Arizona/Utah May 2016 Trip Report: Completed 5/26/17

[Chirple]

Disclaimer: This is my first trip report and all coming from memory. There will be spoilers regarding activities that took place that might not necessarily occur on your adventure.

About us: we are a middle-aged married couple with no children. We are DVC members and platinum DCL cruisers. We decided to give ABD a try after I read so many glowing trip reports here on the DIS.

The Grand Canyon has been on our must-see list for many years. After taking a Mediterranean cruise and a Baltics cruise, my husband wanted to do some travel within the U.S. This adventure seemed to match exactly what we wanted. I am the vacation planner (not by choice), and I was thrilled to let someone else take care of all the arrangements. However (yes, there is a however), my husband REALLY wanted to visit Tombstone while we were in AZ so I built that in as a pre-adventure trip. We were debating whether we wanted to do the adults-only adventure the week prior; but with the Memorial Day holiday built into our week, it was one less vacation day we used.

Leading up to this much anticipated ABD, I was having a horribly stressful time at work. By stressful, I mean my hair was falling out in clumps and ended up with shingles on my leg just one week before we left for vacation. The afternoon before we left I was hit with yet another issue and took about 15 minutes to meltdown. I have been in the same job position for over 10 years, and I had never experienced anything like this in the past. At 4:30 pm I brushed myself off, got back to the task at hand, and then kissed that project goodbye at 7:30 pm!

We saved packing as our last thing to do since we were checking weather reports for the different areas we'd be visiting. We do not mind doing laundry on vacation, and it helped keep our clothes to a minimum. Well, maybe not the amount of nice tops I packed and never wore.

On May 21st we arrived at the airport with one checked bag and one normal sized backpack each. We had a nonstop flight into Phoenix from Newark, and it was pretty uneventful. We had booked Saturday and Tuesday nights at the Hampton Inn; the ABD started on Wednesday, May 25th. FYI on the Hampton Inn--as a Hilton Honors member we could pre-select our room in advance.

We grabbed our luggage and made our way to the rental car shuttle bus. Got our car pretty quickly and drove to the hotel. This is where memory fails--I cannot remember where we went for dinner that first night.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and started our 3 hour journey to Tombstone. Since I was the driver, there aren't any photos of the scenery on the way. It was really interesting to watch the geography change so much in that timeframe.

After arriving in Tombstone, we checked into the Larian Motel. I had checked www.tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews and found this one got some good ones. At first glance it didn't look like much, but it turned out to be a great place to stay. The courtyard had some beautiful cacti, and the rooms were spacious and clean (and had wifi!). We were one block parallel to the main street in Tombstone so our car sat in its spot for the two nights we were there. Pictures to follow.

 

[Luv2trav]

Disclaimer: This is my first trip report and all coming from memory. There will be spoilers regarding activities that took place that might not necessarily occur on your adventure.

About us: we are a middle-aged married couple with no children. We are DVC members and platinum DCL cruisers. We decided to give ABD a try after I read so many glowing trip reports here on the DIS.

The Grand Canyon has been on our must-see list for many years. After taking a Mediterranean cruise and a Baltics cruise, my husband wanted to do some travel within the U.S. This adventure seemed to match exactly what we wanted. I am the vacation planner (not by choice), and I was thrilled to let someone else take care of all the arrangements. However (yes, there is a however), my husband REALLY wanted to visit Tombstone while we were in AZ so I built that in as a pre-adventure trip. We were debating whether we wanted to do the adults-only adventure the week prior; but with the Memorial Day holiday built into our week, it was one less vacation day we used.

Leading up to this much anticipated ABD, I was having a horribly stressful time at work. By stressful, I mean my hair was falling out in clumps and ended up with shingles on my leg just one week before we left for vacation. The afternoon before we left I was hit with yet another issue and took about 15 minutes to meltdown. I have been in the same job position for over 10 years, and I had never experienced anything like this in the past. At 4:30 pm I brushed myself off, got back to the task at hand, and then kissed that project goodbye at 7:30 pm!

We saved packing as our last thing to do since we were checking weather reports for the different areas we'd be visiting. We do not mind doing laundry on vacation, and it helped keep our clothes to a minimum. Well, maybe not the amount of nice tops I packed and never wore.

