Tag Archives: Sedona

Native American Journey’s Tours

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In looking for the best way to get the best value for our $$$ and squeeze in as much as possible, I ran across a web site

www.nativeamericanjouneys.com

Their tours are not inexpensive but they sound like they offer a unique perspective.

One of the tours they offer that fascinates me in the “Bottom of the Grand Canyon” . The price listed on the web site is $179.00 per person and although it gives a description of the tour, is doesn’t say how you will get to the bottom or more important, how you get back out! I would love to see the Canyon from the bottom but I can tell you right now, this old body could not make the climb up…Not sure about the climb down but definitely not back up! I think I will have to call for more information on this one.

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Grand Canyon National Park

  Travel to the Canyon’s rim – a must see! Photo opportunities abound. Views of the Little Colorado Gorge and Painted Desert. Enjoy lunch on the Canyon’s rim. Visit the Grand Canyon Imax. Journey to the Navajo Reservation and the Historic Cameron Trading Post. Learn about the people who occupy the majestic Grand Canyon.

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A tour called Sedona Spirit would take us to Montezuma Castle. The price on this one is more to my liking ($79.00 per person) but I had thought going to these locations would be a good way to fill in the morning before we took the Verde Canyon Rail Road so we may not want to do this as a tour.. Here’s the tour description anyway. We can always change our minds on the order of the things we are doing:

Sedona Spirit

Travel with your native guide to local ruins, including the famous Montezuma’s Castle cliff dwellings and Montezuma’s Well natural springs. As you journey through the Historic Verde Valley, you’ll learn about the area’s history and it’s inhabitants. You’ll also receive a blessing from your Native American guide at the healing springs of Montezuma’s Well.

 I have one last tour to consider but the pros and cons are a little more involved so I think I will discuss that with you in a separate post.

As always, if you’ve been on one of the tours or have any suggestions or insights, please add a comment. All are appreciated!

 

The “If there’s any Spare time” list

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The “If there’s any Spare time” list is made up of things I enjoy or think I’d enjoy but also don’t mind skipping for something better. Sandy may feel differently and if so, we’ll just have to shift things around.

Here’s the list:

  • Out of Africa Wildlife Park

Zebras at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park

  • Jerome, Arizona
  • Palatki and Honanki Heritage Sites
  • Have lunch at a café in Tlaquepaque

Tlaquepaque

On the list of things that I would do but Sandy probably won’t want to:

  • Helicopter Tour

Helicopter tours

  • Hot Air Balloon Ride

Hot Air Balloon

I’m sure I’ve left something out but these are the lists that come to mind as the first stage of planning begins.

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Bucket list Sedona ~ take 2

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Ok Here’s the NON-NEGOTIABLE List:The trip to the Grand Canyon on the railroad with the rim tour will be a full day. The 2nd trip will be for the IMAX film and some exploring of the canyon on our own.

Williams Station

 

Verde Canyon Railroad is an afternoon and is combined with the Blazin’ M dinner show.

Verde Canyon Tarin

The morning is open although we want to go to the Blazin’ M before the train ride too because there isn’t time to browse the Old Time town exhibit and shops after the train ride.

Blazin "M" Dinner Show

 

The Cowboy Cookout and trail ride is a mid afternoon and evening leaving the morning free.

M Diamond Ranch

Getting Ready for the Trail Ride

The Sedona trolley will be the first thing we do on Sunday.

Sedona Trolley

 After all their motto is :The Best First Thing To Do in Sedona, Arizona. I think that first day is a great day to get familiar with our surroundings, do some shopping and browsing in Upper Sedona and in general stay close to the condo. Shake off any lingering travel weariness.

　

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http://www.thetrain.com/

 

 

http://verdecanyonrr.com/

 

 

http://www.sedonahorsebackrides.com/cowboy-cookouts/

 

 

http://www.sedonatrolley.com/

　

 

  • Grand Canyon Railroad and Rim Tour
  • 2nd day at Grand Canyon with IMAX Movie
  • Verde Canyon Railroad
  • Blazin’ M Ranch & Dinner Show
  • Trail ride: Sedona Cowboy Cookout…M Diamond Ranch
  • Sedona Trolley

　

Bucket List~ Sedona

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Some things are just a given for this trip and others are up for discussion or negotiation. Plus you may provide some suggestions that will change our plans.

Here is where we are right now.

We are booked into the Sedona Summit. Check in is a Saturday and we will check out the following Saturday. The room type is a 2 bedroom “lock off” which is nice. If it’s anything like the “lock off” I had in Florida it will give both Sandy and me a lot of privacy.

