around midnight. Picked up our rental car from Hertz. Got a great last minute rate on a midsize SUV. Ended up with a Toyota RAV4 with a sunroof. It was the perfect car for the trip. Checked into the airport Hampton around 2 a.m. Clean, decent breakfast.
Day 2/Phoenix to Sedona - Departed midmorning and stopped at Target to buy a cooler, case of water, gatorade etc. DH had always wanted to try an In and Out burger so we had lunch on the way out of town. Good burgers and fresh cut french fries. Very simple menu. The place was packed!
In Sedona we stayed at the Best Western Arroyo Roble with a town view room. Rooms were clean, nicely decorated and had pretty good sized. Nice property. We enjoyed sitting out back in lounge chairs that had a view of the red rocks. The hot tub was nice but not very convenient to the main hotel. You had to walk quite a way to the timeshare portion of the property and sign in to use it.
The town of Sedona itself reminded us of a mini-Gatlinburg with all the t-shirt shops and traffic. If we visit again, we will probably stay outside of town. Too busy.
Dinner was at the Cowboy Club. DH had a buffalo burger and I had the BBQ ribs. The burger and ribs were both good (especially the ribs in a plum BBQ sauce) but side items (fries, baked beans, coleslaw) were just fair.
Day 3/Sedona to Grand Canyon - Free breakfast at Best Western – Danish, yogurt, waffles, etc. The drive north out of Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon was beautiful. Stopped in Flagstaff along the way. Should have had lunch there. Instead lunch was a personal pan pizza for approx $8 at the Grand Canyon National Geographic visitors center. Bought our National Park pass there. The pass was $80, good for one year and is supposed to include all National Parks, recreation areas, etc. It paid for itself during the week and we can continue to use it til May 2008.
Arrived at the Grand Canyon early afternoon. We had booked an historic cabin at Bright Angel. Upon arrival were asked if we wanted to "upgrade" to Thunderbird Lodge. We weren't sure but after we discovered that our cabin was in the middle of the parking area we decided to go ahead and switch. Ended up in a rim side room at Thunderbird Lodge. The room was basic but clean and had a refrigerator and airconditioning.
After check-in, we walked a couple miles along the rim trail - awesome! It was pretty crowded near Bright Angel Lodge but once we passed the Bright Angel trailhead we only saw a couple other people the entire walk. DH headed a little way down the Bright Angel trailhead – just far enough to make him want to walk all the way to the bottom next time! Sunset along rim trail and the colors of the canyon were wonderful. Took more than my share of photos. What did we do before digital cameras???
Dinner was at Bright Angel Lodge dining room. This was the worst meal of the entire trip. DH had fajitas which looked scary (vegetables were barely cooked and the steak looked kind of gray?) but he said they were okay. I had the lasagna; it was terrible. It reminded me of over-microwaved lean cuisine and was barely warm when served.
Day 4/Grand Canyon to Zion – Left DH sleeping and watched sunrise from the rim. After we checked out, spent the morning stopping at every viewpoint on the way out of the park. At the Watchtower stop we stocked up on ice, etc. at the General Store. DH collects baseball caps and found the same Grand Canyon hat he almost bought at the Bright Angel gift shop for about 40% less in the General Store. Sold!
Left the beauty of the canyon and began our drive to Zion. To be continued… .......
Day 1/Flew into Phoenix on a late evening nonstop from Nashville. This was the most empty Southwest Airlines flight I have been on in a long time. Only 26 passengers so everyone could have a row (plus some!) of their own if desired. Arrived at Phoenix around midnight. Picked up our rental car from Hertz. Got a great last minute rate on a midsize SUV. Ended up with a Toyota RAV4 with a sunroof. It was the perfect car for the trip. Checked into the airport Hampton around 2 a.m. Clean, decent breakfast.
Day 2/Phoenix to Sedona - Departed midmorning and stopped at Target to buy a cooler, case of water, gatorade etc. DH had always wanted to try an In and Out burger so we had lunch on the way out of town. Good burgers and fresh cut french fries. Very simple menu. The place was packed!
