The Most Beautiful Location in America!

I once read a quote from someone describing trench warfare as "Weeks of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror".

This quote has tumbled around in my mind as we have traveled from one end of Arizona to the other, in early 2019. I would describe the countryside as long stretches of dusty, desiccated, harsh, unlivable terrain, punctuated by brief moments of gasp-producing beauty.

Over the past seven years, we have seen hundreds of incredible sights. Everything from the Badlands of SD, to Mount Rushmore, to Crater Lake. I have my own top-ten list, as does Lorraine, but there is one place that tops both our lists, (If you are interested in reading my post about our individual Top 10 Lists, click here ) , and that place is Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona.

This natural wonder can only be described as other-worldly. But more on this in a moment

After leaving Prescott, we headed north to visit the city of Sedona.

OUR CAMPGROUND:

We chose to stay at Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde about 50 miles from our previous campground. It's was a taxing drive taking us up and over the Mingus Mountain range. It's a steep drive up and a steep drive down and even more precarious with a 13,000 lb RV following close behind.

Photo courtesy of Distant Drum RV Park

This was a nice RV park but some of the spots were very tight for our 35' 5th-wheel. It is for that reason that whenever we pass through this area, we recommend staying about 6 miles down the road at Verde Ranch RV Resort. It's a much newer park with wide spots and all the amenities.

ON TO THE CITY OF SEDONA:

The locals say, "It either sucks you in or spits you out." For us, it sucks us in time and time again.

Look at that beauty!! This whole area is beyond compare. It's reddish-orange rocks, gnarled desert terrain, supposed magical vortexes, and crystal blue skies paints a canvas that you will not soon forget.

Sedona is one of the most inspiring outdoor places we have visited. That's why over 3 million tourists visit here annually to take advantage of the 200 hiking trails that cover over 400 miles.

Its beauty has not been overlooked by Hollywood either with over 100 movies being filmed here. The first was filmed over 100 years ago, in 1923, titled: Call of the Canyon. If you're interested in a brief list of these films, click here.

But let me warn you, this world famous southwestern destination is busy year-round with an infrastructure barely able to handle such throngs. Trailhead parking is always crowded and if you wait around long enough, you will encounter screaming matches between stressed out tourists vying for parking spots. Therefore, get to the trailhead early and, given Arizona's arid environment, bring extra water. It is much easier to dump it out later than to find it while you are parched on a trail.

If you're interested in a jeep tour of this area, check out the Pink Jeep tours. We took the Broken Arrow Trail tour and really enjoyed seeing a whole different side of Sedona.

IF YOU'RE FEELING ADVENTUROUS, TRY HOT AIR BALLOONING!

My son and his lovely wife bought us this package as a Christmas gift. To be honest, as I age, I find more of the "engineer" comes out in me. "When's the last time this thing was inspected?", "Those bolts don't look tight enough", "Are you sure you're old enough to drive??" etc.. So I boarded our gondola with a bit of apprehension, I mean, no parachutes, no lecture on "what to do in an emergency", no TSA. Nothing! At 5:30 in the morning, we gathered at the designated location, climbed into a flimsy basket and up we went. It was a breathtaking experience as long as I didn't look down or think about how the only thing standing between me and a gruesome death was an inch or so of entwined wicker. As the world shrank beneath me, I had an epiphany that hit me with the suddenness of a band-aid ripped off of an old wound: "Dear, God! My son is trying to kill me!!"

Of course, I know these baskets are reinforced with steel rods --at least that's what they told me. When I asked for the schematics they refused to provide it-- but it seems the higher the altitude, the further my brain travels from grounded logic. Just remember, breath slowly and don't look down! All in all, we would highly recommend this excursion. We used Red Rock Balloons and, checking their website for current prices, looks like early morning trips are around $375 per person. They even provided the traditional "champagne toast" for a successful landing. I'll drink to that!

Thank you, Jordan and Kristin for a wonderful experience! Although, until further investigation.. Jordan has been removed as a beneficiary from my life insurance policy!! ;)

One last interesting fact about Sedona. The red in these stones comes from the iron that was deposited here ages ago when water covered this whole area. When the waters receded the iron began to slowly leach out. These rocks are actually rusting away!

