It would be more fitting to say that Arizona chose us instead of we chose Arizona. Planning a warm getaway just ten days before Christmas craze leaves you not many options. Hawaii is way too expensive, Mexico the same, California doesn’t interest me, Texas has already been visited. Flight tickets between Seattle and Phoenix were surprisingly affordable for the peak season of Christmas, and oh wait, that famous canyon is just less than four hours drive away. That’s it!
That covered one of the two major factors when we choose a destination for holiday: flight tickets. The second is: home exchange. Since we got our second and last kid, our preferred accommodation has been homes on home exchange platforms. I have written an article before to introduce how it works, if you are interested, CLICK HERE. And if you ever sign up, put my name there for referral, and both you and me get some bonus points. After three years in this game, my preferred platform is homeexchange.com, which has the most options for homes. We got a nice second home in a gated community with an outdoor swimming pool and hot tub just 15 minutes away from the airport. Now the journey starts! A brief summary of our journey: 8 nights in Phoenix, stopped at Sedona red rocks area on the way to Grand Canyon, 3 nights at Grand Canyon, drove straight from Grand Canyon to the airport to fly back to Seattle. With kids we always travel slow, but if you are short of time, you can totally do the same route in a week by cutting a few days in Phoenix and/or a day at Grand Canyon. In Phoenix we enjoyed: 1, Desert Botanical Garden. Make sure you go there in Day 1 or 2, otherwise you won’t be amazed by the plants there because frankly, they are everywhere in Arizona. But it was still a fun educational visit for us. We were impressed by the mesquite trees and the saguaro cactus. 2. Hole in the Rock. Right next to the Desert Botanical Garden. It was a short, easy and fun hike for the kids. 3. South Mountain. There are many trails, most of which are moderate and above in difficulty levels. We did part of the Mormon trail in the late afternoon and was awarded free tacos by a volunteer Santa in the middle of the trail, and gorgeous sunset. Hiking in Arizona desert is quite different from hiking in Washington forests. Without any shade, it can get hot even in winter. Protect yourself from sunburn by wearing hats, sunglasses and long sleeves. Keep in mind that in winter, it gets dark pretty fast from the starting of the sunset. By the time you see those orange and red clouds, it will be dark in about half an hour. 4. Camelback Mountain. To get to Camelback Mountain from the south, you pass through those multimillion houses in Paradise Valley which was quite a sight to see. The trail is rated adequately as extremely difficult because shortly after less than one mile, it got very steep and the steps disappeared. You had to scramble with all fours among the rocks and boulders, with only a single metal rod to hold on to. Kids did half way up one of those steep parts and I backed down with them while my husband continued to the summit. It was still a fun experience for the kids. 5. Children’s Museum. We did this on a rainy day and had lots of fun. 6. Museum of Illusions. That was the only attraction we did at the entertainment complex in Scottsdale, and it was fun. Scottsdale old town was pretty boring. 7. Fountain Park. We had run out of places to go and went to this park in Fountain Hills, and it was very fun with a nice and big playground, a pond with lots of birds, a disc golf course, and a fountain that shoots tall into the sky for 15 minutes every hour. 8. The Farm: a park-feel venue with restaurants featuring farm-to-table eats. I had my only memorable meal there during the whole trip in Arizona. The large portion of cauliflower hash for breakfast was delicious and didn’t come cheap. 9. Lost Dutchman State Park and the Goldfield Ghost Town. This was part of the Apache Trail loop that you could drive around. It was a very nice hike with the kids in Lost Dutchman State Park. We turned around at the Green Boulder. Goldfield was a cute old west town with art/souvenir shops, restaurant/cafe, some original buildings and dress up show. Free entry. We paid for a mine tour which was informative about the harsh life in the pitch dark and piercing dusty underground. The red rocks area south of Sedona was my favorite part of this trip. We stopped on our way to Grand Canyon and hiked part of the Bell Rock Climb trail. This trail is properly named as “Bell Rock Climb” as different from the other trail “Bell Rock Pathway”, because after a short while, you come straight face to face with the rock, and you need to climb up by deciding where to put your feet all by yourself. Kids didn’t climb much of course but they enjoyed making their own clay with water and the red dirt of that area. I love the red rocks area because you can easily be IN it, whether you choose to hike / climb or not, you can go into it and be surrounded by the rocks. Whereas I felt like a passive observer at the Grand Canyon where you cannot easily go into it. Sure there are trails that take you all the way down to Colorado River, but you need a whole day and great strength to do it, definitely not with young kids. There are far more family-friendly trails in red rocks than in Grand Canyon. The Village of Oak Creek right at the foot of the red rocks seems to be ideal to appreciate the sunrise and sunset. You don’t need to drive far or hike long to enjoy the magic that lights play on those majestic rocks. If I ever come back to Arizona again, that’s where I would like to stay. Last but not least: the Grand Canyon. We did the south rim which was open all year round, whereas the north rim is closed in winter and much further to drive. My guide book says that 6 million visitors come to Grand Canyon every year. And maybe it was the Christmas / New Year break, it was very busy there. The hotel we stayed was full. Even the fast food restaurants were sold out on half of their items. The line to enter Grand Canyon park started at 9 am and stretched at least one mile away. The restaurants inside the canyon had a wait time of one hour during lunchtime. But you could always find alternatives so it was not too bad. The well-paved wheelchair and stroller friendly rim trail runs between Hermit’s Rest on the west to the Desert View Watchtower on the east. We walked from the visitor center to Yavapai Point and Geology Museum and got bored. It is impressive, it is grandiose, but it feels inaccessible. For me it would be good just as a once in a life time experience. My favorite spot is the Hermit’s Rest, probably the best spot for sunset, but we left half an hour before it started. We hiked a little bit down the steep Hermit trail which was amazing according to the two hikers we met who made it down to Colorado River and back up. Bright Angel trail was also great, even though only half a mile was open and the rest will be closed for about three years due to the waterline construction. At an elevation of about 7000 feet (2100 meters), the climate is extremely dry and very cold in the mornings and nights of winter. We were lucky that it was sunny and no snow or ice on the roads, but we did get sunburn on the cheeks and dry peeling lips. Bring sunscreen and ointment, wear sunglasses, hats and gloves, and dress in many layers.
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