Scottsdale AZ ------NOW!!! (What to do)
 

I have a conference in Scottsdale, AZ the first week in December. What will the weather be like? My husband is going as well and we have a couple of days to enjoy the area. What should we do within 2-3 hour drive. Not fancy, just fun stuff. Thanks for your help!!

we live in upstate ny but we've been to the southwest three times. i would suggest going to sedona and the grand canyon. the grand canyon might be a little over three hours away but it's worth it. it will be pretty cold there since the rim is a mile above sea level, but the phoenix area will be warmer (60's or 70's during the day i would imagine). sedona is incredible.

Take a city tour so you can see the whole valley. Go to downtown Phoenix to the Arizona Center, excellent, quality shops of southwest "stuff" and good restaurants. Not far from downtown Phoenix is the Heard Museum, a must see. Fountain Hills, a bit east of north Scottsdale, is a short drive thru a pretty area, and has the second highest fountain in the US. It spouts on the hour for about 30 minutes. South of Phoenix, just two hours on I-10 is the Desert Sonora Museum, an outdoor area of flora, fauna and animals of the desert...world famous for outstanding and interesting displays. Going north from Phoenix on I-17, is Montezuma Castle, a very old Indian cliff dwelling(they used to let people climb the ladders and go up inside), then further north, as others have mentioned, is Sedona. The place to shop there is Tlaquepaque, quality shops of southwest variety.

I forgot to mention the clothing situation...days are bound to be very sunny with cloudless blue skies. It will probably be mid 50s at night and up to mid-70s during the day. This time of year you find yourself cool in the a.m. and hot in the afternoon, so everything from shorts to sweatsuits would be fine. Usually, cotton knit, rayon or nylon sweatsuits with a tee underneath, would be perfect. At night, an outfit with a jacket or sweater, should be plenty warm. For your hjusband, a golf sweater and shirt will be fine for most restaurants at night. During the day, a golf or sport shirt with a windbreaker type jacket is enough.

Yes! to all the responses above, though I cannot comment on the weather this time of the year. By all means go to Sedona! Montezuma's Castle in that area is also interesting. To do this side trip, we departed Phoenix via the Beeline Hwy (not the interstate going north)...beautiful drive; stopped at "Castle" and entered Sedona via Route 179 (ck # please). South of Scottsdale, in the Tucson area, drive thru the Saguara National Forest, West to see the "Charlie Brown" cactus...really it is just a drive-thru thing to do though there is a visitor's center there. Just South of Tucson is an incredible Mission (can't remember the name right now...don't have my tour books real close). It is virtually 5 minutes from the interstate (if that far). Really interesting! Also in the Scottsdale area is Taliesen West, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound and that area has many FLW buildings including an auditorium at ASU campus. The Herd Museum is an fantastic museum filled with Native American artifacts and an incredible collection of kachinka dolls. There is much to see and do in that area. Email me direct if you want more specific information. Have fun...I'm envious!

If you haven't left yet, here is some more info. I live in the Phoenix area and it was 78 degrees earlier in the week, but is now expected to be in the low 70's. Depending on where you live now will determine whether that is cool to you or not. The nights are in the 50's so a light sweater or jacket is nice. DEFINATELY do Sedona if you can be there in the evening they have the christmas lights at the Los Abrigado Resort, cost is about $5 and is beautiful! Most of the highways now are 70MPH outside of Phoenix, so you can (legally) get there a little quicker now. Jerome/Montezumas Castle is also very nice. With it being the holiday season there is lots to do in the evening now with all the festive lights. The PHoenix Zoo has something called Zoo lights. Downtown Tempe (which is near Arizona State Univ.) also has a "festival of lights". The Grand Canyon I would only recommend if you can stay the night. If you do stay book a room in Flagstaff, it's a lot less expensive. Just remember all these places (Sedona, Jerome, Grand Canyon) are a lot colder. Flagstaff does have snow right now and I'm not sure if the Grand Canyon does or not. Downtown Scottsdale has a lot of Southwestern shopping also. Tucson is about 1 1/2 hours drive also, and has lots to do. Enjoy your stay and feel free to email me if you want more info!