In Sedona we stayed at the Best Western Arroyo Roble with a town view room. Rooms were clean, nicely decorated and had pretty good sized. Nice property. We enjoyed sitting out back in lounge chairs that had a view of the red rocks. The hot tub was nice but not very convenient to the main hotel. You had to walk quite a way to the timeshare portion of the property and sign in to use it.
The town of Sedona itself reminded us of a mini-Gatlinburg with all the t-shirt shops and traffic. If we visit again, we will probably stay outside of town. Too busy.
Dinner was at the Cowboy Club. DH had a buffalo burger and I had the BBQ ribs. The burger and ribs were both good (especially the ribs in a plum BBQ sauce) but side items (fries, baked beans, coleslaw) were just fair.
Day 3/Sedona to Grand Canyon - Free breakfast at Best Western – Danish, yogurt, waffles, etc. The drive north out of Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon was beautiful. Stopped in Flagstaff along the way. Should have had lunch there. Instead lunch was a personal pan pizza for approx $8 at the Grand Canyon National Geographic visitors center. Bought our National Park pass there. The pass was $80, good for one year and is supposed to include all National Parks, recreation areas, etc. It paid for itself during the week and we can continue to use it til May 2008.
Arrived at the Grand Canyon early afternoon. We had booked an historic cabin at Bright Angel. Upon arrival were asked if we wanted to "upgrade" to Thunderbird Lodge. We weren't sure but after we discovered that our cabin was in the middle of the parking area we decided to go ahead and switch. Ended up in a rim side room at Thunderbird Lodge. The room was basic but clean and had a refrigerator and airconditioning.
After check-in, we walked a couple miles along the rim trail - awesome! It was pretty crowded near Bright Angel Lodge but once we passed the Bright Angel trailhead we only saw a couple other people the entire walk. DH headed a little way down the Bright Angel trailhead – just far enough to make him want to walk all the way to the bottom next time! Sunset along rim trail and the colors of the canyon were wonderful. Took more than my share of photos. What did we do before digital cameras???
Dinner was at Bright Angel Lodge dining room. This was the worst meal of the entire trip. DH had fajitas which looked scary (vegetables were barely cooked and the steak looked kind of gray?) but he said they were okay. I had the lasagna; it was terrible. It reminded me of over-microwaved lean cuisine and was barely warm when served.
Day 4/Grand Canyon to Zion – Left DH sleeping and watched sunrise from the rim. After we checked out, spent the morning stopping at every viewpoint on the way out of the park. At the Watchtower stop we stocked up on ice, etc. at the General Store. DH collects baseball caps and found the same Grand Canyon hat he almost bought at the Bright Angel gift shop for about 40% less in the General Store. Sold!
Left the beauty of the canyon and began our drive to Zion. To be continued… .......
Jun 3rd, 2007 | 08:14 AM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
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Thanks for taking the time to write this report! For me, it will be a nice trip down memory lane (our family did a similar trip in 04).
Started laughing to myself after reading about your horrible meal at Bright Angel. Remember how bad it was (worst meal of our trip too). But the funny thing was that, following Fodorites advice, we went looking for the Arizona room. Somehow thought we could get to it from inside the lodge and ended up at the Bright Angel restaurant. Yuk. And lousy service. But we ate at the Arizona Room the following day (after hiking down some into the canyon) and had dinner at El Tovar so we made up for a slow start!
Will look forward to reading the rest of your report.
Started laughing to myself after reading about your horrible meal at Bright Angel. Remember how bad it was (worst meal of our trip too). But the funny thing was that, following Fodorites advice, we went looking for the Arizona room. Somehow thought we could get to it from inside the lodge and ended up at the Bright Angel restaurant. Yuk. And lousy service. But we ate at the Arizona Room the following day (after hiking down some into the canyon) and had dinner at El Tovar so we made up for a slow start!
Will look forward to reading the rest of your report.
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Jun 17th, 2007 | 06:10 AM
#9
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ARIZONA/UTAH - Part 2
Sorry it's taken so long to post the next installment. Thanks for the suggestion to include on same post.
