Rawls was dead set on his costume this year – Iron Man! Shepherd tossed around a bunch of ideas and couldn’t settle on anything he liked.. so he’s a “hiker”. Trick or treating this year involved visiting a few candy shops in Sedona and Flagstaff on our way to Lake Powell. Rawls.. so into – love it!
and just so we don’t forget this place, Proper Meats + Provisions – so darn good:
William, early on in the planning for this trip, decided to plan a surprise, special morning in Sedona heading up as a family in a hot air balloon – bucket list activity for both of us and something we hoped the boys would love.
We woke up around 5am to finish packing up at the Sedona house and headed to the meet up spot. Sedona is one of the few areas in the world where hot air balloon conditions are a 12-month a year possibility — and Red Rock Balloons has a number of ‘captains’ who have been doing this for 20-30 years. We met our captain and immediately felt at ease and also LOVED how welcoming he was to the boys. He made sure they (and we) felt comfortable and involved them in the setup and breakdown process.
So to start.. the setup! There were 2 other balloons taking off as we were. It was incredible to see the balloons taken out of the trailers and setup in ~20 minutes. The boys were able to walk around in the balloon while it was being initially inflated with a fan. They got out of there before the flame started to heat up the air!
The take-off was incredibly smooth and the balloon’s movement was without any hint of turbulence. We saw Sedona from such a beautiful perspective. Shepherd was entirely comfortable throughout the trip. Rawls, I think, had some nerves looking out over the balloon’s edge and spent a good bit of time watching the journey from the peepholes at the bottom of the basket. Towards the end of the trip, Rawls became more comfortable sitting on the interior basket edge.
We were airborne for at least an hour and the view was magical. William and I didn’t feel any nerves throughout, but admittedly were unsure what to expect with the landing. No need to worry here — our captain landed the basket gently in the middle of a dirt lane, 50 feet from where the Red Rocks team was waiting.
Then began the boys favorite part of the trip – breaking down the balloon:
Cheers to an amaze morning! Feeling like living in a dream during some points of this trip and especially this morning.
Next stop, Sedona! With a quick visit to pickup Tater and grab lunch from one of the best sandwich places EVER, Proper Meats & Provisions (seriously, ahi tuna sandwich perfection. and William said the Muffalletta is amaze – all that deli meat + olive spread, mmmm ;). But most importantly – let’s get these feet into some real hiking shoes.
Welcome to Sedona – Drove in through Oak Creek canyon and felt like we entered a different world – years away (yet only an hour away) from Flagstaff.
Settled in our first day and walked from the house to an arts and shopping district, Tlaquepaque. The shopping area is gorgeous and very much decorated for the fall holidays. I could have wandered around the art galleries for acrull day! We grabbed a drink at a local favorite, Oak Creek Brewery (or according to William, they forgot to put up the Denny’s sign 😉
The tunnel picture looks like William is walking into a heavenly location.
Back to hiking the next day — We wanted to check-out the Devil’s Bridge Hike ~4.5 miles (start at the Mescal trailhead — much prettier start to the hike than the Devil’s Bridge trailhead which is along a road). Most of the hike was a slight incline with the end of the hike quite steep (hands required) up to the Devil’s Bridge. The lookout was absolutely beautiful and while the bridge itself was much wider than it appeared, William very kindly walked the boys to the center while I photographed. The boys have become troopers — no more grumbling starting a hike, but this one definitely stretched Rawls a bit. He counted down his leg energy from 30% to negative % on the last stetch of the hike. Shepherd could have kept going for a long while.
We cooked dinner at the house the prior two nights and opted for a treat this night — Dellepiane — an Argentianian burget spot. The elote was perfection and everyone was happy with the burgers. Rawls become a new person again after he got some food in his belly.
Opted for a chiller hike the next day, ~2 miles up to the Birthing Cave. As we approached I hear William “oh… I see why it’s the Birthing Cave” and Shepherd “it looks like a heart to me.” The temperature had warmed up a bunch and we didn’t realize that Rawls had put his jacket on and taken off his t-shirt before starting the hike. So the boys got comfortable!
The last stretch up to the birthing cave was pretty steep but definitely worth it. The cave had a “belly button” that Shepherd insisted on climbing into. After he came down, with some help, another hiker climbed up into and couldn’t get down — the step to get onto the ledge beneath it was just out of reach
After the hike, we recharged at the house – the outdoor setup here was great.
For dinner, we went to Creekside Bistro and sat on the patio outside — James Beard regional winner. Solid menu and we enjoyed all – especially the ahi nachos.
Of the places we’ve visited so far, Sedona is at the top of list to come back to!
Some video clips of the Devil’s Bridge hike (walking the bridge and playing with fire… I mean cactus) and Rawls narrating the Birthing Cave visit:
To make our second visit to the Grand Canyon happen, Tater man went on his own little vacation to Cinder Hills Kennels. We dropped him off and grapped lunch in Flagstaff. Tried out a place, Sosoba — great cauliflower dish, bao buns and boys loved the dumplings. Shepherd says he wants to go back… badly! Quick treat visit to Mozelle’s bakery afterwards. There’s an open set of outdoor tables around the area and many local spots to grab a bite + eat outside.
