Just recently my family (including my grandmother) and I took a wonderful trip to Arizona, a state famous for its deserts, rock formations and national parks like The Grand Canyon. We flew on two dull flights from Birmingham, AL (where my grandmother lives) to Chicago, IL and arrived in Phoenix, AZ. From there, we rented a sweet mini van with automatic doors, and an extra seat that could fold into a tray table and cup holder! After an in n out lunch at In N' Out burgers (better than Carrabas, which I reviewed in an earlier blog) we drove two hours, through a lifetime supply of cacti to our resort.
The Resort (which we won in a raffle!) had an upstairs and downstairs, a kitchen, and a large bathroom, with a whirlpool tub. It was one of the best places I have ever stayed at!
Upstairs looking down at our resort!
We stayed in the town of Sedona, a gorgeous place with awesome photo ops! It's home to splendid red rock mountains such as Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock. I hiked almost to the top of Bell Rock, where I looked out on the beauty of God's creation! Also there was this artsy Spanish style marketplace called Tlaquepaque that we went to. It had cool sculptures, a very interesting photo gallery, and a Christmas shop for my mom to spend a hot summer day in.
TheMindOfThomas at Cathedral Rock!
Bell Rock!
A shop at Talaquepaque!
On our trip we of course visited The Grand Canyon. It seemed to be the biggest cliff in the entire world! The length and width of the canyon from my little eyes looked truly amazing! There was even a river flowing at the bottom. However, in my opinion, the beauty of The Grand Canyon was no match for the beauty of Sedona's gorgeous red rocks.
TheMindOfThomas looks out over The Grand Canyon!
Another great National Park in Arizona is The Petrified National Forest. It has many different walkways you can take, with massive chunks of petrified wood and petrified rocks to awe at! I loved it there! At one spot in the park, there is an old busted up car from I think the 1950's, to symbolize the famous Route 66. They also have a pretty big gift shop there with a restaurant inside of it. In the gift shop you can buy an assortment of stuff, from petrified rock, to geodes, to expensive bow and arrow sets.
TheMindOfThomas @ Petrified National Forest!
We also visited a pretty cool National Monument called Montezuma's Castle. It is a large castle-like house, built in the side of a mountain by Indians many years ago! Unfortunately they do not give tours inside the house anymore, but it is still really cool to look at.
Montezuma's Castle!
There was also a National Monument in Arizona called Tuzigoot. At Tuziggot you can see the remains of some houses that Indians built. The place in my point of view however, did not live up anywhere to what we saw at Montezuma's Castle.
A Picture at Tuzigoot!
Just near Tuzigoot, is a place called Jerome. Jerome used to be an old mining town. Now it is a tourist trap with a great restaurant called Mile High Grill, and shops with some cool souvenirs to take home. On the other side of the town of Jerome, there is an old mansion with some facts about the town, and the mansion's history.
Me and my Dad at a shop in Jerome!
Overall my entire trip experience was grander than The Grand Canyon! I ate a lot of french toast at restaurants, swam in the pool many times, but most of all, had fun!
TheMindOfThomas
Out.