On May 21st we arrived at the airport with one checked bag and one normal sized backpack each. We had a nonstop flight into Phoenix from Newark, and it was pretty uneventful. We had booked Saturday and Tuesday nights at the Hampton Inn; the ABD started on Wednesday, May 25th. FYI on the Hampton Inn--as a Hilton Honors member we could pre-select our room in advance.

We grabbed our luggage and made our way to the rental car shuttle bus. Got our car pretty quickly and drove to the hotel. This is where memory fails--I cannot remember where we went for dinner that first night.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and started our 3 hour journey to Tombstone. Since I was the driver, there aren't any photos of the scenery on the way. It was really interesting to watch the geography change so much in that timeframe.

After arriving in Tombstone, we checked into the Larian Motel. I had checked www.tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews and found this one got some good ones. At first glance it didn't look like much, but it turned out to be a great place to stay. The courtyard had some beautiful cacti, and the rooms were spacious and clean (and had wifi!). We were one block parallel to the main street in Tombstone so our car sat in its spot for the two nights we were there. Pictures to follow.

Thank you for writing this. We leave in less than 50 days. I'm trying to determine what I need to pack etc. I'm so excited.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

 

[Chirple]

I am having some issues with the size of my photos when I try to upload them from my flash drive. I will work on this over the weekend from our normal laptop.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Thanks for the report! LookIng forward to reading more!

 

[Chirple]

No pictures yet, but I asked my husband what we ate for dinner our first night in Phoenix. He reminded me that our flight got in late (drove to the hotel in the dark) and that we purchased dinner at EWR to eat on the plane. No wonder I couldn't remember!

 

[Chirple]

Testing for size. This was a flowering cactus in our motel courtyard. I have to resize all of the photos.

 

[Chirple]

One thing to note about Tombstone--it is a tourist attraction. There is quite a bit of onstage activity all day. Most establishments, including restaurants, close early. Those that remained open past 8 pm were usually the bars or the restaurants that had full bars. This photo is nearly the entire length of the pedestrian street in the center of Tombstone.



On our first night we purchased tickets to the haunted tour in The Birdcage Theater. This was the home of stage shows and where the male residents sought out paid female "companionship" (putting it mildly). There was a big disclaimer that you had to get written permission to share photos so I opted not to take any. The haunted part was unintentionally funny. After getting a tour of the theater, the group of us were seated around several long folding tables. There were monitors on the tables that were supposed to detect the spirits who inhabited the building. Of course, they remained pretty dormant during the 45 minutes we sat there in the dark. We all started getting pretty snarky while we waited. I accidentally brushed the leg of the man sitting next to me, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. I did admit it was me and not a ghost!

As I previously mentioned, the heart of Tombstone is onstage. The men in the picture below portrayed the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday (far right). They just came out and stood in the street in between shows at the OK Corral.


(We saw the actor who portrayed Doc Holliday in his street clothes as he walked past us on the main road near our motel. We exchanged hellos with him.)

The OK Corral gunfight took place in a very small area as you can see in the photo below.






When we left Tombstone on Tuesday morning, we stopped at the Boothill Graveyard. If you ever take this side trip, I would recommend doing the town first and the graveyard second. At the graveyard you could make a small donation (no entrance fee); you will be provided with an order of how to navigate the area and a description of who is buried in each plot.




And I'm throwing in these extra photos because I loved the cacti in our motel courtyard.



With Tombstone complete, we drove the 3 hours back to the Hampton Inn in Phoenix. When we arrived, we headed straight to the laundry room and did wash. Since we had been sitting the car for quite a bit, we walked to Ruby Tuesday for dinner, which was relatively close.

Next day is rental car return and our first day of our ABD!

 

[Chirple]

Day 1 - Phoenix to Sedona

It's adventure time! After returning the rental car and taking the shuttle bus to Terminal 4, we had no issues finding the Starbucks near the baggage carousels. We saw a few people seated in the area, and we were apparently the last people to show up by the appointed 12:30 pm meeting time. We were greeted by Joan, and she was a really sweet older woman who turned out to be originally from our area. We talked all things local for a bit, and then she encouraged us to grab lunch in the terminal while our tagged luggage was whisked away.

