AZ - March 2018 - Days 5-7

Chuckwagon Trail

March 11^th, 2018

Rain, rain, go away! Really is was only a bit misty out, but the cloud cover was quite dense. While we were waiting for the fog to clear we went and checked out the really cool arts area called Tlaquepaque. We also drove out to the Hillside art area to check out the Exposures International Gallery of Fine Art. There were some gorgeous pieces of art.

Devil's Bridge

Around 11 AM, the clouds were lifting so we headed out to do some hiking around Sedona.  Tripadvisior.com indicated that Devil’s Bridge was a cool place to visit. Reading the reviews someone had indicated that the Chuckwagon Trail was a great way to reach to Devils Bridge Trailhead.  The Devils Bridge Trailhead is down a fire road and not accessible with a standard vehicle. We parked at the Mescal Trailhead and ventured out on the Chuckwagon trail towards Devils Bridge. The hike was scenic with not a lot of people. Once we reached the Devils Bridge Trail the trail became much busier.  I was not brave enough to head onto the bridge (the line was a little long also). During our return hike, we decided to take the rest of the Chuckwagon Trail.  It was an okay trail, some nice views with a lot more ups and downs than the portion we had hiked previously.  We got off the trail just in time – the rain came back.

Sedona Rocks

We attempted to go to a BBQ place for dinner, but it closed at 5! We walked around town a little bit and decided what we wanted to go next. Since it was approaching sunset we decided to take a drive up to the Airport Road overlook. There was a $3 parking fee, which seemed reasonable. In general the view was very nice; however, the clouds came in eliminating the chance for a beautiful sunset.

View from Airport Road

March 12^th, 2018

Coyote Canyon

Originally, we had planned to take a hot air balloon ride, but the weather the previous two mornings put the brakes on that.  Instead, we decided to go on a Pink Jeep ride. There were a lot of different options to select from.  We decided to try the Coyote Canyon ride. Had we known, we probably would have selected a different route since this took us to the exact area that we had hiked the day before. The jeep ride was fun, but I would probably not do it again.

We did have some yummy homemade ice cream at the Black Cow Café in Sedona after the jeep ride. Mike had the prickly pear flavor.  I sampled it but it was too weird for me!

Sedona Rocks

After the jeep ride, we headed out to Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock. We were fortunate to find parking. We spent a few hours hiking around the area before heading back to Phoenix for the night.

We stopped and ate at Chili’s before heading to Holiday Inn Express Phoenix North – Scottsdale. The hotel appeared to be quite new – the room was in great condition and had lovely décor.

Bell Rock Area

March 13^th, 2018

We had intended to head to the Botanical Garden for a few hours before heading to the airport, but traffic was a bit heavy so we decided to just chill out at the hotel until we had to go to the airport (10am). The airport was not busy due to cancelled flights - the east coast was getting hammered with snow!  We had a smooth flight and drive home.  Until next time, happy travels!

AZ - March 2018 - Days 3-4

 March 9^th, 2018 (Friday)

What an exciting day! A while back, on Facebook, I had reconnected with a friend that I had made in middle school. We were able to coordinate a meet-up during our trip to AZ.  We met up for breakfast at a place called Kneaders Bakery & Cafe. It was super yummy and the company was awesome! I was so happy to meet up in person!

Tonto National Monument - Lower Cliff Dwelling

Tonto National Monument 

After our meet up, we headed to Tonto National Monument. Tonto National Monument is home to two Cliff Dwellings. The Lower Cliff Dwelling is a steep, paved one-mile hike. You must start the upward hike by 4pm.  The Upper Cliff Dwelling is only viewable if you take the guided tour, which requires a reservation and only allows 6 people per tour.  We did not visit the Upper Cliff Dwelling during our visit (tour takes 3 to 4 hours and is a 3 mile hike). The Cliff Dwellings are estimated to be about 700 years old. There is a video at the visitor center - shown outdoors near the visitor center exit to the Lower Cliff Dwelling. Visitors were very disrespectful with talking loudly and ignoring the fact that a video was being played. There is a $7 fee for those over 15 years old to walk up to the cliff dwelling (free if you have a NPS pass).

The Tonto National Forest surrounds the Tonto National Monument. The visitor center for the National Forest is very near the National Monument.  There are many hiking trails available in the National Forest. There is a really cool bridge and the dam right near the visitor center.

Tonto National Forest

Onward and upward we go – Sedona here we come!  We stopped to snoop around in the old mining town of Jerome before heading into Sedona. We had previously visited Jerome and Sedona, but both places are worth a second visit or more!