Day 4 continued/Grand Canyon to Zion - Drove up 89 and took alternate route through the Vermillion Cliffs to the entrance to Zion. Stopped at Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon. Entrance on Highway 9 through the tunnel to Zion is magnificent. We were astounded by the beauty of Zion! My husband admitted later that he wondered why we were going to Zion but it ended up being his favorite of all the parks.
We arrived in Springdale and checked into the Desert Pearl. What an appropriate name! We loved the Pearl. We had a ground floor riverside room. The room was spacious and clean with a refrigerator, microwave, nice bathroom, large comfy couch and table and chairs. There was a small patio area with adirondack chairs overlooking the river. It's a beautiful property. The sparkling pool and jacuzzi had a view of the mountains. I could have stayed in the jacuzzi enjoying that view for days! The only complaint is that the floors are wood and if you are in a ground floor room you can hear your upstairs neighbors. Next time we would request an upstairs room.
We spent the late afternoon exploring Springdale shops and galleries. It's a lovely little town. Dinner was at Zion Pizza & Noodle. We ordered a BBQ Chicken pizza. They took a regular pizza (tomato sauce and cheese) and laid strips of chicken on top with a few drizzles of bbq. I would go back but next time would order a more traditional pizza.
Day 5/Hiking at Zion - DH wanted to do the Angel's Landing hike. Based on previous Fodor's posts (and my major fear of heights!), I didn't plan to hike this trail but after seeing it from the shuttle bus, I decided to go partway. We headed out together and met back at the Pearl later in the afternoon. I went about halfway and thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterward, visited the museum and saw the video on Zion and then hiked the trail back to the Visitor's Center. I passed a couple of bikes but otherwise had the trail to myself. The view from the valley floor along the Virgin River looking up to the mountains on both sides was incredible.
DH loved the Angel's Landing hike. His first comments to me when we met back at the hotel though were "I can't believe they let people do that." He's not faint of heart (likes to rappel and skydive) but was still amazed that visitors are allowed to do this hike. He took lots of photos - including photos of a couple of other hikers who scooted almost to the edge at the top of Angel's Landing. It's no wonder people die there!
Back to the Pearl to relax in the jacuzzi and then dinner at Bit and Spur. DH had beef enchiladas and I had pork enchiladas. Both were good and large portions. Stopped on the way back and picked up a piece of pie at Bumbleberry. Not impressed.
We're going to miss Zion. Day 6 to come.....
Sorry it's taken so long to post the next installment. Thanks for the suggestion to include on same post.
Day 4 continued/Grand Canyon to Zion - Drove up 89 and took alternate route through the Vermillion Cliffs to the entrance to Zion. Stopped at Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon. Entrance on Highway 9 through the tunnel to Zion is magnificent. We were astounded by the beauty of Zion! My husband admitted later that he wondered why we were going to Zion but it ended up being his favorite of all the parks.
We arrived in Springdale and checked into the Desert Pearl. What an appropriate name! We loved the Pearl. We had a ground floor riverside room. The room was spacious and clean with a refrigerator, microwave, nice bathroom, large comfy couch and table and chairs. There was a small patio area with adirondack chairs overlooking the river. It's a beautiful property. The sparkling pool and jacuzzi had a view of the mountains. I could have stayed in the jacuzzi enjoying that view for days! The only complaint is that the floors are wood and if you are in a ground floor room you can hear your upstairs neighbors. Next time we would request an upstairs room.
We spent the late afternoon exploring Springdale shops and galleries. It's a lovely little town. Dinner was at Zion Pizza & Noodle. We ordered a BBQ Chicken pizza. They took a regular pizza (tomato sauce and cheese) and laid strips of chicken on top with a few drizzles of bbq. I would go back but next time would order a more traditional pizza.
Day 5/Hiking at Zion - DH wanted to do the Angel's Landing hike. Based on previous Fodor's posts (and my major fear of heights!), I didn't plan to hike this trail but after seeing it from the shuttle bus, I decided to go partway. We headed out together and met back at the Pearl later in the afternoon. I went about halfway and thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterward, visited the museum and saw the video on Zion and then hiked the trail back to the Visitor's Center. I passed a couple of bikes but otherwise had the trail to myself. The view from the valley floor along the Virgin River looking up to the mountains on both sides was incredible.