We took the elevator up to the food/shopping area and grabbed some pizza. Not NJ/NY pizza by any stretch but still decent. We finished eating and went back down to our group. At this point our guide, Casey, had joined us. She was doing the adventure as a solo guide (her first solo!) because there were only 11 of us in the entire group. The one thing I noticed were two women sitting together who looked completely unhappy (more on that later). The trip to Sedona would take about 90 minutes from PHX.

Our group consisted of a multi-generation family (grandparents, parents, 12 year triplets), the aforementioned women, my husband, and me. Casey told us that since our group was small there was talk of getting a smaller bus, but they kept the big one for us. There is a restroom on the bus, which my husband used a couple of times. He said it was decent for a moving bathroom.

Starting on our journey to Sedona, we stopped at a location where we took pictures with Saguaro cactus. There was also a building where some had a photo taken, but I understand that the building is no longer there. Here we are!



After our quick stop here, we headed towards Montezuma's Castle. Casey presented us each with a National Parks stamp book, and 2016 was the 100th anniversary of our National Park system! We also took a quick restroom break here and walked as a group towards Montezuma's Castle. This was an actual dwelling, and the former inhabitants used ladders to access the many levels.



We spent some time here walking around and taking photos. Then we hopped back on our bus and headed to one more quick stop. Sedona is known for its vortex energy, and we took an opportunity to visit one from a distance.


We finally reached the Enchantment Resort, where we would be spending the next two nights. It is set within a canyon, and it is really peaceful. We were so impressed with the location. We had our arrival dinner in an open location, and it did get a bit chilly. Dinner was a southwestern themed buffet. We had a Native American singer, who was pretty funny. And here is where we learned why the mother-daughter duo were not happy.

At dinner the 7 member family sat together so the 4 of us sat at a separate table. They booked this adventure while onboard the DVC Member Cruise (mom is a member). They were told that the adventure we were taking was an adults-only departure when, in fact, that one occurred the week prior. They were charged the adults-only price, which is what really bothered them the most. Side note: they were working to get a resolution on this while we were on the trip.

Here we are on our first night:



Time to get some rest for the next morning was an optional 5 am hike up into the canyon. To be continued....

 

[CaliKris]

I'm following! Great trip report and photos so far! How lucky to only have 11 in your group.

 

[Chirple]

Day 2 - Sedona

Based on our activities, we found that showering at night before bed worked for us. At home, we take showers in the morning.

Now on to day 2 in Sedona. Rise and shine! This morning Casey offered to take anyone in the group for a hike up into the canyon at 5 am. I jumped on this opportunity so I set the alarm early, made myself relatively presentable (hair was shorter at that time so it was easy to maintain), and made my way to our meeting place, which was outside the spa entrance. From our group of 11, there were four of us plus Casey--the two parents and one of the triplets joined me. It was pretty chilly that morning so I wore jeans, a baggy t-shirt, running sneakers, and a fleece jacket. You will see this t-shirt and jeans combo again during the trip.

The hike itself was relatively easy, and I thought it was a great introduction to our future hikes. We didn't see any wildlife on the trail, but we got to witness a beautiful sunrise. We also saw some hot air balloons going up after we reached our high point.

Here is the infamous orange paddle of power:


This is the view looking down at the Enchantment Resort. The large building in the front housed the restaurants and gift shop, and it's where the tennis courts and swimming pool were located. The smaller building you see are the casitas:


The sunrise against the canyon was breathtaking:


And here I am again:


In hindsight, my husband does have a little regret not taking this hike. He is really addicted to caffeine and needs a lot of coffee in the morning to function. He didn't think that the in-room coffee maker would provide enough for him to be a normal human. If we did this trip again and the hike was offered, I think he would push himself to do it. It really was amazing to watch the sun come up from that vantage point. At the time of our trip, the resort delivered to our door bottles of orange juice for each person every morning. Neither of us drink juice so we brought them for the rest of our group to enjoy.

After the hike I met my husband for breakfast at one of the restaurants. The first morning this was a bit of a disappointment. The food option provided by ABD was the buffet, but the restaurant did not replenish when certain foods ran out. At one point I brought it to the attention of the waitstaff, but I think it was forgotten.

