January in Arizona – Two Floridians trying not to Freeze - COMPLETE - 5-8 - Page 4 - PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel
January in Arizona – Two Floridians trying not to Freeze - COMPLETE - 5-8
About This Page: This is a discussion on January in Arizona – Two Floridians trying not to Freeze - COMPLETE - 5-8 within the Globetrotting: General Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; What an interesting place! Wish I had known about it the one time I drove from Phoenix to Sedona to ...
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PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 31,152
Red Rocks Everywhere!
After Montezuma Castle and Well, he headed up AZ 179A from I-17 into the Coconino National Forest stopping along the road at the Visitor’s Center. There was a beautiful view of the valley and some of the famous red rock formations were visible from the viewing platform at the Visitor’s center. Chris broke out the tripod, and the new wide angle adapter for the camera to take some photos - that adapter would be getting lots of use over the next few days!
The rocks are starting to show the red colors
Red Rock Country!
View from the visitor's center
Chris setting up the shot
I thought it was very interesting that the building had a rain water cistern to catch rainwater from the roof. Not sure what they use it for - but I can see that being an asset in the desert.
They had some interesting exhibits about the geology of the Sedona area, as well as the critters you might encounter (as represented by scat samples and footprint casts).
They also had an interesting exhibit on forest fires- what the effects are, prevention, etc. Very interesting. I talked to one of the foresters about their “no impact” program - “take only pictures, leave only footprints” - trying to minimize the effects of all the tourists that visit the valley each year.
This tree tree went through nine fires since 1835.
The city of Sedona sits right smack dab in the middle of the National Forest, and I guess this has led to some growing pains and conflicts on the proper usage of National Forest lands.... (sorry - Environmental Policy geek, remember?).
After more examination of the Visitor’s center, we continued on into Sedona and found the Hilton. We unloaded all the STUFF (the polite word for it) from the Rav4, hauled it all inside and when we got to the front desk - we were informed that we had been upgraded to a Suite (SWEET!!!). We had a 2 room suite - a living room, with gas fireplace, dining area with wetbar, and then the bedroom and bathroom areas. It was very nice (and free again - thank you Hilton Hhonors!).
Our bedroom
View from our bedroom
We had a small balcony
Dining table w/wet bar
Sink area of the bathroom
Shower/bathtub
The entrance sign for the Hilton
After getting settled in - we went in search of dinner. One restaurant had been recommended by friends, but we were unable to find it - so we used my phone to log into “Urban Spoon” to see what the recommended options were - we decided on Oaxaca - a mexican restaurant where the chef tried to make it healthier with fewer fats, etc.
View of the red rocks from the Hilton parking lot
They have two stories - and we were taken upstairs to the glassed in patio - I am sure the views would have been great, if the sun had been up.
Free chips and salsa to start
Really good black bean soup. I tried quite a few varieties of black bean soup on this trip.
I caught Chris stealing some of my soup
He had the red rocks enchilada
I had the blue mesa trout
We decided not to walk around Sedona's downtown tonight, we were both tired - so we headed back to the Hilton - and I took a few more shots of the hotel - which still had the Christmas decorations up.
Chris decided to play with a cactus!
Next - more ancient ruins....
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Meeting Jacques in January 1976!! My first WDW trip.
Love the updates! And now I'm really looking forward to our trip this summer.
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Hi Terri! I'm curious to know how you liked Oaxaca. DH & I were just there in November, and every person we spoke to about restaurants (all locals) said that place was horrible and expensive and not to go there, so we didn't.
You write the best trip reports! Thanks for sharing!
--Carolyn
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011
The view of the Red Rocks is breathtaking! What a nice surprise getting a room upgrade in Sedona. I should have had some lunch before I read this update b/c your trout looks so good! can't wait for more.
Your dinner looked delish. I just got to catch up and take a look at your pictures, wonderful shots. Everything is just so beautiful. Congrats on your room upgrade, looks like a great view fromy our patio.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 31,152
Quote:
Originally Posted by wishes
Hi Terri! I'm curious to know how you liked Oaxaca. DH & I were just there in November, and every person we spoke to about restaurants (all locals) said that place was horrible and expensive and not to go there, so we didn't.
You write the best trip reports! Thanks for sharing!
--Carolyn
Carolyn - it was pretty decent - we enjoyed it, of course it was winter and a teh crowds were low. I've had much worse.
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Meeting Jacques in January 1976!! My first WDW trip.
Thanks so much for sharing Terri! I always feel like I'm getting a history lesson when I read your updates, which is fantastic (I'm a huge history buff-it was my major in college)! I've not spent any time in AZ, so this is pretty neat!
Glad to hear your meal was decent, Terri! Maybe we will try it next time we go back! Thanks for the info! BTW, we looooveed Sedona--so beautiful & peaceful!
__________________
First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011
About This Page: This is a discussion on January in Arizona – Two Floridians trying not to Freeze - COMPLETE - 5-8 within the Globetrotting: General Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; What an interesting place! Wish I had known about it the one time I drove from Phoenix to Sedona to ...
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on the upgrade, the room looks very nice!
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