DH loved the Angel's Landing hike. His first comments to me when we met back at the hotel though were "I can't believe they let people do that." He's not faint of heart (likes to rappel and skydive) but was still amazed that visitors are allowed to do this hike. He took lots of photos - including photos of a couple of other hikers who scooted almost to the edge at the top of Angel's Landing. It's no wonder people die there!
Back to the Pearl to relax in the jacuzzi and then dinner at Bit and Spur. DH had beef enchiladas and I had pork enchiladas. Both were good and large portions. Stopped on the way back and picked up a piece of pie at Bumbleberry. Not impressed.
We're going to miss Zion. Day 6 to come.....
Jun 17th, 2007 | 07:19 AM
#10
Joined: Feb 2003
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Luvtravl,
Interesting your comment about the wood floors at the Desert Pearl. Many years ago, the first couple months they were open, I stayed there in a ground floor room - and had the same problem. To the extent that I didn't sleep due to "elephants" above.
When I mentioned the problem at the desk, they said they were going to carpet the upstairs rooms. Is it possible that after all these years, they never have? Or, were you in the new building?
Also, I agree - don't every eat or stay at the Bumbleberry.
Interesting your comment about the wood floors at the Desert Pearl. Many years ago, the first couple months they were open, I stayed there in a ground floor room - and had the same problem. To the extent that I didn't sleep due to "elephants" above.
When I mentioned the problem at the desk, they said they were going to carpet the upstairs rooms. Is it possible that after all these years, they never have? Or, were you in the new building?
Also, I agree - don't every eat or stay at the Bumbleberry.
Jun 17th, 2007 | 09:22 AM
#11
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Day 6/Zion to Torrey - reluctantly left the Desert Pearl to drive to Torrey via Bryce. We were treated to snow flurries while we were at Bryce - cold!!! We had planned to hike a little but DH didn't feel well (we think it was the altitude?) so we ended up just doing a driving tour and stopping to gawk at all the lookout points. Late lunch at Ruby's. DH had a burger and I had a BBQ sandwich. It was decent and prices okay.
Drove on to Torrey over Boulder Mountain. It was a beautiful drive with the late afternoon sun streaming through the trees. Arrived in Torrey and checked into Austin's Chuckwagon Motel. Room was clean and a bargain at $69/night! No upper floor rooms available so we were downstairs. A little noise from guests upstairs walking around but everything got quiet after 9 p.m. A nice pool but it was too cold. Dinner was at Capitol Reef Inn. DH had salmon and I had sirloin. Salads were large with mixed greens. Everything was good except the steak (TOUGH and grisly - should have come with a chainsaw instead of a steakknife). Waited for 30 minutes for a table although half the restaurant was empty. They appeared to be understaffed. Seating was not very comfortable - the chairs are too tall for the tables. Kind of strange.
Day 7/Capitol Reef - The next morning we explored Torrey (basically a few shops and galleries along the two-lane highway). We had an early lunch at Brink's Burgers before heading to Capitol Reef. DH had a jalapeno burger and I had a regular burger. We were told they have the "best burgers in the county." There are not a lot of restaurant choices in this remote area of Utah so they may actually be some of the only burgers in the county but they were pretty good.
On the way into Capitol Reef, we saw a huge and very bright sundog in the sky at the Goosenecks lookout point that lasted about 3 minutes. WOW! We tried to capture it in photos but they just don't do it justice.
We thought Capitol Reef was lovely with the clumps of wildflowers along the road, desert washes, petroglyphs and colorful rock formations. It was a little early in the year for fruit at Fruita but we saw deer in the orchards.
Back at Torrey that evening, I got a beachtowel from the office and checked out the jacuzzi next to the pool at Austin's. Very relaxing. Dinner was mexican takeout from Austin's market. Really good!!! DH had a burrito and I had nachos. We drove about 10 minutes to a lookout at the edge of Capitol Reef for the sunset.
Day 8 in the next installment....
