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Last Day in Arizona

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Today was our last day in Arizona and, though it was snowing a lot of the day, we made it count. We didn’t get out of the house until 11 this morning because it was snowing pretty hard up until that point. We went to Williams and walked around downtown to get souvenirs from a couple shops. It was still snowing and sleeting at that point, and the town looked really pretty in white. We came back to the house after running by the grocery store for a few things for our trip home and cleaned out the fridge for lunch (we had meat and vegetables that we hadn’t even cooked yet). We wanted to go see the Grand Canyon one more time before we left, even though we knew that it would be snowing there and we weren’t sure how much visibility there would be. We left around 3:00 to go there and, sure enough, it was snowing when we got to the park. When we pulled in to the parking lot at the first lookout point the wind had picked up and it was a full blown blizzard, so we stayed in the car for about 10 ...
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Red Rock State Park

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 After some discussion on Tuesday night and yesterday morning, we decided there was a lot more around Sedona that we wanted to see and explore. We knew we would be able to hike more in that area than we would be able to in The Grand Canyon, and we all wanted to get a good hike in. So, I did some research and found a state park in Sedona that offered a lot of hikes AND (most importantly) access to Oak Creek. We packed sandwich lunches again and headed out to Red Rock State Park, taking the same scenic road that we had taken the day before. Seeing it was even better the second time, still just as breathtaking. We got to the park around noon and stopped at the picnic area to eat lunch before driving to the trailhead. All the trails at the park connected in one big trail system, so there was just one main trailhead, and then trails broke off from it. We took the Kisva trail first, because I had read that it crossed the Oak Creek twice. We found out once we got there that two of the bri...
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Sedona (?)

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We spent the whole day today in Sedona, also pronounced Semonia or Senoma, as some people in my family think. We headed out this morning around 9:30 to Sedona and took the scenic highway that our tour guide yesterday told us about. It took us through windy mountain roads near Oak Creek and the views were incredible. I was 100% in my element in the mountains. They are more cliff-like and rocky than the ones I am used to seeing, and they had sort of a fantastical look, almost like they came out of the movie Avatar…rocky structures jutting up towards the sky. I am currently listening to the Avatar soundtrack, and the images from today’s trip are just flowing through my mind 😊 . There was also a lot of red in the rocks, especially once we actually got closer to Sedona. We stopped on the side of the road at Midgley Bridge which overlooked the creek and gave a good view of the surrounding mountains and rock structures. It was beautiful, but again I felt just the slightest bit tortured becau...
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The Grand Canyon

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Hello everyone, yesterday we had a relaxed day in Williams (where we are staying) and went to Bearizona and to explore downtown. Bearizona is a drive-thru wildlife experience that also has a walk through zoo area, and we saw things like black bears, arctic wolves, bighorn sheep, jaguars, and bison. It was fun! There were also a few restaurants there and a coffee and gelato stand. A couple in our group who can tolerate dairy got gelato and confirmed that it was the best they had ever had...and better than Blue Bell ice cream! Others who can tolerate caffeine got coffee from the cute little coffee stand, and were surprised at the quality of it (my mom and I don't fit into either of the two groups :)). I think it's unique to find high quality yummy treats in a zoo. After leaving there, we went to downtown Williams and walked around and went in a few shops. A lot of them had Native American made goods and souvenirs, and we will probably go back there and get some souvenirs at the e...
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We're Not in Texas Any More

 Well, here we go. We talked in the car yesterday and figured out that we haven't been on a family road trip in over two years, and boy are we glad to get to go on one to the Grand Canyon! Road trips have always been a big deal in our family and something that we love to do. It's easy to be frustrated or uncomfortable when you are in the car with 5 family members and a week's worth of luggage for 10-15+ hours, but it has always been a kind of bonding experience for us...so much so that I remember being younger and looking forward to the car ride more than the destination itself. We had a good 18 hours in the car in the last two days, full of sleeping, taking turns being DJ (oh the variety of music we listened to), being forced to listen to an audiobook, and eating all the snacks in sight.  Switching gears...if you're reading this, welcome. I love to have an excuse to write, so this is my third (?) travel blog that I have created. I would characterize my writing as...hon...
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