arizona recap

I finally remembered to bring my camera back from the house, so now I can give you a full recap of our trip to Arizona! We originally traveled to Phoenix for a work conference for Jake, so we spent the first few days visiting and exploring with some of his work colleagues. We had a great time hanging out by the pool, exploring the city, shopping and, of course, eating. So many good places to eat. Seriously, so much food. But we also spent a good amount of time exploring the outdoors. The landscape is so different than here in the midwest. It's a lot less green with a lot more dirt, but it really is beautiful. On our last day in Phoenix, we rented a jeep and took it off roading through Tonto National Park. It was awesome and so scary all at the same time.

The men had so much fun scaring driving through the mountains. Even though there were moments when I thought we may tumble down the cliff, it was seriously so much fun! And a great way to see the mountains.

 

 

 

 

During one of our out of car explorations, my hubby managed to open up a prickly pear cactus to see what it was like.  He may or may not have acquired some pricks in his fingers.

 

 

On our way to Sedona, we took a side trip to drive the Apache Trail. It wasn't as nerve wracking as the jeep, but it was still filled with hair pin turns and cliffs. But again, it was beautiful. Plus, we stopped for some ice cream at a local ghost town.

 

We arrived in Sedona after having dinner with some of my family in Prescott. It was great to see them and visit with some friendly faces. Our first full day in Sedona was cold. We were really surprised that it was so cold because it was 90 while we were in Phoenix. Even though it was cold, we still wanted to hike in the red rocks. We started at the Boynton Canyon which was great, until it started to sleet on us. Then it got a little colder and wet. Thankfully, the sun came out and we could hike a couple other trails.

 

 

Yep, snow.

 

 

Oh, and there were the bears. We didn't actually see any, but it made it more interesting.

After hiking, we spent the rest of the day walking throughout Sedona shopping and taking in the sites. If you've never been to Sedona, it's a great little town to visit. So much to see and so many shops. Plus, there is a stunning view everywhere you go.  We originally had planned to go to the Grand Canyon, but thanks to the government, we couldn't go. Only slightly annoying.

 

We left Friday morning and traveled back to the midwest. We had a fabulous week in Arizona and definitely will go back. Hopefully, next time we'll get to go to the Grand Canyon. Anyway, thanks for letting me share all my vacation pictures. Now, I have to get back to packing so we can move in just 10 days!!!