Sedona

Yoonjoo and I both safely arrived in Phoenix where the airport was super busy. Golf bags and baseball jerseys everywhere of fans going to watch spring training. After waiting on a long rental car shuttle line, we arrived at the massive rental car center. We went to go find my car, which took a bit as the garage was so large and we could not clearly read the board, and they had not given me a hybrid like I reserved. So after a quick switch, we were in our Ford Fusion Hybrid which drives really well and off to explore Arizona. 

Our first stop was Matt's Big Breakfast which was about a 10 minute drive from the airport. I had researched it from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Here we had a delicious breakfast and filled up our water bottles with their orange infused water. A collage below:

After breakfast, we headed north to Sedona for about a 2 hour drive. The scenery was beautiful with cacti, shrubbery, and as we climbed in and out of valleys. Our first stop was the Red Rock Ranger which is right off the highway to get some info, maps, and a $5 daily parking pass. Welcome to Red Rock Country!

They had great exhibits including this one that explained the layers and formations:

After Penny, the ranger volunteer, helped us with suggestions for our plan for the day, we headed to Bell Rock to take in the views and try to see if we could feel the energy vortex. Sedona is famous for their vortexes where there are supposed to be energy flows - Sedona is also very new age-y. Yoonjoo and I kept asking each other if we could feel it. If anything, I couldn't tell, because I wasn't sure if it was the altitude or my blood pressure. 

Here are some photos of Bell Rock which really doesn't do the colors of the rocks justice as it was super cloudy:

We then headed to Chapel of the Holy Cross, a small church built into the rocks. Here's a collage below which includes the view behind the altar and out the exit:

A photo of me on the ramp up to the church:

From the church, you could see in the photo below, I was told the rock formation second from the left was carved to look like the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus:

And here's some cacti shrubbery by the chapel:

We then went off to Airport Mesa which is near the airport and again had great views. We got a little confused when we paid for $3 parking here when the machine clearly said it doesn't give out change and we waited like idiots for our change. We figured it was a nice donation to the lovely parks. 

Here's a sign that made Yoonjoo super sad - you were reminded that you could "bust the crust" as you walked on and around the red rocks. Although there are trails, it wasn't always super clear and you could go off trail very easily:

Here's a collage from one of the Airport overlooks. We were also directed by a sweet 10 year old to turn around and hold hands:

A little before sunset, we headed for our 2 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. The drive included many switchbacks, forest views of the Coconino and Kaibab. We made great time on both of our drives today since there was no traffic. We also lucked out as our car had Sirius satellite radio! We didn't have to listen to commercials and reminisced listening to songs from the 90s. This was heavily necessary as I needed to sing to stay alert - poor Yoonjoo had to listen, but I said it was for our safety. 

Towards the end of our drive, we watched ominous clouds and Yoonjoo tried to take photos of the lightning. In the pitch black dark and pouring rain, we made it to the South Rim entrance where you pay $30 for your car and we meandered trying to get to the Village. Yoonjoo took this photo while I was driving:

Again it was super dark, rainy, and there were many turn offs. But we made it to Bright Angel Lodge where we had dinner in the Bright Angel Room which has a diner-like menu. Here's a photo of our shared Southwest Chicken and Arizona Cobb salad:

After dinner and in the snow, we got lost again trying to get our hotel Maswik Lodge. These old lodges are historic and it's actually very difficult to get rooms inside the canyon as they book up fast. So people drive in from Flagstaff or Tusayan which is right outside the South Rim. We also learned the reason why it's so dark with no street lights, is because they have a dark sky certification to see the stars and the check-in clerk said we would appreciate it tomorrow. 

So we drove to our room and were so happy after our showers and in the warmth. The temperature here is considerably colder than in Sedona. We had been up since 3ish east coast time and now it was around 1 am east coast time, and 10ish west coast time. However, we were glad to have arrived safely on this first day of our Arizona adventure!