We were prepping for our off-road jeep tour with Pink Jeep. Note the number of coffee cups in front of him:


We met our jeep drivers outside after a rousing round of hula hooping. The family of 7 went in one jeep, and Casey joined the 4 of us in the other. We had a fantastic tour guide/driver in Randy. He was absolutely hilarious. Since there were only 4 of us sitting in the back of the jeep, we were bounced around quite a bit. We could not stop laughing, but the mom was starting to get uncomfortable so she ended up sitting in the front with Randy while Casey took her place in the back with us. On our drive we saw a jackrabbit who looked like it had 3 ears. When I uploaded my personal photos, you could see his one ear was split.

Our Pink Jeep drivers (rowdy Randy is on the left):


Our small but mighty group:


The jackrabbit:


After the jeep tour we were given the option to go back to the resort or walk around in Sedona a bit. We collect a magnet from every location we visit so we had a mission. The entire group opted to go into town. We also stopped in the Black Cow Cafe ice cream shop, where we tried Prickly Pear ice cream. It was very mild in flavor but refreshing after that hot jeep ride. We found a magnet and then met everyone back at the bus.




Once back at the Enchantment, we had some on-your-own downtime. Some people booked massages at the spa, my husband relaxed in our room, and I went for a walk to check the grounds.

Dinner was on your own, but we were given a choice of restaurants back at the Enchantment. One restaurant was more casual than the other, and every single group from our tour chose that option. Dinner was good.

Later that evening we were treated to stargazing on the tennis courts. We got to see the international space station and a satellite go by, and we had great telescopic views of some of the planets. If you take a good look at the t-shirt I was wearing, it's from the Kennedy Space Center so my husband and I enjoyed this activity a lot. It was really chilly, and they served hot chocolate (so good!) and cookies.

The next morning we had breakfast at the same buffet, and the restaurant did a better job of having enough food out for the guests. This was our last meal before departing for the Grand Canyon. When we first booked this trip, the Grand Canyon was our #1 thing to see. We could not wait to get there!

But you will have to wait for the next part of the adventure!

 

[sayhello]

Loving the pictures!

Um, I'm a little confused, though. There *is* no "Adults Only" price. On opening day, the Adult price is the same on both Adult Only and Family departures. And people who own DVC are always charged the opening day prices. So I totally don't understand what they're talking about. It's too bad they got the wrong departure, though.

Sayhello

 

[Chirple]

Loving the pictures!

Um, I'm a little confused, though. There *is* no "Adults Only" price. On opening day, the Adult price is the same on both Adult Only and Family departures. And people who own DVC are always charged the opening day prices. So I totally don't understand what they're talking about. It's too bad they got the wrong departure, though.

Sayhello

There was a $200 per person difference charge on the ABD website between the adults-only departure and the regular one. None of us booked opening day, but I did let Kevin at Dreams Unlimited know that we were DVC members. This is why we picked the regular adventure; we applied that extra money to our Tombstone trip.

 

[sayhello]

There was a $200 per person difference charge on the ABD website between the adults-only departure and the regular one. None of us booked opening day, but I did let Kevin at Dreams Unlimited know that we were DVC members. This is why we picked the regular adventure; we applied that extra money to our Tombstone trip.

I've never seen that before, where one trip opened at a higher price than another. Interesting. And very strange.

Sayhello

 

[Dspec01]

Really enjoying this! Our family trip (7 of us) is in a little over week. Great photos! Getting very excited! Thanks

 

[Chirple]

Day 3 - The Grand Canyon

This was the day we had long awaited. This was the day we were starting our journey towards the Grand Canyon, and we were pretty excited about it.

After breakfast at the Enchantment Resort, we boarded our bus to start the drive. I must pause a moment to give a shout out to our driver, Courtney. She was extremely skilled, professional, and super nice. She kept that bus immaculate and got us safely from one point to the next.

Along the way, I started having some digestive issues. I probably should have had a lighter breakfast, but I was unsure of what time we'd have lunch. Let me digress for a moment to explain my personal situation and how this comes into play again in Moab. In 2004 I was diagnosed with stage II colorectal cancer (strong family history). I had a 5" tumor and 12" of my colon removed followed by 6 weeks of chemo 24/7 (had to wear a bag attached to a port) simultaneous with 6 weeks of radiation. I then had additional chemo for another 4 months. This treatment affected how my body reacts to certain circumstances.

