Arizona

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Arya Collins

The Grand Canyon in Arizona is a great spot to travel with your dog! We had a wonderful time and Arya thought it was tte most spectacular walk ever.

Simply put, I'm in love with Arizona!

It is such a beautiful state for outdoorsy people and is filled with gorgeous landscapes, fantastic places to eat and an overall sense of serenity & peace. We visited Sedona for the first time in the Fall of 2021 and hiked a dozen trails, from Devil's Bridge to a Jeep Tour on the Broken Arrow Trail. It was there I saw my first wild tarantula.

Recently we made our way to the Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon, Antelope Canyon and City of Page. I cannot say enough times how much I've enjoyed each visit with my husband of 25 years. We are eager to make plans to return, but this time we hope to bring our entire family to show them the beautiful treasures we've found in Arizona. It is no wonder people speak fondly of the vortexes, because Arizona truly seems to seep deep into your soul. I personally think the entire state is a vortex.

Be sure to visit:
Sedona, AZ
Page, AZ
Antelope Canyon
Glen Dam Overlook
Horseshoe Bend
El Patio Mexican Restaurant
The Hudson Restaurant
Bell Mountain
Chapel of the holy Cross
Slide Rock State Park
Devil's Bridge Trail
The Tea Pots Trail
Airport Mesa
Grand Canyon via helicopter
Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge
Grand Canyon Brewery and
Marble Canyon/Vermillion Cliffs
Cathedral Wash Slot Canyon

I love it here. Been before for Phoenix and baseball and made it to Jerome. Loved that trip and am back solo meeting a friend at some point and staying in Sedona. Absolutely love it here and would love to live winters in Sedona. Such a slower pace that truly works for me and my brain injury. It's so cute here and the views are stunning.

Arizona was sooo beautiful. I am so glad I went on this group tour with my friends from Vegas for just a day. So sad we didn't get to see antelope because of the rain. Still very grateful for the Mother Nature gifts of horseshoe and the Grand Canyon. I am so glad I came here in the winter. Grand Canyon covered in snow was absolutely beautiful. I do want to say the west does look somewhat similar tho but it was still super beautiful. I know for sure I want to come back for local food, summer views and more importantly the hikes!! I love it!!! And now cross off another national park on my list!

Horseshoe Bend

About a 1.5 mile walk to the scenic view
It gets hot and there's no shade on the path so plan accordingly
No need for hiking boots but wear something comfortable and something you won't slip on
There is a gated portion of the scenic outlook but also plenty of access to the edge of the canyon where you can fall if you're not careful
Busy spot for sunsets
Pet friendly
$10 admission (not covered by the National Parks Annual Pass)
Parking on site (after you pay you pull in)
Amazing photos ops especially from the left part of the bend

This is based on just 2 or 3 tris over the years to this great state. I drove through here with my parents as a kid and we made the usual tourist stops such as pertified forest, the meteor crater and Grand Canyoun.

Ive flown in for a couple of business trips but didnt really get out of the resort! I always wanted to return but seems Ive been restricted to a few dive throughs. However, those drive throughs were always interesting especially when you see the huge suigaro cactus and desert.

If I could go back, I would because there's so much to see and do in this beautiful state. There's national parks to incredible hikes and sceneries it's literally endless.

I've been to the Grand Canyon twice, hiked Devil's bridge, swung by Sedona around Native American lands, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe bend and much more!

It's absolutely beautiful and you can really find yourself here. It's a wonderful way to self care and explore how beautiful this world can really be.

The Grand Canyon State!

Other than my home state in California and Nevada, Arizona is the next state we frequently visited. If my mom would stop giving me guilt trips about leaving California I'd already be living here or elsewhere in the western part of the country. Since marrying my hubby 9 years ago I've enjoyed the beauty at these iconic places that the Great State of Arizona has to offer.

The Grand Canyon was my first National Park to visit. One of the world's natural wonders we finally completed all four rims over the years. We did a single visit to each rim (the beauty are all different from each one) we'd like to come back and revisit again someday:

Grand Canyon South Rim [Mather Point, Jul 8, 2010]
Grand Canyon East Rim [Desert View, Dec 19, 2010]
Grand Canyon North Rim [Oct 30, 2016]
Grand Canyon West Rim - home of the Skywalk [Peach Springs, Nov 24, 2017]

Visited an itty-bitty part of AZ at the Four Corners - one of the corners was AZ [Dec 6, 2012] and then drove to see the best preserved meteorite crater on Earth at the Meteor Crater [Winslow, Dec 6, 2012]

We can't forget about Sedona and the pink jeep tours [May 23, 2013]... the red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls and pine forests surrounding this town are just so pretty. I would love to see this view everyday from my office window.

Twice in the same year we visited the O.K. Corral in Tombstone [Mar 15 and May 3, 2015]. There's something about the history of the shootout between the Earp brothers facing off against the Clanton-McLaury gang that intrigued me. I love history now... (not back in high school, though) LoL!

In September of the same year we stayed in one of our timeshare locations at WorldMark Rancho Vistoso [Oro Valley, Sept 5, 2015] and visited the Saguaro National Park [Tucson] and Casa Grande Ruins Monument [Coolidge].

Booked another timeshare location at WorldMark Pinetop [Pinetop, Oct 29-31, 2016] and enjoyed meeting Yelpers in Scottsdale [Hopping Across AZ UYE @ Hopdoddy's Burger Bar] Oct 29, 2016... such great people whom some I met during YSB San Diego. We actually came to Scottsdale to attend a wedding of one our Yelp friends, Corina J! Of course, we couldn't pass up seeing another national monument before leaving AZ at Tonto National Monument [Roosevelt, Oct 31, 2016]

Completed both Lower and Antelope Canyons in two separate visits:

Horseshoe Bend [Page, Sept 2, 2017]
Lower Antelope Canyon [Page, Sept 2, 2017]
Upper Antelope Canyon [Page, Nov 30, 2019]
Horseshoe Bend [Page, Nov 30, 2019]

Thank you Great State of Arizona!

Review #1619

We came here to look at ASU and I ended up falling completely in love with Arizona and in particular the Phoenix area. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting but whatever expectations I had were completely blown to bits by our amazing experiences. The first thing you can't not notice is the heat. You sometimes see 116 degrees on the news about the Phoenix area. Fortunately it was not 116 but rather 99. Sounds hot and I guess it is but I never really FELT hot. Dry heat? Lol indeed. I hate hot but this was different for certain. After about the forth day here it became clear that the heat indeed is dry. 9 percent humidity is the key to this. Still, not sure if I want to try it out later this summer when the real heat comes.
We saw 3 homeless while we were here. We found that very odd but by no means a problem. We saw no graffiti on walls and things were very clean everywhere we went. The freeways are exceptionally clean AND fast I might add. Bay Area drivers have nothing on this area's drivers. Nobody goes slow here. Wow! The traffic signals all make sense. Landscape? Oh, just a little. You would need a few weeks to check the state thoroughly to be sure. In Phoenix the is a place called Dobbins Lookout. Eye opener. I've never really been in an environment like this before. The Grand Canyon? Haven't been yet but it's on the list. We just couldn't get over how everything was so clean. Someone put a ton of thought and effort into making sure all parts of the freeway look fantastic. I give AZ a solid five stars!

Bring lots of cold water and avoid the Karen's! Watch out for rattle snakes and camel spiders if you wear sandals! Highly recommended during the cold season, summer weather is a killer!