Arizona Trip Part 1

Arizona Trip Part 1 starts on Sunday, April 28th, 2019 which was our first full day in Arizona. Since I was still on East Coast time, I woke up at 3:45am. The only problem I had with the hotel is some Asian tourists in the room next to me usually getting up at talking loud at 5am.  

Tim picked me up and we had breakfast at Northern Pines Restaurant. I had a GIANT cinnamon roll.

Our plan for the day was spending the day in Sedona and doing two Pink Jeep Tours.  The drive through the mountains to Sedona was breathtaking.  However, we stupidly didn’t stop to get photos. 

Diamondback Gulch and Ancient Ruins Jeep Tour

Diamondback Gulch and Ancient Ruins Pink Jeep Tour was our first Jeep tour. The Pink Jeeps are custom-built, open-air Jeep Wranglers with kevlar tires.  I sat in the front seat for two reasons, one because of my motion sickness issue and also because I had brought my GoPro and planned to shoot video of almost the enitre tour.  

Our tour guide, Sebastian, even though he had only been living in Sedona for a year, he was very knowledgable about the local trails.  He apparently had already done about 150 hikes in the short time he lived there.  From their website " To start the tour, your local guide will take you past Sedona’s most iconic red-rock formations.  After arriving in the Coconino National Forest, head down the remote Greasy Spoon trail.  This section of an original wagon route between Sedona and Prescott dates back to a time before Arizona was a state.  Continue on to Sidewinder Trail and see how the rocky terrain falls into Diamondback Gulch – a deep ravine that slices through the land.  Hold on while your guide expertly navigates the steep descent and climbs out again." It wasn’t too bad in the passenger seat but Tim and 3 other people had some trouble staying in their seats.  It was quite fun and very bumpy.  I kept changing arms to hold my GoPro filming the trip.  We stopped at one point to take photos and Sebastian took multiple photos of Tim and I with a beautiful backdrop.  

Ancient Ruins

The second part of the tour was the Ancient Ruins of the Sinagua people.They worked from 600AD to the 1400s. We explored the Honanki Heritage site, a 700 year old cliff dwelling with petroglyps and pictographs.  It was quite something.  The drive back to Sedona was quite picturesque.

This ends Arizona Trip Part 1.  I will continue Sunday in Arizona Trip Part 2 which will include the 2nd Pink Jeep Tour.

Tim got his entire Arizona trip in one blog post.  You can find that here. He did a great job.  I, on the other hand, am much more longwinded and I have to break the blog posts down into multiple parts.  Otherwise it would be like 1500 words.