I decided that I could wait until our first stop, which was Williams, AZ, along the famous Route 66. While everyone else began to wander around the town, I ran to the travel center restroom. I eventually caught up to my husband, and he outlined the game plan that Casey had suggested. Here's my husband and a "new" friend:



Casey advised us of a store run by Native Americans that sold jewelry created by Native Americans. We first stopped in a tourist shop to get a Route 66 magnet and made our way to the other store. My husband purchased these earrings and pendant for me:



Casey took our photo outside of the store:



We made our way back to the bus to finish the last leg of our drive towards the Grand Canyon.

 

[Chirple]

Day 3 - continued

We made it! Well, we are almost there. We stopped in the town of Tusayan (where past adventurers stayed) to have pizza and watch the IMAX movie on Grand Canyon exploration. There was a large general store next to the restaurant, and we stopped in there to buy bottles of water and some snacks. The IMAX theater and National Geographic store were across the road, but we drove and parked there. I liked the movie very much, and I purchased a really cute t-shirt that said May the Forest Be With You with forest creatures dressed as characters from Star Wars.

After the movie we boarded the bus and headed to our first look at the Grand Canyon. The anticipation was getting to most of us. One of the questions Casey asked at our arrival dinner was what was the one thing we wanted to see most, and the popular answer was the Grand Canyon.

Casey lined us up and had us look down as she guided us towards the rim:



And then our reactions:



It truly was one of the most jaw-dropping experiences I have ever had.







These are just a few of the photos I took while standing at the rim. Until you are actually standing there, photos cannot begin to convey how amazing this natural wonder is in person. We were able to spend some time here walking around and viewing the canyon from different angles. As the light changed, so did the view.

After finishing up our initial time on the rim, we headed to our home for the next two nights--the Maswik Lodge at the Grand Canyon. We were given our room assignments (first floor for us) and went our separate ways until meeting again for dinner. The accommodations were very basic but clean. The sleeping area was a bit dated, but the bathroom looked completely renovated and modernized. The weather was comfortable, and I don't recall if the rooms were equipped with air conditioning. We dropped off our backpacks and purchases from the general store, freshened up a bit, and then headed back to the bus to meet Casey, Courtney, and our tour mates. At that point Casey handed out breakfast tickets for each person; you had to turn these over at breakfast each morning so keep them handy!

We were dropped off at one of the lodges right on the rim (Maswik Lodge is a quick walk from the rim) and made our way to a conference room type setup. Prior to arriving here, Casey gave us protein choices. I picked steak, which was very good. Dinner was buffet style so you got the protein that you ordered and could then take whatever else you wanted from the food line. We really liked the food here; it was not fancy, but it was tasty.

Our entertainment this evening were Native American dancers, and they were amazing. Their outfits were gorgeous, and the dances were so moving and graceful.



After the show the gentleman who led the group was selling Native American handmade jewelry for $20 a piece. As soon as I saw this one, I had to buy it:



When we were done with our purchases and dinner, we hopped on the bus back to the Maswik. The next day was going to be pretty busy, and we all needed to rest.

 

[Chirple]

Day 4 - The Grand Canyon

The next morning we met early at the bus to take us to El Tovar for breakfast. We split into two groups for seating--the family of 7 plus Casey in one group, and the remaining four of us in another. We could pick one item from the menu; I had a made-to-order egg white omelet with fruit and toast. My coffee cup was filled and given to my husband. Our waiter was VERY friendly. He was oversharing his personal life with us. We half expected him to pull up a seat and join us.

After breakfast we headed back to the bus and met up with our step-on guide for the next several hours. Andrew was entertaining and provided us with a lot of historical information. We were heading to the Watchtower; but before getting there, we stopped for a photo opportunity--someone help us!



And here is Andrew trying to take control:



Once we reached the Watchtower, we were led to an area where Andrew gave us some history on this location. Then we walked to the site at our leisure. Here's where my husband, who is terrified of heights in open space, started to get a bit of vertigo. I had to keep reminding him to not look down while we climbed each level. He had to stop at one point to take a break, but he persevered. The Watchtower is really beautiful inside; I encourage everyone to take the walk up to the top.