For the next three nights, we stayed at Sedona Summit – very nice place. After checking in, we headed into Sedona for some food.  We tried the Pisa Lisa Restaurant, which specializes in wood-fired pizza. The pizza was very good – no burned crust here.

March 10^th, 2018 (Saturday)

Grand Canyon National Park

We left Sedona early to get to the Grand Canyon National Park. The annual park pass got us in at no cost – if you do need to pay it is $30 per car. We parking in Lot 2, which I think might be the closest one to the visitor center. There was plenty of parking available when we arrived at 9am. Rain was in the forecast so we headed to the trails first thing.

Grand Canyon National Park

Starting at Mather Point, we headed west along the Rim Trail. We stopped to check out numerous views along the way, including the Yavapai Point Geology Museum. We reached the Grand Canyon Village area around 11 SM and checked out the buildings in the area including: the 1905 Hopi House (designed to resemble an ancient pueblo), Verkamp’s Visitor Center, Lookout Studio and Kolb Studio. We decided to have lunch at Bright Angel Lodge before continuing west on the trail. Lunch was decent in taste and price. We hopped on the bus at the Hermits Rest Route Transfer and rode until we reached Monument Creek Vista. Exiting the bus, we walked west on the Greenway Trail until we reached Pima Point, where we hopped back on the bus. I had seen a recommendation that this portion of the park was a lovely walk. It was a bit disappointing that there were not a lot of canyon views, the plants did provide nice diversity. We would have continued to walk to the end of the trail at the Hermits Rest bus stop but it looked like rain in the distance. The bus stops at Hermits Rest for 10-15 minutes, allowing time to jump off, take a few photos, check out the gift shop, used the bathroom, before hopping back on the bus. Hermit’s Rest was opened in 1914 and supposedly provides amazing sunset views.

Grand Canyon National Park

Once getting back to the bus transfer station, the line was long to get on the bus to the visitor center. Buses arrive at each bus stop every 10-15 minutes. We had to wait for the third bus before we were able to get on.  We debated about walking down the street to the next station, if we did not get on that third bus we were going to.  The buses are nothing fancy, but we were fortunate to see five Elk near Trailer Village. 

Back at the visitor center, we checked out the limited displays before watching the NPS video, which is about 25 minutes long and starts every 30 minutes. The video was just okay – for sure skip it if you do not have a lot of time. Exiting the video the rain had started.

Grand Canyon National Park - Watchtower

Leaving the visitor center area, we headed east (and stayed ahead of the rain) to the Tusayan Museum and Ruin. The museum was okay – it talked about the Indian Tribes from the area. The sky was a little clearer and we stopped at the Navajo Point lookout.  From the lookout, you could see the 70-foot-tall Desert View Watchtower, which was just a little further to the east.  The Watchtower is super neat! The interior and exterior are both impressive, as are the views from both inside and outside the tower.  The tower was designed in 1932 to resemble a prehistoric Puebloan kiva (a round room used for community meetings and religious rituals).

We were surprised that when we entered the park in the morning that there was not a Grand Canyon sign.  The sign is located at the east park entrance. Of course we stopped to snap a picture!

There was one hike that I had read about that was supposed to be great that we did not have time for was a hike to Showstone Point. The trail starts about 1.2 miles east of the Yaki Point Road, where you hike down a dirt road to reach the point.  Parking is available along the Desert View Drive roadside.  There was also a guided hike along Cedar Ridge that would have been nice to check out. The hike starts at 8am and is 3 miles long (2-4 hours).

AZ - March 2018 - Days 1-2

March 7^th, 2018 (Wednesday)

First trip of the year!! We had an evening Delta flight out of DTW to Phoenix, AZ! There was a short delay due to plane cleaning, otherwise smooth sailing. Hotels were a bit expensive, but we managed to find a place in Mesa, about 25 minutes from the airport, that was under $150 a night. The place was called Westgate Painted Mountain Golf Resort. We had a studio unit, which was in decent condition.

March 8^th, 2018 (Thursday)

We love the HOV lanes! Phoenix traffic was quite heavy on our way to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. By 9 AM, traffic let up, which was fine with us, since we were pretty much out of the city by that point. It was a bit of a drive to Organ Pipe Cactus, but well worth it.

Organ Pipe Cactus

Organ Pipe Cactus was named after the Organ Pipe Cactus that exist at the site.  Organ Pipe Cactus is a part of the Sonoran Desert and is home to over 4,000 species of plants and animals.  Organ Pipe Cactus is also known as the Green Desert. We had stopped at the IGA store in Ajo to get some lunch, since the park does not offer food. The IGA did not have a lot of options for an easy lunch, unless you wanted a lunchable (or something along tho  We probably should have stopped at a gas station where we probably could have picked up sandwiches for lunch.
se lines).

