Southwest, Sunshine, and Smiles
Doggy kisses in Sedona!
Another blog and another drastic change of scenery! Though the Utah days were gorgeous, the title speaks for itself, as the southwest United States saved plenty of sun for us. And so, it was off to Arizona we went.
The first stop was for my first time at the Grand Canyon. No wonder they call it grand! It was fun to study this ancient land and understanding its geology was mind-blowing, to say the least. I mean, it’s not every day you get a hard look at nearly 40 different layers of major sedimentary rock. Though we were eager to touch the literal BEDROCK at the canyon floor, we merely walked the rim and enjoyed it leisurely.
This was my first time in Arizona, and having heard about so many different places in this great state, Ree and I knew that we were not seeing everything we’d hoped. Instead, we spent our time visiting these few places to get ourselves off to a good start. Flagstaff was next on our list, where we spent a little time recharging at our new favorite spot - Kickstand Kafe. While getting some time in for work, we enjoyed a few of their amazing breakfast sandwiches and a healthy helping of delicious chai lattes!
With the holidays looming, Ree suggested we spend Halloween doing some local activities. As we were discussing, we drove past Viola’s Flower Garden - a local garden and event center that hosts a Halloween pumpkin patch and hay maze during the month of October. From what we saw, it’s an event that the community loves and a festive playground for kids and pups alike!
It was such a fun way to spend Halloween, as we continued to make our way further south to Sedona. We got to explore the city and started with the mural project at Tlaquepaque Art Village for Día de Los Muertos. The area was decorated with beautiful art and remembrance walls to honor the past loved ones, who will forever remain in their families hearts.
We decided to follow up with a little bit of relaxation and take in some 70-degree weather (mmm) before getting on a popular Sedona trail. We hit Devil’s Bridge, which was quite busy for a November morning - there was even a line to wait for pictures on the natural bridge that I’m sure is much longer in the summertime. The time waiting was used well as we made many friends and Ree somehow found numerous Canadians right in front of and behind us. There are plenty of incredible trails located all around this gorgeous city but we thought our choice was best for our first glimpse of Red Rock Country.
We made our way out of Sedona with a few stops on the list as we headed west and out of the Grand Canyon state. Our first time touring Monument Valley was something to see the rock structures around the Navajo park, Sunday drives through Coconino National Forest, and working our way to some camping on Route 66! The historic road led us straight past the Mojave and into the Southern California desert, in search of some strange-looking trees.
Although I was privileged enough to work in Northern California, I had never made my way south of Big Sur and we were ready for a long-awaited visit to Joshua Tree National Park. In the summer months, daytime temperatures regularly hit triple digits but November brought cooler days floating around 70 during our visit. We both instantly thought this was such an incredibly diverse park from first entering, so we took our time getting around to different areas all over. We were able to hit some dirt roads for some seclusion to bake in the sun alone, and then getting around the abundance of exhibits in the park learning about these unique trees and life that thrive in the desert.
We were thoroughly enjoying the park until we arrived at some of our next favorite destinations, where we continued to get more excited about the features all around us. We went to the popular attraction in the middle park being Skull Rock. This was a particularly cool place because it was essentially one giant rock playground. As far as “trails” go, you simply get on a rock and start going! We jumped from rock to rock, getting deeper into the granite boulder labyrinth. We followed this experience by going down to the southern part of Joshua Tree park, where a massive cactus garden seemed to surround us out of nowhere. The Jumping Cholla Garden was surely one of the coolest things we’d seen on the trip. Though I would not recommend using it like you would skull rock, there are plenty of trails between the cacti so you can make sure NOT to touch them. We loved it so much that we visited both for sunset and the following morning!
Some sights to truly remember. That really was the theme for our entire trip and, having discussed it with Ree, we felt so lucky to had the time to check out places new and old to the both of us for many weeks on end.
We felt after the amount we had accomplished, the fun had to end somewhere. We made our way up the west coast and spent some time relaxing up on Highway 101 in Northern California, before parting ways in Washington State. I had two awesome travel partners and we’re excited for more travels in the future! This brings us to now, as I finish this week’s post in Florida for a stint during this holiday period. Where to next? I don’t even have the answer to that - and that’s the best part!