We drove from lunch back to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and checked into El Tovar — oldest hotel in the area and felt like a piece of history. When we’d booked this several months back, I hadn’t been able to find availability on the National Parks site. I’d called asking if they had a wait list and found they had one room available (at the time I assumed someone had just cancelled a reservation). Upon check-in realized that I’d booked us into one of the rooms they don’t post for web booking — they have a series of rooms that highlight the history of key people to the area. So we checked into the Zane Grey suite – ha! J if you’re reading this he was famous as a Western author and a dentist 🙂
The first night, we settled in and walked the opposite direction along the rim from where we’d gone the previous weekend. The sunset over the canyon was beautiful!
El Tovar has one of the only solid dining areas, but we learned it’s very popular with lots of visitors — there was an insane line to put in your name for a table, starting at 4:30pm, but after letting this die down, we sat down for dinner around 7pm and had such a nice dinner with the boys. Shepherd and Rawls tried french onion soup (just a taste), Rawls helped me eat some of the crab and avocado appetizer, but mostly they were very happy with the plain pasta + parmesan.
On Saturday, we woke up early to start down the Bright Angel Trail — the main trail from the South Rim that can take you all the way to the Canyon floor. The trail itself is well managed and wide enough to handle hikers and mules taking people down into the canyon. We didn’t cross paths with any of these mules/groups, but we saw plenty remnants of their passing ahead. Walking down Bright Angel is a bit unnerving because the way down is easy, but you know you’ll be coming back up on the way back. Rawls had two slides (lots of trail dust) and I couldn’t wait for the third, so we turnd around ~700 vertical feet into the canyon. William and Shepherd continued onto the first rest stop and saw a funny Mountain Goat. The entire trail is 9.3 miles and 4400 vertical feet — they covered roughly a quarter of this. Note the photo below that Rawls spent a lot of time editing.
Rawls and I returned around 11 and William/Shepherd around noon. We grabbed lunch at Mastwick lodge and decided to push our luck and see if the boys had some energy left (answer: not much). Took the bikes off the back of the car which was parked right next to the GNC bike trails. Rawls is still getting comfortable biking so he and William practiced in an area while Shepherd and I went on a bike ride.. where I spent most the time coaxing him to continue. He perked up seeing about a dozen deer and then continued to pronounce their presence to every passerby for a few miles
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After the idyllic dinner the previous night (as close as it could have been), we decided we should, of course, try it again (there aren’t many options as it is). Welp, not quite the same experience. Shepherd’s legs were cramping (we think, although they magically stopped when he returned to the room) and Rawls was crying — the only thing we could make out was that we wouldn’t let him play with his Parrot robot at home (which he hasn’t touched in months). Cut dinner short and got rest everyone needed that night!
Williams is…
We have had a really nice stay in Williams – although as William joked, I’m not sure anyone ever visits as long as we have. Personally, have loved the chance to see the highlights offered here and have some recharge time.
Our weekly recap!
Monday — We visited Dogtown Lake with the Boys (I know I was just talking about a shortage of water.. but the Lake legitimately used to be MUCH wider). Rawls made a natural ring toss, the boys ran out a lot of energy and then spent their “art class” drawing scenes of the lake.
Pretty much each evening this is how we wrapped the day at this wonderful home – John and his dogs Mosie and Billy treated us well!
Tuesday – We really embraced the tourist side of Williams and did ALL the things, starting with Bearizona. We were uber skeptical of the local zoo visit as a good idea, especially hearing it was a partially drive-thru zoo… but it was SO well done. Each section of the drive-thru zoo contained a different animal, some where we were welcome to keep the windows down (deer, bison, burros) and some where we most definitely couldn’t (bears, more bears and the wolves). After the drive-thru, the walkable zoo area was nicely laid out. V. sweetly, Shepherd wanted to surprise his brother with a flute (randomly Rawls has been asking and we spotted one at the zoo). Today was a brotherly love day.
We followed by heading back in town.. and caved to taking the boys on the “zipline”. Check out the video for Rawls dancing everywhere at the zoo (the 80s music was on point), meeting a white peacock and the dreaded zipline.
We visited the Historic Brewing Co — Arizona wine is a thing and it pretty tasty! The restaurant group behind Historic Brewing has a couple other spots in Williams which have been our food highlights (cooking at home has been better though!)
We walked around the downtown and bought salt water taffy (did I mention Tuesday is for Tourists). Ending the day at restaurant, South Rimms. Totally fine (not great) dinner, but nice setting minus forgetting our jackets – brrrrrr.
Wednesday – A much simpler day 😉
We visiting Sycamore canyon — a remote and often inaccessible area and outside of the Grand Canyon, the most beautiful natural setting we’ve visited to date. With the beauty also came a v. treacherous set of trails! Quite a nerve wracking hike also (for E).
Thursday – Our last evening in town and we enjoyed hanging at the house for the afternoon and went to Station 66 Italian / Historic Brewing for our last meal here. Very much worth a visit!
and back we head to the Grand Canyon manana.
