Ralphy's Road Trip to Sedona

Living in Tucson, I have been to Sedona a few times. If you want to stay at a place that is just for sleeping and know other reason to stay in your room, than try Slide Rock Lodge. No TVs, radio just clean rooms and right across the road from Oak Creek, and the water is always running. You will be about a third of the way between Sedona, [being closer to Sedona] and Flagstaff. Just down the road from Slide Rock Park. Plenty of water and trees. Nice and quite and peaceful. Enjoy!!

The spring snow storm in Oklahoma is a rare occurance, (in fact WINTER snow in Oklahoma is a rare occurance) so don't let that discourage anyone from spring travel. Incidently, if you are going to bash our state, at least get the spelling correct, it is OKLAHOMA, NOT OAKLAHOMA.

Next time you're in Sedona, take the west fork trail hike. It's relatively easy and is just beautiful, like a garden of eden. We were there the first of June and the weather was perfect; also took the pink jeep tour-lots of fun.

How did you get up that rock? How did you get down? Anyway, I went on a trip with some relatives to Sedona last May and I loved loved it. My favorites besides the rocks were the church (very solitary and evokes the feeling of calmness and peace) and Tlaquepaque (I watched some glass blowers at work & was very close to buying a $100 figurine then thought otherwise). We also went to Grand Canyon and tried the Skywalk (I thought I was gonna be scared but once you're there in the middle of the bridge being surrounded by all that beauty, you forget that you can see right through under your feet). It's an experience that, like your helicopter ride, is well worth it and highly recommended. It was my second time at the Grand Canyon but will never get tired of going back and it was my first time in Sedona but would love love to go back again. And again. And again... :)

wow what a way to go

I flew from Maryland with my 2 children (10 & 13) to Sedona early last October (2006). It was gorgeous. One caveat: drink a lot of water & carry it with you everywhere! It is very dry there. We visited Red Rocks State Park, which offers a ranger-led talk/tour, Slide Rock State Park (in Oak Creek Canyon) which is a lot of fun for those brave enough to get into the water & slide on the rock! And fun for others to watch, with wonderful scenery. They post the temperature of the water as you enter the park. We also visited a Sinagua ruin owned by the Forest Service. It is a long drive on one of those gravel roads, but I had a little compact rental & it got there. There's a lot of ancient paintings on the rocks there -- fascinating! You have to look for the turn-off; it is *not* a big tourist trap. There are two locations, we only had time for one: Palatki. The other is called Honanki. Montezuma's Castle is run by the National Park Service, as is Tuzigoot, which is a nice stop on the way to Jerome from Sedona. Tuzigoot is on a little hill in the valley, & is where the copper tailings were sent during the hey day of the mining at Jerome, but the point of going there is also to see more Sinagua ruins. It's worth getting a Nat'l Parks pass -- there is also the Sunset Crater site -- a volcanic eruption occurred there in 1100 something, & it is on the way to the Grand Canyon if you go in by the East entrance & drive yourself. There is a state park by Jerome that tells the history of the mining venture, which was Very Big in its day. We were busy for a week in Sedona! There is also a "raw bar" on the main drag in town, which fascinated my child who loves food. The Coffee Pot Restaurant on the same road (89A) in West Sedona has a big menu, little gift shop & good prices for good food. The public library near there has lots of free internet access in a beautiful building. I connected my digital camera up with a cable & e-mailed pictures to my spouse, who was unable to come. The kids were on-line in the children's department, so they were happily playing games & e-mailing their friends. Sedona is mid-way between Phoenix & the Grand Canyon, & mid-way in temperature also. It was 90 or higher when we arrived around 5p in Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, & definitely down into the low 50's or lower at the South Rim of the Canyon at night on a ranger-led full-moon hike. This was during the first week of October. I would suggest Spring or Fall to do this trip. Summer is brutal in the desert, & way crowded at the Canyon; in Winter the Canyon can get serious snow. We really enjoyed driving directly from the South Rim back to Phoenix (drove North to Sedona in the dark). The changes as the elevation fell were so clear & interesting: driving through the Snow Bowl area North of Flagstaff, we saw golden aspens, then Ponderosa Pine forests, changing to the kind of small trees they have around Sedona (can't think of the names right now even though the ranger at Red Rocks told such good info on them), and finally the Saguaro Cactus around Phoenix. What a lesson in the environment for my (homeschooling) kids. No lectures necessary, just look out the window. It was great. I highly recommend it. Ralphy, thanks a lot for your write-up. I'm impressed that you drove all that way -- and the snow/ice storm reminds me of the time I helped a friend drive from NYC to Calif at Christmastime; it was snowing through Albuquerque & it was deep at Flagstaff, from where we turned south to Phoenix, & watched as the snow disappeared as we sank into the desert valley. So it can be done in winter, of course. Enjoy, y'all!

Very interesting and informative review. Sounds like you had a great trip. My husband is retiring soon and we are planning a cross country road trip too. From Virginia Beach, Va., to Pigeon Forge, Tn for a week, then to Chattanooga, Tn, to Bell Buckle, Tn, to Memphis to visit relatives for almost a week. Then to Branson, Mo.for a few days,then we are heading west thru the northern part of Texas, then a week somewhere around Sedona and to visit Pheonix and Mesa (where my Dad grew up)and, of course, the Grand Canyon. Then over to the coast of California and up to Canada and back down to Seattle, Wa. on the trip back home. That's as far as we've planned so far. We're starting our trip on 9/7/07 and I feel like a kid....Are we there yet???

it was great reading your post. I am from the Maryland area. We are headed to Sedona for six days in July. We had originally planned to take 3 weeks or more driving from here to San Diego with an extended stay in Sedona. However, we had to change our plans a bit. We are now flying out to San Diego staying there for 6 days and then driving to Sedona for a 6 day stay. I still hope to get in the cross country trip. My husband and I have drove from Maryland to California one hot summer and five months later he drove back. We really want to take our son on a cross country trip and to explore various stops along the way. Thanks again for a great report

Looks like you had a good time on your trip! We are looking
to do much the same trip, But from Kansas to Grand Canyon.
About five years we went out Albequerque and Taos area and
had a wonderful time camping.