Drove on to Torrey over Boulder Mountain. It was a beautiful drive with the late afternoon sun streaming through the trees. Arrived in Torrey and checked into Austin's Chuckwagon Motel. Room was clean and a bargain at $69/night! No upper floor rooms available so we were downstairs. A little noise from guests upstairs walking around but everything got quiet after 9 p.m. A nice pool but it was too cold. Dinner was at Capitol Reef Inn. DH had salmon and I had sirloin. Salads were large with mixed greens. Everything was good except the steak (TOUGH and grisly - should have come with a chainsaw instead of a steakknife). Waited for 30 minutes for a table although half the restaurant was empty. They appeared to be understaffed. Seating was not very comfortable - the chairs are too tall for the tables. Kind of strange.
Day 7/Capitol Reef - The next morning we explored Torrey (basically a few shops and galleries along the two-lane highway). We had an early lunch at Brink's Burgers before heading to Capitol Reef. DH had a jalapeno burger and I had a regular burger. We were told they have the "best burgers in the county." There are not a lot of restaurant choices in this remote area of Utah so they may actually be some of the only burgers in the county but they were pretty good.
On the way into Capitol Reef, we saw a huge and very bright sundog in the sky at the Goosenecks lookout point that lasted about 3 minutes. WOW! We tried to capture it in photos but they just don't do it justice.
We thought Capitol Reef was lovely with the clumps of wildflowers along the road, desert washes, petroglyphs and colorful rock formations. It was a little early in the year for fruit at Fruita but we saw deer in the orchards.
Back at Torrey that evening, I got a beachtowel from the office and checked out the jacuzzi next to the pool at Austin's. Very relaxing. Dinner was mexican takeout from Austin's market. Really good!!! DH had a burrito and I had nachos. We drove about 10 minutes to a lookout at the edge of Capitol Reef for the sunset.
Day 8 in the next installment....
Jun 19th, 2007 | 11:20 AM
#12
Joined: Jan 2003
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I'm really enjoying your report. I agree...the Bumbleberry is not the place to eat. http://www.fodors.com/forums/smileys
Utahtea
Utahtea
Jun 19th, 2007 | 01:01 PM
#16
Joined: Jan 2003
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Loving your report luvtavl ~ more please!
Also, can you tell me more about Austins? Last time we stayed at the Best Western in Torrey but its full this time.
Also, pardon my message off-topic (a little) but
UTAHTEA: did your email change? I've been trying to reach you @yahoo...??
Also, can you tell me more about Austins? Last time we stayed at the Best Western in Torrey but its full this time.
Also, pardon my message off-topic (a little) but
UTAHTEA: did your email change? I've been trying to reach you @yahoo...??
Jul 18th, 2007 | 09:09 AM
#18
Joined: Jul 2007
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Thank you luvtravl for your details about the Arizona/Utah trip. I'm anxious to hear about Valley of the Gods because I too am doing almost the same trip with less time and am trying to figure out what I need to take out of my itinerary. Is Valley of the Gods wonderful? I would like to stay at the Valley of the Gods B&B. Any comments about that? We're trying to do Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion & Grand Canyon starting from Pueblo, CO on 8/11 ending in Vegas on 8/18. Can we do it reasonably? Would love to hear from anyone.
Jul 18th, 2007 | 09:30 AM
#19
Joined: Jan 2003
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To witchywoman,
Valley of the Gods is ok if you have lots of time, but Monument Valley is much better.
With the alloted amount of time you have, you are only going to be able to get a quick glimps of each park before you have to move on. Most of you time is going to be in a vehcile. I'd sugguest dropping either Arches & Canyonlands (Moab area) or drop Valley of Gods/Monument Valley & the Grand Canyon but you could add Captiol Reef and Scenic Hwy 12.
Utahtea
Valley of the Gods is ok if you have lots of time, but Monument Valley is much better.
With the alloted amount of time you have, you are only going to be able to get a quick glimps of each park before you have to move on. Most of you time is going to be in a vehcile. I'd sugguest dropping either Arches & Canyonlands (Moab area) or drop Valley of Gods/Monument Valley & the Grand Canyon but you could add Captiol Reef and Scenic Hwy 12.
Utahtea