The weather was nice – mostly cloudy but in the low 80’s. Unfortunately, the visitor center did not have power. Luckily, when we first arrived the rangers had some materials outside of the center and could answer any questions. We checked in later in the afternoon and the power was still not on and the rangers and information were not available.

Arch Canyon Trail - Ajo Mountain

We opted to check out the Ajo Mountain scenic drive first, which the ranger had given us a pamphlet that described each numbered site along the way. The drive takes about two hours. There were many pull-offs, a few hiking, and picnic areas along the 21 mile loop. The drive was on a gravel road, which was in okay condition. There were not any restrictions as to what type of vehicle could be taken on the road. Besides stopping at some of the numbered stops, we also stopped at the Arch Canyon trailhead. The hike was advertised as 1.2 miles and lasting about an hour.  It was a relatively easy hike until you get to the sign that gives you a warning about the trail turning rocky. Apparently, the advertised 1.2-mile hike ends at this point. We continued past this point, since we did not know that it was the end of the hiking trail. The trail on the rocky portion was a bit more challenging with a lot of smooth rocks to scramble up. We were unsure if the rock scramble portion would actually lead us to a close up of the rock bridge so eventually we turned back. We did have some nice views from the portion that we did make it up to.

Desert View Trail

After leaving the Ajo Mountain scenic drive, we headed back to the visitor center to do a hike near there.  The Desert View Trail loops around the group camping area and provided lovely views and was an easy 1.2 mile hike.  This trail is advertised as great for sunrise and sunset.

We had adequate time for another hike, we drove over to the other loop road, Puerto Blanco, and parked at the Red Tanks Tinaja trailhead. Again, this loop road was gravel and in decent condition in the portion that we traversed. Our plan was to hike the 1.6 mile Red Tanks Tinaja trail. We set off for the hike and reached a cluster of signs, since did not think we had reached the end of the trail that we were set out on we kept on walking the direction that we thought we should go. The trail ended up taking us down an old fire road (maybe?)  - it was super boring with very few views. L

uckily. the hike was not to challenging – just lots of small pebbles that tended to end up in your shoes.

The entire Puerto Blanco loop is 41 miles and takes 3 to 4 hours.  Portions of the road are two way.

All in all we hiked over 5 miles at Organ Pipe Cactus, which would have meant that we could participated in the Hike for Health Challenge for hiking more than 5 miles had the visitor center opened up. Note – there is a $12 fee that you are supposed to pay at a station at the side of the road.

Driving back to the accommodations from the previous night, we stopped by a place called Booty’s Wings Burgers & Beer for dinner. It was tasty.

Year in Review - 2017

As 2017 wraps up, I reflect on all of the new places we got to visit during the year. It is super hard to pick a favorite trip...picking a favorite experience - even harder yet! The most unexpected fun would have to be the NFL Draft. We made it to most of the places we had planned to hit in 2017 and a few places that we originally had not planned to visit.

Believe it or not, we do not currently have any trip for 2018 planned!  Oh, I have some ideas, but nothing has been decided. My ideas for 2018 include the following destinations:

Southwestern Texas (Big Bend NP, White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, etc.)

Sedona, AZ (Grand Canyon NP)

Maine (Acadia NP)

Washington State / Northern Oregon

Colorado (did not make it in 2017)

Santa Fe, New Mexico

2017 put me up to 217 visited National Park Sites! Only 200 more to go!

Texas - Nov 2017 - Days 3 -5

 November 11^th, 2017

Magnolia Market

After breakfast we made the trek up to Waco. Our visit of Waco started at the Magnolia Market, yep that probably sounds familiar, you have probably seen the HGTV show Fixer Uppers. Despite arriving before 10am, it was already very busy. Street parking was available around the store, or if you would rather you can park in the church parking lot for $10! The prices were not nearly as bad as we had expected – apparently the prices are only high at other locations that sell their stuff. Leaving Magnolia, we headed over to a relatively new NPS site – Waco Mammoth National Monument. If you want to see the bones, you will have to pony up $5/adult to take the guided tour. The site was rather interesting. Tours lasts about an hour.

Waco Mammoth National Monument

We had lunch at a place called The Wagon Wheel. It was good, we all had sandwiches.

After lunch, we headed back into Waco to check out Baylor University, the Dr. Pepper Building, and we grabbed some cupcakes at What about Cupcakes. The cupcakes were just okay.

Next, we ventured to the boardwalks along the river in Austin.  The boardwalks provided great views of the city skyline.