We haven’t booked our flight yet but one of us will have to drive to meet up with the other. I will check fares from Providence to Phoenix, Bradley International to Phoenix and Albany to Phoenix and then run the results by Sandy. I expect we’ll fly out of Albany unless there’s a big saving from one of the other airports. Bradley would mean a hotel room where TF green (Providence) or Albany would just mean we stayed at one of our homes and then took 1 car to the Park & Fly which is quite a savings right there.

I flew Delta the last time I went to Phoenix but a friend of mine always flies Southwest and she said the fares are much less expensive plus “Bags fly free” on Southwest LOL. I did check their website and they have a web special that is always much cheaper than the other airlines. It will just depend on what kind of connections we can get.

When I went to Sedona in 2008 I had an early flight and arrived in Phoenix about 11 am their time. I was in and out of the airport in no time and in Sedona by 2:30. Check in time is 4pm and in 2008 that was strictly enforced . I was told to come back at 4.

My friend’s father drives a trolley in Scottsdale, AZ which is between Phoenix and Sedona so I was thinking that if we get a flight that gets us into Phoenix early, that we could take a side trip to Scottsdale, take the trolley ride with Julie’s father, I think she said he goes by “Boston Jim”, have lunch in Scottsdale and then drive the rest of the way to Sedona. Julie said the trolley trip takes you into “Old Town Scottsdale” and is well worth the detour.

Once we check in at the Sedona Summit we’ll head back out to the supermarket to stock up on whatever we want to have on hand for the week. We’ll certainly eat some meals out but it’s most cost effective to cook some at the condo.

If there’s anytime left over and we’re not too tired we might explore a little or maybe go up to the Airport Mesa to see the sunset. Usually we just kick back to “recover” from the travel.

Wow look at all the stuff I’ve written and I haven’t even started the bucket list yet.

Well, looks like that will have to be another post.J

　

　

　

Next trip..Sedona, Arizona

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Hello everyone J It’s another stormy day in Massachusetts. My friend JR is torturing me by reminding me he is headed to Florida this weekend to warm weather and sunny skies.

Orlando, Fla Sept 2010

I’ve wrapped up my stories from my South Dakota vacation so it’s time to turn my attention to my next vacation.

Back in 2008 I took a vacation in Sedona, Arizona.

I went alone that time as no one was available to join me

on the road to Sedona...Oct 2008

and I was in a “use it or lose it” mode for my time share. While my sister was with me in Rapid City, I told her to think about where she wanted to go next. We kicked around a lot of ideas, including Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and Yosemite. In the end we decided on the Grand Canyon.

On the South Rim, Grand Canyon 2008

When I went to Sedona in 2008 I made several trips to the Grand Canyon including taking the Grand Canyon Railroad

Grand Canyon Railroad

 

so I suggested we use my time share and go to Sedona again. There were a lot of things

that I didn’t get to see in spite of a very busy sight-seeing schedule so I don’t mind a return trip plus everyone needs to see the Red Rocks of Sedona at least once. They are a great complement to the Grand Canyon.

Arizona 2008

Originally we were going to try to book the timeshare for September but when I went online to check availability there was a 75% off sale as long as we went before May 31.

The time share is based on points and I have 5000 points to spend/year. Expecting Sedona to come in around 7500 points I had banked some extra from 2010 so a 75% off sale left me plenty to book a 2nd trip. With vacation packages so inexpensive at the moment the biggest advantage to a time share is that we can prepare some of our own meals and save on restaurant costs. When we went to Rapid City, we used a vacation package. It was extremely reasonable but without kitchen facilities our meal cost were a big part of the cost of the vacation.

Sedona Summit, Sedona Arizona

But back to Sedona, I have reserved the timeshare for the middle of May. Sandy is retired so getting away is not as much as a problem for her as it is for me as I have to get the vacation time approved. I had discussed the time with my supervisor before I finalized the dates but now they are changing the vacation criteria. I’ve informed work that it’s too late to change my plans now so here’s hoping the approval process will go smoothly.

The other consideration is that Sandy doesn’t like it really hot and Sedona is the High Desert so Mid-May should be warm but not too hot.

We’ll be starting the planning process now and I’ll share that with you as we go along. If any of you are familiar with the Sedona / Grand Canyon area and have recommendations, we’d love to hear your suggestions.

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I think I’ll include a list of the things we are thinking about doing and we can add or subtract from there. I’ll try to put that together for tomorrow’s post.