All of us – first timers to the magical Grand Canyon — and our first trip there, from Williams would be via the Grand Canyon Railway, a roughly 2 hour trip through a beautiful stretch of terrain.
But first – a bit of a staging experience at the Williams Train Depot.. with a Wild West (silly) intro.
and then we boarded the train:
and then the real treat.. entering the National Park.. walking up to the South Rim to.. jaw dropping views. Honestly felt like we were seeing a green screen.. it was too perfect. We walked several miles along the south rim, following the geological history of the Canyon.
So incredibly glad this wasn’t our only visit — ready to head back next weekend. El Tovar, we’re coming! but until then.. the train back:
We headed from Flagstaff Friday morning — with some time to kill before we could arrive at our new spot in Williams, AZ (closest town to the south rim of the Grand Canyon!).
William scouted out a dog and family friendly walking area in Flagstaff -> Buffalo Park. The boys LOVED the workout activities along the walk/run track and Tater man kept pretty good pace.
After a lunch (again, Grand Canyon Brewery – good stuff!) we headed to Williams.. a town known entirely for being the closest spot to the Grand Canyon. Our plan for the week is to stay near the town in a beatiful airbnb // 10 acres and a perfect house for a remote feel.
Our first full day in Williams, we ventured into town for a visit to a local favorite (Cruisers 66 // a diner that is proud of the historic location near route 66)
Then we headed out to a beautous, not too involved hike to an area called Keyhole Sink — adventure: climb the mini canyon + find the petroglyphs + find the colledge boys.
Flagstaff has been an amazing spot to visit!
Sunday, we arrived from the cross country trip, pretty zonked and spent the afternoon settling into our house with Mom’s recipe — Southwestern bean burritos for dinner.
Monday
After school and work on Monday, we left the house to hike a trail near Elden’s Peak. The trail is called Fatman’s loop and was our first chance to test our altitude acclimation — not too bad but definitely a change from sea level.
The landscape is so incredibly different – dry, dusty with many succulents and highly scrappy plants and trees that live seemingly in conflict with the resources available to them.
The boys enjoyed making a video along the way, particularly when William found a king snake (red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, okay jack!)
It was boys choice for dinner – sheet pan pizza – rawls loving the mushrooms.
Tuesday
William researched some spots and suggested Walnut Canyon. None of us knew what to expect and we were blown away by the canyon and cave dwellings that housed people in the 1200s.
On the way back in town, we drove through downtown Flagstaff, down San Francisco Ave and scouted a few places to visit for dinner. After cleaning up, we came back to Crillo Latin kitchen for dinner – loved our meal which was great for us and the boys: elote, jalapenos, smashed avocado for snacks and lamb birria tacos / largest southwestern wedge salad (ever) for dinner.
Wednesday
Another great stop – we visited Wupatki- an Adobe archaeolgical site dating back to 1100. The settlement at one point housed over a thousand people and the remains capture aspects of housing, food systems and social life.
Thursday
For our last day/evening in Flagstaff, we were able to host a hometown visitor — Andre Gruber. Nice to spend some time with him (And for William to have a music partner).
We got on the road from Albuquerque fairly early — and continued down I-40 towards Arizona. Our first destination of the trip is Flagstaff — largely to get settled in the area and acclimate to the weather and time zone.
We arrived in Flagstaff around 2pm (we thought) and planned to kill some time before check-in with a snack at the Grand Canyon Brewery.
Rawls… Florida man on the bottom.
After a quick run to Whole Foods, we headed towards our first stay — only to realize that William’s phone recorded 2PM and mine 3PM. The time zone.. so we were certain that Flagstaff sits in MT.. but forgot that Arizona doesn’t participate in day light savings.. Anyways, a bit early, showed up to our first home away from home in a community just outside of the Flagstaff town area. The National Forest surrounds the area with plenty of biking and hiking options that we’ll look to explore this week!
Shepherd’s birthday! Learned this morning from dad that Shepherd shared a birthday with John Prine, a massive 2020 loss.
We decided to get on the road to make it to Albuquerque by lunchtime. The drive was similar to the previous but with increasing elevation until we reached roughly a mile-high in Albuquerque. Closer to the city we saw more interesting landscape and were able to put S’s social studies lessons on landforms into action.. what’s the difference between a Mesa and a Butte 😉 ?
We drove straight to lunch at Rio Bravo Brewing Co and had a solid lunch along with local beverages, including sodas for the boys made at the brewing co.
We were able to check in early at Hotel Andaluz — the first hotel built in ABQ and by Conrad Hilton (later sold and then repurchased by the Hilton chain).
After vegging a moment, we planned to take the Sandia Tramway to the top of the mountain— apparently the longest tram in the states – nearly 3 miles BUT we arrived to two hour lines and decided against the trip. We were all feeling the altitude a good bit and after driving around the Old Plaza (down old town road – ha!) we called it a day. Hydration and some rest needed by all. The birthday boy requested room service and we ended the day with a birthday treat.
Colledge Adventures 