Talk to Me About Arizona.

[Imzadi]

I remember being in Scottsdale one day when it was 112°. I thought to myself, "There are limits to the 'It's a dry heat' theory." But of course, it still was better than 112° with higher humidity would have been.

I was talking to some Texas tourists visiting here in NYC. We were discussing the heat. While I get that it can go to 120°+ there, and we only get to 100°, we get the oppressive 80% - 90% humidity. Some days I can barely breathe the humidity is so bad. And I end up with my sweat drenched and sticking to me because the humidity won't allow it to evaporate.

They didn't understand humidity as they hadn't experienced it while here. And at one point, I said, after a certain temperature, it probably doesn't matter if one bakes of steams.

 

[Pembo]

We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge in the National Park. Highly recommend staying one night in the park. Breakfast at the El Tovar overlooking the GC is amazing.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Like I said, Maswik is fine. Seems to be fairly basic but at least remodeled periodically. So was it the price?

I mentioned the quad cabins at Maswik. They were far out from the lodge building and were eventually removed I guess because they were old and not worth rebuilding. However, our rate almost 20 years ago was $80 a night for three.

There are recommendations to stay inside because of the ridiculous lines to get in from Tusayan. They have a shuttle that comes in from Tusayan but that ends early September. I would think by your visit it's well out of peak visitation season and the lines getting in should be reasonable.

It's not as much the money as it is being hesitant to pay for a hotel that gets worse reviews than the one we can stay at for free. Mostly, it appears Maswik Lodge isn't in a great location as far as the in park hotels go.

We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge in the National Park. Highly recommend staying one night in the park. Breakfast at the El Tovar overlooking the GC is amazing.

It appears we could get one night at Thunderbird Lodge. What did you think about it? Was it walkable to any other hotels for more food options? That's one thing we loved about Yellowstone. Also, did they have an elevator? I tried a Google search, but nothing came up. I can't climb steps, so I can't take a chance on being assigned a second floor room without an elevator. If you don't remember, we'll try calling later.

ETA: After I booked two nights, I saw they don't have an elevator. That may be a problem. We'll have to call to see if they can guarantee ground floor.

 

[mom2rtk]

I hope you have an amazing trip. I also hope you come back and share some photos from all the amazing places you visit!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Okay, I need more hotel/location advise.

On Tuesday, we plan to leave Grand Canyon & drive by Horseshoe Bend & Upper Antelope Canyon.

Wednesday & Thursday will be Monument Valley, Four Corners & Canyon de Chelly.

Does it make sense to stay in Page, AZ. on Tuesday night, at *Monument Valley Park on Wednesday night & the hotel inside Canyon de Chelly on Thursday night?

We thought we'd use any extra time seeing the area surrounding each hotel.

Please feel free to critique this plan & make alternate suggestions. I'm really not sure where the best places to stay would be. I'm just running out of time & trying to come up with something, before the hotels are completely full.

*ETA: As I posted below, we now have a non-cancellable room at Monument Valley. (I panicked, when our first choice sold out. ) That is now set in stone. Spending a night in Page & a night at the hotel in Canyon de Chelly are still in question.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I hope you have an amazing trip. I also hope you come back and share some photos from all the amazing places you visit!

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't posted the Yellowstone pictures that I was going to try to learn how to post yet. Hopefully, this trip will be the motivation I need to figure it out how to post all of them.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't posted the Yellowstone pictures that I was going to try to learn how to post yet. Hopefully, this trip will be the motivation I need to figure it out how to post all of them.

You should be able to copy and paste them here. I'd love to see them. I'd like to get back to Yellowstone again soon.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

You should be able to copy and paste them here. I'd love to see them. I'd like to get back to Yellowstone again soon.

Stay on me, so maybe I'll get it done.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Okay, you guys wore me down. We booked Thunderbird Lodge for both nights.




We still need to call about the elevator.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Well, The View hotel in Monument Valley sold out, since I typed the above post. Back to the drawing board on for that night.

