Summer Vacation in Sedona

Our family has had a long standing tradition of family vacations to fun places every summer.  Our family vacation this summer was supposed to a trip to Washington D.C. to see the historic sites, and museums.  When we were finalizing our plans, we found that many things in D.C. were/are still closed due to Covid. We could only get into three museums. Some of the things we really wanted to see were still closed or had restricted entrances.  Also, Josh was going to come with us, but couldn't get the entire week off work.  We decided to reschedule our trip to next spring (during my spring break from school) which will hopefully also coincide with Cherry Blossom Time in D.C. .  

For our summer vacation this year, we were able to schedule at week at our Wyndham timeshare in Sedona, Arizona.  Josh wasn't going to be able to come with us any way, so this was another getaway for just Charly and I. Charly and I bought the equivalent of two weeks in our timeshare about fifteen years ago.  I know that timeshares are controversial and many people think they are a waste of money, but it has worked well for us.   One reason it has worked for us, it that we bought our timeshare on the secondary market for a fraction of the price that the company sells vacation weeks for.  Our ownership is in Flagstaff, Arizona - but we have stayed many different places. This was only the second time, however, that we had stayed in Sedona. We like having a bigger place to stay rather than a small motel or hotel room.  We also like having a kitchen so we can fix our own meals and avoid the cost of eating in restaurants for every meal.  

We made the nine hour drive from Salt Lake City to Sedona on Monday, July 19.  The drive was long, but went well and we arrived in Sedona about dinner time.  We spent that evening eating and relaxing in the condo.  The next morning, we went for a hike.  Hiking is one of our favorite things to do on vacation.  We started with a trail called The Coffee Pot Trail.  The right hand side of the rock formation in the picture resembles an old school coffee pot.  

This was a fairly easy trail with awesome views.  

The desert can be hot and harsh, but also beautiful.  

One of the trails that branched off of the Coffee Pot Trail was the Sugarloaf Summit trail, which went to the top of Sugarloaf Summit. Charly decided he wanted to hike that trail so we did. This was the view of Sedona from the top. 

This is the view of Coffee Pot from the top of Sugarloaf Summit.  You can see that I was already at the top and Charly was making his way up. 

This is Thunder Mountain as seen from Sugarloaf Summit.  Coffee Pot would be just to the right of it. 

We look a bit hot and tired in this picture a fellow hiker took of Charly and I at the top of Sugarloaf Summit, but we really did enjoy this great hike.  

After the hike, we went back to the condo to eat lunch, then we headed up to Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon - about 20 miles of narrow, winding mountain road that has some of the best some of best views in the state of Arizona.  We stopped at one viewpoint to take some pictures, and found a Native American marketplace.  After looking at the views, we looked at the Native American jewelry and crafts and we bought a Christmas ornament crafted like pottery for our Christmas tree, and a copper bracelet for me.  We continued on to Flagstaff where we went to Bookmans - Charly's all time favorite used bookstore (I like it too).  We got our dinner at Charly's favorite fast-food place the Dog Haus.  

The next morning, we hiked along Oak Creek. It was a gorgeous morning, the scenery was beautiful and there were fresh blackberries planted along the trail, which we sampled.   This was our favorite hike in Sedona.  After a morning of hiking and lunch in our condo, we were off to see a little more of the city of Sedona and even do a little shopping. 

The next day, we hiked the Little Horse trail - another beautiful hike.

The sky was smokey from wildfires in California and Oregon,

but the scenery was still beautiful.  

The rock formations in and around Sedona are all interesting and unique. 

We felt fortunate that there weren't too many other hikers. 

We enjoyed all the hikes we did in Sedona.  

After our hike on the Little Horse Trail, we went to the nearby Chapel of the Holy Cross - an amazing Catholic Church that was built right into the red rocks of Sedona.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a really cool place.  I am glad we got to see it.  

We left Sedona the next day, Friday, July 23.  After another quick stop at a favorite store in Flagstaff, we headed home, breaking the long nine-hour drive up into two days.  We stopped at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We were there less than an hour, when the storm clouds you see in some of the pictures, opened up into a downpour. We got in our car and continued on our way to Kanab, Utah, where we spent the night.   We browsed a few thrift, consignment and antique stores in Kanab before leaving the next morning. Charly visited his favorite "Levi store" (as he calls it) and yes, he did get a much needed new pair of jeans.  

We were home by about 5 p.m. on Saturday, and then the unpacking began. Charly got Chinese take-out so I wouldn't have to cook dinner when we got home and the Mongolian Beef really hit the spot. 

All-in-all, we had a great summer getaway in Sedona.  I feel grateful we were able to go.  I still have almost two weeks left of summer vacation so stay tuned for more adventures... 

😊Deb💙

"When all else fails, take a vacation."

~Betty Williams