Sedona
Drive from Antelope Canyon to Sedona is 160 miles and took us 3 hours. The drive to Sedona was very scenic passing through the lush pine forests of Coconino National Forest. It was a lot more green than the other places we had visited so far.
We reached Sedona around 6PM. The plan was to met one of Pankaj's school friend at a restaurant called 'Breezy'. This friend had drove all the way from Phoenix to meet us. Restaurant Breezy is located in uptown of Sedona with a beautiful outdoor seating area. The view from the restaurant was super pretty. We spent a couple of hours chatting and catching up over an early dinner. We got to experience another amazing view of the rising full moon. This was very different from the views in Bryce and Antelope.
 |
| Restaurant Breezy |
Sedona uptown is also know for its quaint shops with beautiful candles, lamps, souvenirs and more. After a short walk in the uptown area we reached 'Pine Tree Resorts' - our stay for the night.
 |
| Pine Tree Resort - Sedona |
Our cottage at Pine Tree Resorts was beautiful. It was a spacious cottage with a 1 bed room, hall and kitchen. It had been a long day and we were tired. When we met-up
with Pankaj's friend he had highly recommended 'Pink Jeep Tours' and said this something we should not miss this. We had not planned for this jeep tour, but since we got this must do recommendation, we started looking for ticket availability. We were lucky to have got seats on the 11am slot. Only because we were booking for a
weekday we were able to get the tickets even at the last minute. These tours are hard to get over the weekend.
September 18th: Sedona to Grand Canyon
After a breakfast of fruit and homemade ladoos, it was already check-out time. I wish we stayed here for another day. Sadly we hardly spend anytime enjoying this resort.
We began our day at the Airport Mesa viewpoint, offering panoramic views of Sedona. This viewpoint is like any other stop point but a fantastic spot to get some panoramic views of Sedona. It's also best experienced by cycling/biking to this view point.
 |
| Airport Mesa Viewpoint |
We had another hour before our Pink Jeep Tour at 11am. During this time we stopped over at Tlaquepaque Arts Village. This art village has some stunning arts and crafts of the Navajo
people. One can easily spend 2-4 hours exploring the various outlets.
We reached the tour office well in time for our 11am tour. We were assigned our jeep. Each jeep has a max of 7 members plus driver who also is the guide. Glad this was a last minute booking. We had no idea what to expect. We just knew it would be an off-road 4 wheel jeep drive.
 |
| Pink Jeep Tour Stop |
After a short briefing, we were boarded our designated jeep, tucked ourselves in the seat belts and waiting to experience this much talked about drive. On our jeep, we had a couple of Canada, a family from Connecticut, USA and we three from Bangalore, India. The guide was super funny and keeping us entertained through out the drive. This is one good thing in US. I have found most of the tour guides to be very funny, cracking jokes and at the same time sharing a lot of information. It's amazing how they do this seamlessly.
 |
| Pink Jeep Tour |
The tour was about two hours, driving on muddy pathways and on rocks - sometimes up and sometimes on steep descents. It might look scary, but it's nothing to be afraid of. I think some of the roller-coaster rides are more nerve wrecking. At a few places the jeep was descending at a 75 degree angle. The drivers are well trained and know exactly how to drive on these terrains. On this tour, we visited some amazing points which are not easily accessible by foot. We had a thrilling off-road adventure on this tour and glad we did it.
By the time the tour ended, we were super hungry. One of the co-tourist on our tour had recommended this restaurant 'Mariposa' (a latin inspired grill). We decided to go there for lunch. This was a few mins drive from the Pink Jeep Tour office. Mariposa is set in a beautiful location overlooking a valley. This is a fine dining boutique restaurant and luckily had vegetarian options on the menu.
Apart from our meals, we also ordered some Yuca fries. These fries tasted like Tapioca fires. For meal, I had ordered a mushroom burger. It was kind of weird. Maybe it was just weird for me as I don't generally eat mushrooms.
 |
| Chapel of Holy Cross |
After lunch we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross - easily skippable. But FOMO made us visit this place :) We also stopped at Yavapai Vista and Bell Rock view points. Didn't feel like hiking much after lunch. Hence make-do with view points. Also, I had started feeling a little uneasy after lunch. At this point I was all fine, but things turned differently when we started driving to our next destination - Grand Canyon
No comments:
Post a Comment