Weeks 32 – 34: Phoenix > Sedona > Grand Canyon > Santa Fe
Phoenix has a lot of hiking within the city or in very close proximity, which made us wish more cities were like this. Post-hike we enjoyed the famous (and pricey!) English muffins from La Grande Orange. Aaron still talks about them weeks later.
Sedona is incredibly beautiful, even despite the mostly rainy/snowy/dreary weather we experienced. The landscape is something you have to see. It’s a tiny town surrounded by the most amazing, giant red rock formations. Everywhere you look is beautiful, and the Frank Lloyd Wright chapel is architectural perfection.
The Grand Canyon…there are really no words or photos to do it justice. It’s overwhelmingly massive. Take a look at the photo below the Grand Canyon title image. That’s a person at the top! It. is. huge. And while I’ve never seen it without snow, I suspect it’s more arresting in the off-season when it has a coating of sparkling, pristine white powder (and very few other tourists). At one point a group of deer walked right by us, including a mom and her baby. It was amazing. The Grand Canyon is definitely in our top three favorite sights from our entire trip (the other two being Big Sur and the Tetons, which will also make it feel like your heart is going to jump out of your chest).
Santa Fe is often referred to as “The City Different” and it lives up to that title. It’s like no other city we’ve visited, with its charming adobe buildings and winding dirt roads. They’ve done their best to preserve that sort of old West feeling. I got a kick out of all the hot pepper decorations everywhere.
We found Phoenix to be very beige. Beige dirt, beige houses…architecturally uninteresting with the exception of some fancy modern homes in Scottsdale. It was “rough around the edges” in a lot of places too. We appreciated it being in the 70s when we visited (in January); however, the heat and smog in summer seems like it would get pretty unbearable.
The people in Sedona were kind of weird, and not in an endearing way. More like awkward, cold, and self-centered. And drivers don’t stop for pedestrians in crosswalks?? Also, worst Whole Foods ever! (Note: I know I’m being ridiculous but stay with me) The vegetables were wilted and rotting, and everything was super expensive. It’s a tiny town so I suppose there’s just not much turnover, but come on. If I’m paying $3.50 for one cucumber, it shouldn’t be mushy and slimy by the next day. Even the Natural Grocers there was lackluster.
Santa Fe is more rural than city, with coyotes making a ruckus at night and roads requiring high-clearance vehicles. Our little car made it through, but not without some concern and crossing our fingers each time we skidded through ice and mud. Our car was so caked in mud when we left we actually had to hose it down twice to get it out of the wheel wells.
Last but not least, there was a mouse poop situation at our Santa Fe AirBnB. My parents are going to crack up reading this, but I honestly thought it was just burnt rice or something when we arrived. I couldn’t understand how the “rice” kept coming back after I would wipe down the counters. I finally put two and two together when I left a banana on the counter on our last night there and it was all chewed up in the morning. So…now I know what mouse poop looks like. {shudder}
raw beet ravioli / maple cinnamon chamomile tea lattes / one-pot creamy tomato soup
