You're a Grand Old Flagstaff

On a whim, I wanted to go up to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon with the fam. A lot of factors led to this decision:

• Savannah's mom is in town and we wanted to do something fun
• It was hot in Phoenix but only 72 degrees in Flagstaff
• Even though Savannah and I had lived in Phoenix for 14 and 13 years respectively, neither of us had been to the Grand Canyon. We needed to check this box to call ourselves true Arizonans.

Just 5 days prior to the trip we had no plans and no place to stay. So I researched hotels and they were all either booked or super expensive roadside motels with jacked rates hoping to sucker those last few idiots who waited until the last minute to plan their trip over a holiday weekend. That was going to be tough since we needed 3 rooms: one for Savannah and me, one for the kids, and one for Coleen/Oma, Savannah's mom.

So we had to think outside the box. I looked for vacation rentals and found one that looked nice. After the owner agreed to lower his minimum of 3 nights to 2 nights, I booked it. We were all set to go to the Flagstaff Rental Cabin. Yup, that's actually the name of the place.

Now I was anxious because I had sort of thrust this whole idea of a trip onto some people. Well, onto everyone. Savannah was afraid that the Grand Canyon was a giant hole and our kids would fall in, Coleen was not looking forward to a drive that long in the car (she gets motion sickness), Hayden outwardly pretends to hate freeways (sort of ironically and also sort of a means to hold onto her 'early years'), and Ellie took the temperature in the room and went with the crowd. 

So on Friday we left after work and drove up. With the movies in the car, and the drugs Oma took for the drive, the trip wasn't so bad. There was only one stop on the side of the road for the girls to pee in the weeds.

We drove immediately to our favorite Flagstaff restaurant: La Fonda. No, not that Lafawnda, this La Fonda. There is nothing healthy about the place which makes it so good.

After dinner we were off to see our accommodations. I was hoping everyone would like it since I was responsible for bringing them up here. After driving to the street, we couldn't find the exact spot so I had to get out and use the flashlight on my phone to make sure I had the right place. Once we did we were able to get in without issue.

Our home away from home.

Inside we saw that we would be roughing it. Full kitchen, a fire place, a big screen 3D TV with Netflix, 3 bedrooms - 2 of which were king rooms with Tempur Pedic adjustable massage mattresses, and a new deck with two hammocks overlooking the woods and the mountains. BUT THE MONOPOLY SET WAS MISSING THE IRON! DAMMIT! What would we do for two whole days!

I breathed a sigh of relief when the rest of the family breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was excited for the trip at this point which was great. 

The next day we went to the Grand Canyon. It was a 1.5 hour drive so again, drugs and movies did the trick. Of course, on the Saturday off Memorial Day weekend, we were the only ones that wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. Wrong. 

Yes. It is a big hole.

Fortunately it wasn't too bad and we were able to find a parking spot without too much trouble. And when we got up to the edge, it was spectacular. Pictures do not do it justice and standing there looking 15 miles across and 1 mile down seeing all kinds of canyons and valleys and cliffs is quite amazing. Then 2 little girls start getting bored and off you go. We were there for about an hour. Ticket. Punched.

We left and went back south towards a small town west of Flagstaff called Williams to have lunch. The town is on the famous Route 66, and it plays it up quite a bit. We had a nice lunch outside and listed to some live music.

"Grrr!"

Next we went to Bearizona, an outdoor animal park that you drive through. Now the kids were excited. Many people feel like it is Jurassic Park as you drive through the gates and the animals come up to your car. We saw big horn sheep, donkeys, Alaskan wolves, buffalo (Run Ralphie Run!), white bison, and of course the stars of the show, the black bears. The girls were loving seeing all the animals as they are so close to the car. The bears especially would move all around us (but not in an intimidating way) which was very cool.

Then we got to the end and went to the walk around area and saw some cute bear cubs, and some other bears who were climbing trees. And not just little trees and not just a little way up. They went all the way up 60 foot trees. It was nuts.

After that everyone was zonked so we headed back to the cabin. I made some pasta and we talked about our fun day, then we crashed.

On Sunday we made a big breakfast, then packed up and left our cabin. But not before getting some quality time on the deck in the hammocks while soaking up the delightful weather. 

We wanted to have lunch in Sedona so we drove back through Oak Creek Canyon, a wonderful stretch of road on route 89A that passes down some cliffs to the bottom of the canyon with the somewhat dry creek. As it was a perfect day the canyon was littered with outdoorsy folks picnicking, or hiking, or just enjoying the day. At the bottom of the canyon it was very un-Arizona as it had a ton of foliage and the trees bowed over the street to create a serene atmosphere. 

What a spot for lunch.

When we made it to Sedona, the town was packed. We got really lucky and found a great parking space and found a wonderful spot on a patio for lunch. We briefly discussed doing a jeep tour but decided against it as everyone was tired. It was a good decision as 4 of the 5 of us fell asleep on the way home to Phoenix. You can decide which 4.

All in all it was a terrific trip that we will always remember. And everyone was happy Daddy pushed them into going!

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