HERE'S AN INTERESTING HAPPENSTANCE:

Today's blog post chronicles our first visit to this area in 2019. Although I didn't mention it, while we were staying at Camp Verde, we visited a small town not far from here named Cottonwood. It has a lovely little historic downtown area. Fast forward four years: In 2022, my son and his wife decided to leave San Jose, CA for a better and safer quality of life. As it turns out, they would randomly choose to buy a house just outside of Cottonwood. Coincidentally, we actually drove past the road they would later buy a house on!

GRAND CANYON:

If you're going to be in northern Arizona, and if you've never visited before, you absolutely have to go. It is an incredible sight whose enormity will completely blow you away. Yes, it is a big hole in the ground, but it's a hole like none other. As you peer across this vast open space, you are able to look back in time, and gaze upon numerous sedimentary layers each with its own distinct color and pattern. Pictures can never do it justice. If you haven't been, you need to go.

If traveling by RV, we would recommend staying at Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in Williams, Arizona. It's about an hour south of the Grand Canyon. Very nice park. One interesting attraction you might want to consider if you're going to visit the Grand Canyon, book a ride on the Grand Canyon Railroad. The two and a half hour trip takes you through some fascinating desert scenery to the south rim of Grand Canyon. We didn't ride the train but people were raving about it.

Photo courtesy of Grand Canyon Railroad

After a long day of hiking the Canyon, visit the Grand Canyon Brewery, a short walk from the RV Park. It's a nice place for cold beer and a good meal. If you're feeling adventurous, try their Prickly Pear Wheat Ale Beer.

And now on to the most beautiful spot in America (as decided by us):

UPPER AND LOWER ANTELOPE CANYON:

From the air, it's not much to look at but over the millennia, rainwater has rushed down from the surrounding elevations and drained into that small crack you see below. The process of wind erosion also contributes to the canyon’s formation by whisking away loose sand and sediment, smoothing and polishing canyon walls.

The surrounding lands are Navajo tribal lands and they do a very good job (sometimes too good) moving masses of people through these canyons. It can be as crowded as a bus station depending on the time of year, but still worth the visit.

These canyons are geological marvels.

These canyons with their colorful sandstone walls curved and twisted by the capricious artistry of wind, water and time, will take your breath away. A few tips if you're going to visit. Navaho tribal land observes Daylight Savings time where Arizona does not. So pay arrention to your proper arrival time. Book your reservation early, try to go between 11am - 2pm, between the months of March - October. The guided tours are not cheap and they move you through fairly quickly (pictures are allowed but no videos) but even at its current rate of about $100/person, it's worth the trip.

We camped at the Wahweap RV and Campground it was a nice campground but expensive. They are also the only game in town. They are nicely located just a short distance from beautiful Lake Powell. At the time, there was only one spot in the entire campground where cell service was available, and that was at a corner of the Ranger Station. As we would enter and exit the park, there was always a group of people huddled around this corner. Things may have improved over the past few years but maybe not, so be aware of this.

As long as you're here, you might as well go to:

 HORSESHOE BEND:

This marvel is only 8 miles from Antelope Canyon!

Although there was no admission fee when we visited, they were in the process of building a paved lot along with an entrance booth charging a $10 fee. Worth it.

TOADSTOOL HOODOOS:

Thirty miles north west of Page, in Utah is the Toadstool Hoodoo Trail in Kanab, Utah (within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument). It's an easy 2 mile hike that has some spectacular geological formations. These tall spires are made of soft sandstone with a hard capstone. It looks like the rocks sitting at the pinnacle are about to slide off, but until that happens, go and enjoy the scenery.

 GLEN CANYON DAM:

Take a free tour!

A short drive from the campground is the Glen Canyon Dam "a concrete arch-gravity dam in the southwestern United States, located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, near the city of Page. The 710-foot-high (220 m) dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S. with a capacity of more than 25 million acre-feet. The dam is named for Glen Canyon, a series of deep sandstone gorges now flooded by the reservoir; Lake Powell is named for John Wesley Powell, who in 1869 led the first expedition to traverse the Colorado River's Grand Canyon by boat." --Wikipedia

Not a must see but I found it interesting.

PETRIFIED FOREST/PAINTED DESERT:

Although these are unique geological sights, I think I will talk more about them in my next blog post.

LAKE POWELL

If you are staying at Wahweap, visit Lake Powell. You can either just drag a beach chair to the water's edge, or rent a boat, or take a boat tour of the lake (which we did). It's a beautiful area and something of which you should take advantage.

From Arizona, we head north to Utah where we found some truly remarkable National Parks. But more on that in my next blog post.

See you on down the road!