Weekend Family Getaway to Sedona Arizona - Day 2

Day 2 in Sedona. A nice  relaxing morning in our cabin, drinking coffee outside near the fountain.

Our first stop was to the Palatki Heritage Site to visit the Palatki Ruins and Petroglyphs. This was by far the highlight of our trip. Both the ruins and the Petroglyphs were short structured tours with a docent explaining the history and meaning of what we were seeing. I'm not sure that Grady got much out of the history lesson, but Gracie absorbed it all and was full of questions. Both kids enjoyed the scavenger hunt that we were given at the registration desk.

After visiting we headed back in to town for lunch and some Christmas and touristy shopping. We lucked into live music at the Tlaquepaque International Day of Peace which was perfect for the boys while the girls shopped for jewelry.

The next stop was an offroad jeep tour with "A Day in the West." Tim did his research for this activity by watching numerous youtube videos of all the companies, and comparing reviews and groupon deals. We were quite happy with this tour, and the driver. I've said this before, but I've become such a scaredy cat since I had a baby; heights, bumps, deep water, and fast speeds all terrify me. At times this ride was fast and steep, but we had seat belts and the kids whooped and hollered and had too much fun. Their ear to ear smiles made it all worth while.

The jeep tour picks you up and drops you off on the main downtown strip, which makes it easy for shopping and restaurants and minimal walking. Parking can be difficult with the traffic, but the jeep tour has a parking lot in the back if you ask. 

After dinner we headed back to Phoenix and to the airport for our flight home. Amazing 2 day kid friendly weekend adventure getaway for the family, and we will definitely be back for more!

Have you been to Sedona? What's your favorite thing to do with the kids?

Weekend Family Getaway to Sedona Arizona - Day 1

Day 1 started out at 7am in Phoenix, after arriving at midnight. 

We had breakfast at Seed Café (read about the Sedona restaurants here) and headed straight to Montezuma Castle outside Sedona.

Montezuma Castle has a nice little hiking trail to see the cliff dwellings, and a small indoor museum with artifacts and historical information about the Sanaqua (pronounced Sanawa) people who lived here. Sanaqua means "without water" and I love that kids are learning these things.

Advice from a Cliff Dwelling 1. Find Your Niche 2. Be Constructive 3. Stick Together 4. Rise to the Occasion 5. Stay Close to the Earth 6. Build Upon Strong Foundations 7. Don't Go Down in Ruins

We spent a long time in their gift shop. I'm such a sucker for souvenirs.
After Montezuma Castle, we drove through Sedona, ate lunch, and stopped a couple hiking trails along the road. The main hike we did was the Cathedral Hike; The scenery was amazing. We hiked down to the river, and then turned and headed back. Poor Tim could have hiked this trail all day, but the kids (and ok, me too) were hot and hungry and ready for a little rest. 

Next stop, Chapel of the Holy Cross, built right into the rocks. This place was serene and beautiful, but the courtyard scared me. I'd say it's plenty safe, with a stone bench outlining the perimeter, but I'm already nervous of heights, and having a 2 year old running around, and climbing on the ledge just about did me in. If only I was less afraid of heights, and Grady was more afraid...

 

I love little touches like these signs.

"Please don't pick us [flowers], we're smiling at God."

 



 

"And He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all ways."

 

 

One thing I absolutely love about this vacation spot is the plethora of activities within short proximity to the downtown area with shopping and restaurants. This meant that we could hike, stop and let the kids rest in air conditioning (eat, drink, be merry), and then take off on another adventure. And we did very little driving in between.  

After dinner we headed to our hotel fairly early, so that we could relax and swim. Swimming is one of the best free vacation activities! We stayed at the Sedona Pines Resort in what was called a one bedroom cabin, but looked like a brand new manufactured home. So clean and so cute. We loved it. It almost felt like we could hitch it to the back of our car and take it home with us!
  The pool at the Sedona Pines Resort was huge, and mostly shallow which allowed for a lot of easy playing. And it was my first time in a salt water pool without chlorine; It felt good and clean. The best part of swimming were the bats. There were bats everywhere and 3 swarming around the top of the pool. At first Gracie was nervous, but then it was just too funny. Once or twice the bats dropped onto the surface of the pool to eat a June bug. It was so fast that if you were not watching them, you seriously would not have seen it happen.

We'll definitely be back to Sedona for more hiking, and maybe even camping.

What's your favorite trail in the Sedona area for family friendly hiking?

Weekend Family Getaway to Sedona Arizona via Spirit Airlines

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 A couple weeks ago, Spirit Airlines posted their fall deals, and we took advantage. We've flown Spirit many times, and highly recommend them, especially for weekend getaways like this one. Let me begin by saying that Spirit doesn't know that I love them, or that I'm writing this, and is in no way compensating us for this review, or any part of this blog post.

With that said, we decided to take advantage of the great Spirit sale and fly to Phoenix from Dallas Fort Worth for a weekend getaway with the kids.

I've had friends and coworkers comment that we must be rolling in the dough if we can afford so many trips. We're not by any means. With the Spirit $9 Fare club we flew to Phoenix for $23 each way per person. That means it only cost $96 for the 4 of us to fly round trip!

Spirit has what they call a Bare Fare, which essentially means you're not getting any free peanuts or sodas. You can read more about this here on their Spirit 101 website. You also only get 1 smallish free carry-on bag and pay for another carry-on bag and checked bags. This is only a big deal if you're traveling for a long period of time, and even so, the checked bags rates combined with the base fare is still cheaper than many airlines.