ETA: I booked Goulding's Lodge instead. I was hesitant to book something that couldn't be cancelled, but I was afraid that one would sell out as well. We'll be spending the night at Monument Valley now no matter what. If that was a bad choice, you can feel free to not share.

 

[elgerber]

We really enjoyed Jerome, for a day, and Cottonwood.
Sedona we did, only for the jeeps. My husband loves doing to jeep rental, driving all over the rocks is his thing.
We also loved Karchner Cavern, but it's nowhere near most of the other things people have mentioned.

 

[mom2rtk]

Well, The View hotel in Monument Valley sold out, since I typed the above post. Back to the drawing board on for that night.

ETA: I booked Goulding's Lodge instead. I was hesitant to book something that couldn't be cancelled, but I was afraid that one would sell out as well. We'll be spending the night at Monument Valley now no matter what. If that was a bad choice, you can feel free to not share.

We stayed there. It was fine, but my standards could be different from yours.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We really enjoyed Jerome, for a day, and Cottonwood.
Sedona we did, only for the jeeps. My husband loves doing to jeep rental, driving all over the rocks is his thing.
We also loved Karchner Cavern, but it's nowhere near most of the other things people have mentioned.

Those towns are new to me. I'll look into them. Thanks

I'm hoping we're going to be amazed by Sedona. Our hotel there is the most expensive of the trip. It's more per night than the Grand Canyon hotel we booked. Fortunately, we're using points there. I can't imagine paying $443 per night (rewards member - book early rate) for a Best Western.

 

[LoveToDisney]

A great restaurant experience, about 30 minutes directly north of Scottsdale Named after the desert lizard, not some old time, turn-of-the-century, forlorn cowboy.

https://www.thehornytoad.com/

Oh my gosh! I LOVE that place. 40 years ago, I worked a lot in Carefree, AZ for weeks at a time. We would head over to Cave Creek with the locals to eat there.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We stayed there. It was fine, but my standards could be different from yours.

Our standards are clean & convenient for food & drink. As long as it's roaches & bed bug free, we'll be good. We're in it for the location & view.

How was the view? How about food? Is there anything else nearby we should see? I'm hoping to see a little of Utah in the three days I mentioned above.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Oh my gosh! I LOVE that place. 40 years ago, I worked a lot in Carefree, AZ for weeks at a time. We would head over to Cave Creek with the locals to eat there.

I'm glad you replied to @Dan Murphy's post. I had forgotten to write that down. Hopefully, it will be convenient enough for us to get there.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our standards are clean & convenient for food & drink. As long as it's roaches & bed bug free, we'll be good. We're in it for the location & view.

How was the view? How about food? Is there anything else nearby we should see? I'm hoping to see a little of Utah in the three days I mentioned above.

I don't recall there being cleanliness issues. And there is a restaurant onsite. I think also a convenience store nearby. They do jeep tours of Monument Valley that depart from Goulding's.

This was the view from our balcony:



And sitting in the onsite restaurant:



The parking lot:

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I don't recall there being cleanliness issues. And there is a restaurant onsite. I think also a convenience store nearby. They do jeep tours of Monument Valley that depart from Goulding's.

This was the view from our balcony:

View attachment 883690

And sitting in the onsite restaurant:

View attachment 883692

The parking lot:

View attachment 883693

Nice! I hope our balcony has a good view. Views are always a crapshoot.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We really enjoyed Jerome, for a day, and Cottonwood.
Sedona we did, only for the jeeps. My husband loves doing to jeep rental, driving all over the rocks is his thing.
We also loved Karchner Cavern, but it's nowhere near most of the other things people have mentioned.

I see that Jerome & Cottonwood are on the road we'll be taking to Grand Canyon. What did you do there?

 

[elgerber]

I see that Jerome & Cottonwood are on the road we'll be taking to Grand Canyon. What did you do there?

In Jerome, we had a couple of meals, The Haunted Hamburger is great. We went in a bunch of shops, and went here https://goldkingmineghosttown.com/
We stayed in Cottonwood and went to a couple wine tastings, looked in shops and ate more food LOL. We were very full.