When we completed our tour here, my husband and I walked with Andrew back to the bus. I had asked him how long he had been working as a guide, and it was just 3 months. He was previously a script writer in Los Angeles and had tired of the daily grind. He told us something really interesting; the Pink Jeep tour company puts these guides through extensive training. Who knew?

We got back on the bus and headed towards the path that would take us to the geological displays. Our new friends, the mother-daughter duo, had pre-booked a helicopter ride so they left us once we got back. The rest of us took the mile long walk as Andrew explained the geology of the Grand Canyon. At the beginning of our walk, we were introduced to the Ponderosa Pine. Take a whiff (we all did)! You might smell vanilla, butterscotch, or cinnamon.



As we traveled the path, we were able to touch different pieces of rocks and minerals that make up the Grand Canyon:



When we completed the walk, we found ourselves at the main visitor center. We were able to wander around a bit on our own. For the afternoon Casey was taking any adventurers on a mile hike into the canyon via the Bright Angel Trail. Since my husband was undecided on whether he could handle the hike due to the height/open space, we checked the bicycle rental shop. We took a brochure and realized that the path would not completely take us near the rim in the amount of time we had. He talked himself into doing the hike. YAY!!! I didn't want to leave him behind, but I wanted him to have a full Grand Canyon experience.

At this point we were on our own until meeting with those who would be hiking. We had lunch salads at one of the casual restaurants on the rim; it was a hearty salad that would hold us over until dinner. As you can see from the tree-sniffing picture, my husband was carrying my backpack, which contained my sweater and his jacket. We decided that we did not want to do the hike with it so we hoofed it back to our room, dropped off the bag, and I tied my sweater around my waist. We made our way back to our meeting location, made a restroom stop, and then headed to the trail.



Only 5 of our group made the journey. Normally, the hike is a mile down and up. Since we were a small group, we opted to go a bit further down. Here's where we get why walking sticks are required going down into the canyon; this extra section was a steep decline compared to what we just finished. This meant a steep incline to get back up. My husband and the triplets' mom are asthmatic; she had to take a shot of her inhaler while my husband paced himself to maintain regular breathing. On the way back up, we only needed a short catch-your-breath break at the top of the incline. Once we got through that section, we kept moving forward at a steady pace.

See that white shirt I'm wearing? It's another I-don't-care-if-it-gets-ruined shirts, and you will see it again (after being washed).

And how did we acknowledge this accomplishment? By having ice cream, of course! I was first willing to split a cup with my husband until he said he wanted strawberry. While I like strawberry ice cream, it is never the correct choice when chocolate is available. Therefore, there was no sharing! One of the best chocolate ice creams I have ever had:



Earlier in the day, Casey had taken an opportunity to make dinner reservations for the adults at El Tovar. We thought about it (and had nice clothes for it), but we decided that we would not have enough time to shower, get dressed, and get back to the rim by 5 pm so we asked her to cancel ours. The Maswik has an onsite cafeteria-style eatery so we went there for a very casual dinner. There are different food stations and grab & go options available. We got our food and grabbed a seat for a relaxing dinner. We then headed back to our room to shower and spend our last night at the Grand Canyon.

Next up: last breakfast and departure for Monument Valley.

 

[Chirple]

Thank you for writing this. We leave in less than 50 days. I'm trying to determine what I need to pack etc. I'm so excited.

Layers on top, jeans, shorts, a bathing suit, and clothing you don't mind getting dirty for day time activities. The only time I would have needed something dressier was if we had eaten at El Tovar, and I did wear that one outfit for our last evening.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

Thanks!

Thanks for the report! LookIng forward to reading more!

Thanks!

I'm following! Great trip report and photos so far! How lucky to only have 11 in your group.

Thank you! Yes, it was great having a small group. I think for the junior adventurers it would have been nice to have other kids in the group as they had nothing to distract them from their everyday sibling interactions.

Really enjoying this! Our family trip (7 of us) is in a little over week. Great photos! Getting very excited! Thanks

Thanks! I hope your group enjoys this ABD as we and others here on the DIS have. My husband says it's his favorite vacation.

 

[CJinMD]

Enjoying your report so far - we leave in 3 days! We also have a small group - 12 total, and my two boys (8 and 6) are the only kids.