Spirit says their seats are smaller due to an extra row, but I haven't noticed the difference.

For carry-on bags we bought the kids High Sierra XBT Wheeled Backpack, Carmine/Red Line/Black, which the kids LOVE. The bags hold all their clothes, have a pocket for books or toys, have a spot to tuck away the shoulder straps, and very smooth wheels. I love the bags because they are roomy, and yet count as a free personal item on the airplane. Even Grady who at 2.5 years old had no trouble wheeling through the airport on his own. And be careful if you try to do it for him, "That's MINE! I can do it by MYSELF!"

For this weekend getaway, we had an 11pm CST departure flight on Friday night, that arrived in Phoenix at 2.5 hours later. The kids wore their jammies, so they only had to pack 2 outfits: one for Saturday, one for Sunday, plus a bathing suit.

Tim and I put our 2 outfits with the kids clothes in their backpacks, and carried a few extra essentials (like snacks, diaper wipes, pull-ups, snake bite kit for the Arizona desert hikes) in the diaper bag and Tim's Camelbak (Camelbak Products Men's Rim Runner 22 Hydration Pack, Charcoal/Chili Pepper, 100-Ounce).

So that's how we flew for only $96. We still had a rental car, airport parking, 2 nights hotel and restaurant meals for 2 days. We utilize a lot of coupons, online deals, and reward points, to get the best possible deals. We don't have, or spend, a lot of money.

When it comes right down to it, these trips and experiences are the best gifts we can give our kids, and that makes it worth the money. Grady will be 3 in November, and Gracie is 8.5, and both kids know how to travel.


Now the real question, and debate of the day is... where are going to fly next?

September 2014 - Whole30 Days 20 and 21 - Traveling and Restaurants In Arizona

After dinner yesterday on Day 19, I bet you thought the kitchen was closed? Well almost, at 8pm we packed up the kids, hopped in the car, and headed to the airport for a weekend getaway to Phoenix and Sedona Arizona. I'll share that story in another post. For now I'll focus on the food aspects of the trip and how closely I remained loyal to Whole30.

At the airport we bought bottled waters. Tim bought us a couple apples at Starbucks, and Gracie picked out a bag of pistachios at the bookstore. It felt good to make good choices and not succumb to the usual chips, soda, and chocolate treats.

Our flight was 11pm to 1:30am, arriving in Phoenix at 11:30pm. We picked up our rental car and headed straight to a nearby hotel to get some much needed sleep. Tim had us up first thing in the morning at 7am ("But it's 9am our time" Tim says).

Anyway Breakfast on Saturday, Whole30 Day 20 was at Seed Café. Amazing! I ordered their turkey tomato and spinach burrito wrapped in an omelet. And to top it off I go their Coffee Nut drink which is made with homemade almond milk with dates. It was delicious! My stomach did churn a little after drinking the coffee, so I don't know if my body is starting to react to the almonds, or if maybe it was the acid in the coffee?

Lunch was in Sedona at the Red Rock Café. I ordered their chef salad with oil & vinegar for dressing, and no cheese. I also ordered their homemade fancy homefries because they sounded so delicious (and compliant).

It feels so good, emotionally and physically, to eat clean. I can't imagine life without Whole30 eating. OK yes, I do occasionally miss pasta, and I really miss cheese, but I'm really not missing anything else at all. And with that said... I sure hope the weight starts melting off...

Dinner was at the Cowboy Club in downtown Sedona. I forgot to take a picture, but I ordered the beef filet with sweet potato and veggies. The waiter told me the sweet potato was made with cream and a "little" sugar. I don't know. My body didn't seem to react to the sugar at all, so either there really was a minimal amount, or I am still needing quite a few more weeks of detoxing.


Sunday, Whole30 Day 21

We woke up in our awesome cabin and lounged about, and drank black coffee. Sadly we did not make an effort to go out and get breakfast before our scheduled morning hike. Bad, I know. But we did eat some leftover fruit and nuts, and drank a TON of water. And check out these R Bar snack bars that we found. They "may" contain nuts, but since it's not listed in the ingredients I consider it compliant and a perfect snack for hiking while on vacation.

Lunch was at Oaxaca Restaurant for traditional Arizonian food. The appetizer was great. Grilled Arizona cactus with a Romesco sauce made of red chile peppers and almonds. Yum. I'm not sold on cactus in general, but the sauce was fabulous. And I did my best to eat around the cream sauce decoration.

My main meal was the side salad, again with olive oil and vinegar, and the Oaxaca Posole (A New Mexican & Native American stew flavored with chicken, red & green peppers, onions, herbs & spices). The posole was good, but the chicken was a little dry and the posole in general wasn't as strongly flavored as I hoping. It needed more...depth? Regardless, I felt healthy and rejuvenated after eating, which was good because we had a full day of hiking and adventures.

Dinner was at Open Range Grill & Tavern. I didn't take a picture of my meal, perhaps because subconsciously I knew it wasn't compliant. There really wasn't much on the menu that caught my eye and I was feeling tired of lettuce...  So, I had the meatloaf, potatoes, and broccoli. Good enough.

I did get a picture of the family by the window. Check out that view!

After that it was time to return home to Dallas and continue Whole30.

How was your weekend?