Downtown Austin

Welcome to Austin 

We visited the “Welcome to Austin” wall mural, which just happened to be near we planned to eat. It was suggested we stopped at Torchy’s Tacos for dinner. There are numerous locations around town, but we picked the one that was in a food truck courtyard on 1^st street. The Queso was really good as were the tacos that we had. I really liked the Green Chile Pork taco.

Texas Capitol

Since we had yet to have some ice cream on this trip, we decided to try a local ice cream place called Amy’s.  We lucked out and found street parking.  The ice cream was okay, comparable to most other good quality ice creams.  There were a lot of restaurants in the area and we walked around a bit.  We came upon another cupcake place, Hey Cupcake, so we stopped to get cupcakes for the next day. These cupcakes ended up being better than the ones we got in Waco.

I had my camera with me so we stopped by the capitol for some night time photos. The previous night, I just had my cell phone with me.

November 12^th, 2017

Zilker Botanical Garden

We made yet another stop to the capitol – this time we went inside and poked around. The interior is just as pretty as the exterior! There is free parking in a nearby parking deck.  Since we had a little more time to kill, we made a visit to the Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin.  There were so many places that lent themselves to great photographs! There was a $3/person fee to enter the park.

Heading south, we stopped by Gruene. Gruene is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a dance hall and a bunch of shops. The area was really busy, so we opted to have lunch a little ways away at a place called Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Que. It was an interesting place.  You go in and get in line, you tell the “meat” guy what you want – like ½ a pound of brisket. The guy then slices a hunk off and asks if you want it in sauce, if so he dunks it in a vat of sauce and then proceeds to plop it on a tray.  Then you head into the next room where they take the tray, slice and wrap the meat. You then proceed along the line and pick any sides you may want and then at last you pay.  Community seating is available. I would say it was my least favorite BBQ place that we visited.

Mission San Jose

After lunch, we headed to Mission San Jose (the visitor center is located there) in San Antonio.  We watched the 20 minute video which was informative and worth a watch. There are guided tours available of the mission. Since we had a little bit of time before the tour we ventured into the mission on our own and then returned to the visitor center for the tour. The ranger that took us on the tour was very informative. Very little of the exterior paint remains, but what that does remain is pretty.  The interior is pretty as well.

Leaving the Mission San Jose, we headed down the road to check out Mission San Juan.  This mission was not nearly as grand as the first.

Mission San Juan

Lastly, we attempted to visit Mission Espada, however the gate was locked. By this time, we could check into the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn San Antonio - Riverwalk.  On-site parking is $25. Our room was on the 22^nd floor and provided nice views of the city.

My sister had a friend in San Antonio that we met up with for dinner.  We ate at a place along the Riverwalk called Mad Dogs British Pub. The food was good; however, the red velvet dessert waffle was not as amazing at it sounded.  After dinner, we walked around the Riverwalk area for a while, but then started to get creeped out by the number of homeless people lingering.

November 13^th, 2017

3 pound cinnamon roll

Holiday Inn does not include free breakfast, which was okay since we had our eye on the 3 pound cinnamon roll at a place called Lulu’s Bakery and Cafe.  Lulu’s did not smell the best, but the cinnamon roll was a fun reason to visit.  The three of us did not finish the cinnamon roll, I think had we had another person with us we would have conquered it!

Alamo

We could not forget the Alamo!!  There were two different tour options, we opted for the guided tour ($15/person). There was also a self-guided tour with audio available ($7/person, but there was a deal if you also went on the guided tour). The tour lasted about an hour and was very informative. After the tour we checked out the buildings (the tour covered the battlefield). There is also a building that has a special exhibit. During our visit the exhibit was about the Bowie knife.

We visited one last mission that we did not get to the previous day, Mission Concepcion. It was very nice inside.

GO RIO San Antonio River Cruise

After breakfast, we dropped the car off back at the hotel and headed out on foot to take the tour of the Riverwalk.  The GO RIO San Antonio River Cruise costs $12/adult and lasts about 35 minutes. When you get your tickets they tell you that time the tour that you can get on is, but the time is not printed on the ticket.  We stood in line and got on the next boat, no one seemed upset that they missed the boat so it worked out for us.

We walked back to the hotel and packed up and headed out (thank you IHG rewards for the late checkout).

Another recommendation was to visit Nothing Bundt Cakes for some yummy treats (we ended up taking them home). Come to find out, Nothing Bundt Cakes is a chain and there is a location opening kind of near where we live! We had lunch at a place nearby at a Mexican restaurant called Paloma Blanca.  It was good, as expected, the restaurant was celebrating 20 years of service!

