E&T hit the road for a winter break. We had to burn two tix from Allegiant Air or lose them. They fly straight from Rockford to Mesa Airport. It figures that the first snow storm of the year hammered us on the way down. Grim driving, grim flying. Flight delayed by several hours, but with some serious de-icing it took off just fine. We made it to the Holiday Inn Suites Mesa by 1:30 the next morning. (Nice room, giant bed, huge pool, no one in it. Too cool for the natives.)
Up bright and early, great breakfast within walking distance of our Hotel. Then we motored over to Tempe to walk around. Man, is it dry in Phoenix! Total desert (8.5″ of rain per year.) Quite a shock coming from Wisconsin. Temps in the high 60’s, air quality amazingly clear. I’m quite sure that’s not a given. Downtown Tempe is compact and typical for a large college. The campus is vast, with a student population we heard is in excess of 50,000.
We were entranced by the light rail that cut through town. Very modern. We unfortunately had no occasion to ride one.
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In the afternoon we hiked a nearby city park named Papago. Two miles and no irrigation away, the dryness is dramatic compared to being “in town”. We baked in the sun and stoked up on Vitamin D.
After the hike, we motored around. Walked downtown Scottsdale, drank wine on an outdoor patio. Still great temps, fancy surroundings. We need another million in our portfolio to fit in there.
Finished the evening with Mexican dinner at Mangos, in downtown Mesa. There is a real downtown, it was full of people (regular folks), street musicians, not too upscale. Mangos was a popular locals hangout, very basic, above average food.
The next day, we took our tennis rackets back to campus, hit on the ASU courts. Took a picture of our rental car, a Hyundai Elantra. Nice machine, fast, 40mpg.
In the afternoon we found The Bicycle Cellar, a bike rental place near ASU campus in Tempe. Good rental bikes, rode a local bike path and met Jim & Monica, snowbirds from Minneapolis. We rode about 5 miles with them chatting away about their RV life in Mesa, which they love. They’ve been coming here for seven years. They have a 5th wheel and spend 5 months down here in Monte Vista RV park. Monte Vista has 10 championship level tennis courts, leagues, workout facilities, pool, etc. We did check out a couple of RV parks in Tempe and Scottsdale and got some rental info.
Ate at Jalisco’s, a very authentic (ie, no one there spoke English) Mex joint with good tacos and rellenos.
On Sunday we met up with old friend Barb McNichol, from Colorado – now residing in Tucson. In two hours we could barely catch up, so we drove over to the fancy resort hotel The Phoenician to walk the grounds. They managed there to have both the best cactus garden around, and to also abuse the usage of water, all at the same time.
Monday morning we drove the 130 miles north to Sedona. For those who aren’t familiar, Sedona is located in a huge, high desert plain dotted with some of the most spectacular rock formations imaginable. And not just a few. They seem to go on forever.
We checked in at the ranger station south of town for hiking maps and suggestions, and the camera started clicking.
Our Motel was the Bell Rock Resort in Oak Creek Village, about 6 miles south of central Sedona. Nice place with pool and hot tub, good bed. We hiked the Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte loop that same afternoon, just a mile from our motel, gorgeous hike on a cloudy day. A storm had blown through and fast moving clouds were still in evidence. As opposed to crystal blue skies, these clouds made for some interesting photography.
Then on to Uptown Sedona, a six mile drive. Spectacular rock formations flew at us on the way. In desperation I started taking photos out the car window. We had a drink overlooking the canyon, best view in the city. Walked nearby to a restaurant for a really good Kobe burger.
Sedona is parts pure tourist destination, but it also has some “real” neighborhoods, and real shopping areas.
On Tuesday we hit the road, drove SW 17 miles to Cottonwood, a real town, not a tourist destination. As we dropped in altitude from Sedona, the topology quickly changed from semi-verdent high desert to real, bone dry stuff. We checked out an RV site and saw the same Airstream from the day before, in the ranger station. Then five miles onward to Jerome, a former mining town and tourist crossroads that sits perched thousands of feet above Cottonwood on a ledge.
Jerome was way up there. You could see for a hundred miles.
Back to Sedona and an afternoon hike, this one north and west of town.
Last day. We drove Cottonwood Canyon to Flagstaff. Very scenic. Dramatic gain in altitude. Stopped at the highest point to look down into a steep canyon. Parking lot sale of traditional Indian jewelry.
UA-Flagstaff reeked of hipster chic. It was too bad we didn’t have time to stick around, and besides, it was *cold* there.
We skedaddled back to Sedona for one last hike in warm weather.