It was time to drop off the rental car and get to the airport. Again we got luck and not paying for a seat worked out!  We ended up in the Comfort Plus seats!  Our flight home was a smooth one, as was the drive after picking up the car.  Until next time happy travels!

Texas - Nov. 2017 - Days 1 & 2

November 9^th, 2017

Sister trip + Mike (we like having someone cart us around)!  This is the third year of this new tradition. The sister lived in MO during that time, but now is back in MI. Continuing with the visiting a city, with great music, we headed to Austin, TX!

We had an 8:30ish flight to San Antonio, TX. The not paying extra to pick a seat worked in our favor – all of us ended up in the exit row!! We had a smooth flight, no one had a lost bag, and the car rental line was not too bad. Luck was for sure on our side!  We also rolled the dice when booking the car (Alamo). Mike picked the “Managers Choice”. We were able to select an Impala for our trip.  The hotel was near the airport, Holiday Inn Express San Antonio - Airport. The room was okay- the bathroom was a little small and the room did not smell the best.

Lyndon B. Johnson White House

November 10^th, 2017

After a quick breakfast, at the hotel we were on the road.  Our first stop for the day was the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park (and portion of the National Park Service), which is where you can visit the ranch and his white house. It was a neat site.  It was a bit of a drive to the white house, but it provided lovely views of ranch land with wandering Herford cattle. Once arriving to the white house area, we were able to purchase tickets to enter the Texas White House with a tour guide ($3 for adults). Advice - arrive early so you will not have to wait too long for a tour. When we were getting ready to leave a bus load of people showed up and easily filled the next two tours. There were some displays and video to watch.

LBJ Ranch

LJB Boyhood Home

Leaving the state park we headed to the second LBJ NPS site, his boyhood home. There is a short hiking trail to check out the farm area. You can enter the house with a park ranger – free. The house is closed during the lunch hour, so plan accordingly.

Time for lunch!! Our first Texas BBQ selection was a cute place called Salt Lick BBQ. It was an excellent choice! The BBQ sauce (mustard based) that they use reminded my sister and I of home – it was super similar to the homemade sauce that the family uses for BBQ chicken! We also tried the Chocolate Pecan Pie – it was just okay.

VooDoo Donut

We made it to the hotel, Best Western Plus – Austin Central.  The room was decent, even a smaller bathroom than the last hotel! We chilled out at the hotel for a bit before heading out for the night.  We parked at the convention center for $10 and then checked out 6^th Street.  A friend recommended that we check out VooDoo Donuts – it was amazing!  The hardest part was picking out what type to try!  We had signed up for the Austin Live Music Tour thru Austin Detours. The $50 tour provided us with a local musician guide/driver that took us to 3 different music venues/bars. We started the night at the Elephant Room for some jazz type music, it was nice. The second stop was at a dive bar called The White Horse, where were was some honky-tonk music being played. There were lots of folks two-stepping. Of all the places, this was the busiest of the three bars we visited.  The last stop of the evening was the Skylark Lounge. It was another dive bar. The band that was supposed to play had cancelled, but the replacement band was super good. The band was called Oscar Ornelas. 

Outer Banks Road Trip - October 2017 - Days 5 - 6

 October 23, 2017

Appomattox Court House NHP

Time to head home… Again, we had a couple of stops to make on the drive home. Our first stop was the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. The site was really busy! The visitor center has really nice displays and a video.  There are also a lot of ranger talks that take place. When we arrived there was one just finishing up and about ten minutes after we arrived another was starting. There are a few reconstructed buildings on site to visit.

Booker T. Washington National Monument

After a quick lunch at Dairy Queen in Appomattox (really good ice cream) we headed to the Booker T. Washington National Monument.  The visitor center had a 10 minute video which was worth the watch. The visitor center also had nice displays to check out.  Outside you can visit the log cabin where Booker was born. There are also some animals and other structures on site. We spent about 45 minutes at the site.

Back on the road…the drizzly rain that we had been dealing with all day increased in intensity making the drive not very fun.  It was really back for about two and half hours. We stopped at the Applebee’s in Princeton, WV for dinner and we decided on how much further we wanted to drive for the day. We decided to book the Holiday Inn Express in Parkersburg East. Based on reviews, it was newly opened – new hotels are the best! The room was really nice!

October 24, 2017

Hocking Hills

The weather was okay so we make a stop at the Hocking Hills.  We had not visited the Hocking Hills region in a few years.  We did some hiking at the Rock House and the Old Man Cave area before heading to the capitol in Columbus.  The capitol was quite basic, not nearly as fancy as most state capitols.

Columbus Capitol Building

The rest of the drive home was uneventful. Until next time, safe travels!